Those of you who have been following my Lost in the Low Countries Thread will know of my intention to start a separate thread for Belgium, as each of the three visits are to be my first time at the zoo in question. Therefore, I will be giving each zoo a rating out of 5 at the end of each post. With that I give you my first review.
Zoo Antwerpen
On a very confusing day weather-wise (23 degrees at one point, thundering the next) I found myself approaching the old gates of Antwerp Zoo. Having got a glimpse of it the day before whilst leaving the (fantastic) station, I was excited to say the least. As soon as I entered the zoo I made my way to the primate house, passing an alright mandrill outdoor area. The primate house itself consists of a dark corridor with well-lit indoor enclosures housing multiple species of primate, the most exciting of which was the owl-faced monkeys. For a city zoo primate house it's not half bad, though you can tell it's been around for a while. Following on from this we headed over to the Australia area housing a koala and a Goodfellow's tree kangaroo. Average enclosures, though the animals themselves were typically inactive.
Passing the average okapi house (where we saw 3/5 okapis) we reached the new ape outdoors. A fantastic addition to the zoo, though we only saw one chimpanzee (Chita) using theirs, and if this is the standard of exhibitry Antwerp is using from now on consider me signed up. The ape house itself, particularly the 'bedroom' areas, were one of the few low points for me during the day, though I was happy to see the small mammal exhibits opposite (especially the black-and-rufous elephant shrews). Rounding a corner past the rather small African penguin enclosure we passed the rest of the chimp group inside, and the empty gorilla inside. The reason for this was simple; all three were outdoors. I was scanning the enclosure for the females, having already spotted Matadi, when suddenly from under us came the black behemoth that is Amahoro! A truly wonderful moment for an ape fan such as myself, having finally seen all six species of great ape. Though the signage says Matadi is the biggest of the three, Amahoro is clearly far larger, a quality she can thank her species for. The gorilla group itself seemed rather mixed in regards to social behaviour; Matadi got on fine with Mambele (and even mated her a couple of times) but the same could not be said for the young silverback and Amahoro. She avoided him a lot of the time. There were some squabbles in the chimp group too, but that was to be expected.
Going through the cave under the restaurant we found ourselves in one of the top quality exhibits of the zoo; the buffalo enclosure. The enclosure itself is in the middle of a huge walkthrough aviary housing 20 species of bird. This was a huge highlight, both for the size and design as well as the species diversity. Comparing it to the rather prehistoric giraffe/zebra paddocks and elephant paddock, this enclosure was better by a mile. The Temple, used as stable areas for the three types of mammal mentioned above, was interesting to finally see, but I came away feeling more impressed with the aesthetics than the animal areas.
The hippo enclosure was very nicely put together, with a huge outdoor space. All three individuals seemed content. I particularly liked the loose theme of (semi-)aquatic animals in this area; Dalmatian pelicans, common seals, nutrias and Malayan tapirs being the other animals around here. The enormous aviary next door to the hippo house was fantastic as well, housing ground hornbills, marabous and vultures.
The lion enclosure, though not gigantic, was rather impressive for two animals. I personally preferred it to all other lion accommodation I've seen in top grade city zoos (Newquay, Bristol, London, Artis etc). Though this was the moment the heavens decided to open, meaning we missed the camels and takins, it was a blessing in disguise as we headed through the penguin house (rather nice space, though it feels cramped) to the aquarium. Here's where a bit of fantasy work comes into play. If Antwerp's exhibit design (with regard to species mixes) was used in an aquarium the size of London Zoo's one, it would be perfect. Though small, I felt very pleased with the fish on offer. The hall reminded me of Artis' one, which is not a bad thing. The shark species were fantastic for such a small aquarium (which came from Aquatopia?) and the tigerfish, giant catfish and octopus were lovely to see too. The highlight here was the coral tank at the end. The reptile house didn't have much to offer design wise but made up for it with species list (electric blue day geckos, Cuban ground iguanas and golden poison frogs). Here the enclosure quality took a bit of a dive (bird of prey aviaries, sea lion theatre which is clearly a repurposed dolphin one, and the Amur leopard and jaguar ones that could well be a carbon copy of Artis' old terraces) but there were a few diamonds amongst the coal so to speak (condor aviary, spectacled bear enclosure and flamingo lawn). The Nocturama under the sea lion theatre was fascinating, and I enjoyed the layout of it, as well as a few of the species (two species of mouse deer, Philippine and Javan, as well as my first springhares living with an active aardvark and a fantastic mixed exhibit at the end home to sloths, night monkeys, fruit bats and armadillos) though the Australian water rat enclosure feels far too generous in size for the relatively small species. Finally, the bird house was another clearly old building repurposed, but some of the species (blue-headed macaw, swift parrot, sandgrouse, green aracari and hyacinth macaw) as well as the dark corridor concept (essentially multiple small bird aviaries with no barrier in the front, within a dark corridor. The idea is the birds will not leave their exhibit as they don't do well in the darkness, and it appears to work well) saved it from being a low point.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed. A city zoo leagues above others I have visited, and I can see why some choose to list this as their top Belgian zoo. It has its low points as any zoo does, and suffers a bit from its older buildings, but Antwerp has won me over and I will definitely be returning as soon as I can.
FINAL SCORE: 4/5
Zoo Antwerpen
On a very confusing day weather-wise (23 degrees at one point, thundering the next) I found myself approaching the old gates of Antwerp Zoo. Having got a glimpse of it the day before whilst leaving the (fantastic) station, I was excited to say the least. As soon as I entered the zoo I made my way to the primate house, passing an alright mandrill outdoor area. The primate house itself consists of a dark corridor with well-lit indoor enclosures housing multiple species of primate, the most exciting of which was the owl-faced monkeys. For a city zoo primate house it's not half bad, though you can tell it's been around for a while. Following on from this we headed over to the Australia area housing a koala and a Goodfellow's tree kangaroo. Average enclosures, though the animals themselves were typically inactive.
Passing the average okapi house (where we saw 3/5 okapis) we reached the new ape outdoors. A fantastic addition to the zoo, though we only saw one chimpanzee (Chita) using theirs, and if this is the standard of exhibitry Antwerp is using from now on consider me signed up. The ape house itself, particularly the 'bedroom' areas, were one of the few low points for me during the day, though I was happy to see the small mammal exhibits opposite (especially the black-and-rufous elephant shrews). Rounding a corner past the rather small African penguin enclosure we passed the rest of the chimp group inside, and the empty gorilla inside. The reason for this was simple; all three were outdoors. I was scanning the enclosure for the females, having already spotted Matadi, when suddenly from under us came the black behemoth that is Amahoro! A truly wonderful moment for an ape fan such as myself, having finally seen all six species of great ape. Though the signage says Matadi is the biggest of the three, Amahoro is clearly far larger, a quality she can thank her species for. The gorilla group itself seemed rather mixed in regards to social behaviour; Matadi got on fine with Mambele (and even mated her a couple of times) but the same could not be said for the young silverback and Amahoro. She avoided him a lot of the time. There were some squabbles in the chimp group too, but that was to be expected.
Going through the cave under the restaurant we found ourselves in one of the top quality exhibits of the zoo; the buffalo enclosure. The enclosure itself is in the middle of a huge walkthrough aviary housing 20 species of bird. This was a huge highlight, both for the size and design as well as the species diversity. Comparing it to the rather prehistoric giraffe/zebra paddocks and elephant paddock, this enclosure was better by a mile. The Temple, used as stable areas for the three types of mammal mentioned above, was interesting to finally see, but I came away feeling more impressed with the aesthetics than the animal areas.
The hippo enclosure was very nicely put together, with a huge outdoor space. All three individuals seemed content. I particularly liked the loose theme of (semi-)aquatic animals in this area; Dalmatian pelicans, common seals, nutrias and Malayan tapirs being the other animals around here. The enormous aviary next door to the hippo house was fantastic as well, housing ground hornbills, marabous and vultures.
The lion enclosure, though not gigantic, was rather impressive for two animals. I personally preferred it to all other lion accommodation I've seen in top grade city zoos (Newquay, Bristol, London, Artis etc). Though this was the moment the heavens decided to open, meaning we missed the camels and takins, it was a blessing in disguise as we headed through the penguin house (rather nice space, though it feels cramped) to the aquarium. Here's where a bit of fantasy work comes into play. If Antwerp's exhibit design (with regard to species mixes) was used in an aquarium the size of London Zoo's one, it would be perfect. Though small, I felt very pleased with the fish on offer. The hall reminded me of Artis' one, which is not a bad thing. The shark species were fantastic for such a small aquarium (which came from Aquatopia?) and the tigerfish, giant catfish and octopus were lovely to see too. The highlight here was the coral tank at the end. The reptile house didn't have much to offer design wise but made up for it with species list (electric blue day geckos, Cuban ground iguanas and golden poison frogs). Here the enclosure quality took a bit of a dive (bird of prey aviaries, sea lion theatre which is clearly a repurposed dolphin one, and the Amur leopard and jaguar ones that could well be a carbon copy of Artis' old terraces) but there were a few diamonds amongst the coal so to speak (condor aviary, spectacled bear enclosure and flamingo lawn). The Nocturama under the sea lion theatre was fascinating, and I enjoyed the layout of it, as well as a few of the species (two species of mouse deer, Philippine and Javan, as well as my first springhares living with an active aardvark and a fantastic mixed exhibit at the end home to sloths, night monkeys, fruit bats and armadillos) though the Australian water rat enclosure feels far too generous in size for the relatively small species. Finally, the bird house was another clearly old building repurposed, but some of the species (blue-headed macaw, swift parrot, sandgrouse, green aracari and hyacinth macaw) as well as the dark corridor concept (essentially multiple small bird aviaries with no barrier in the front, within a dark corridor. The idea is the birds will not leave their exhibit as they don't do well in the darkness, and it appears to work well) saved it from being a low point.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed. A city zoo leagues above others I have visited, and I can see why some choose to list this as their top Belgian zoo. It has its low points as any zoo does, and suffers a bit from its older buildings, but Antwerp has won me over and I will definitely be returning as soon as I can.
FINAL SCORE: 4/5
