With the good old Emmen Zoo ( Noorder Dierenpark Emmen ) in mind I was hoping the earlier this year opened Wildlands Adventure Zoo would be at least as good and maybe even better as the old Zoo when I was standing in front of this new Zoo last Sunday.
The entrance-building was impressing as was the entrance price ( Euro 30 ! ).
Afterpaying this you come on a large square - the Compass Square. From here you can start to take one of the 3 routes into the 3 main areas : Nortica, Senenga and Jungola. On the borders of this square several shops and restaurants are placed.
Because the weather forecast had said that it would rain a little that day and it still wasn't raining I dicidedto do first the outside-parts of the Zoo and so I went on to Nortica. The first enclosure here is a harbour-like enclosure for South American fur seals. On the other side of this harbour there Arctic 1 - an interactive movie-theater and if I'm informed right here an informative and interactive movie about the ( Ant)arctic is shown. However, because I don't go to zoos to view movies but want to see the real thing I didn't went in and I don't can tell if it is good or bad.
I went further along Harbour like and rocky enclosures for the fur seals and Californian sea lions with which also shows are preformed. A large enclosure for Humboldt penguins realy looked good and through 2 barren containers conected with each-other you come to another - smaller square with several smaller shops and restaurants. Here also the enclosure for the Polar bears can be found and althrough the enclosure is not bad, I didn't liked it. The 3 Polar bears I saw were very active and althrough the water wasn't very clear I had some good underwater-views through the windows which are placed in a way that you can see the animals both under and above waterlevel. Along some by-pass ways you again went back to the entrance of Nortica and I must say I didn't realy liked this area : to many commercial items and only 4 animal-species is in my eyes to little for a zoo !
Now we are back on the Compass square and because it still didn't rain (
) I went to the second out-door area this being Senenga, an area devoted to the animal-life of the drier areas of our planet. You enter this area through a large african-looking building in which there is an indoor-enclosure for a nice group of Dwarf mongoose. The enclosure looked a little strange but the animals were very active and I even saw the young which were among the first animals born in this young Zoo. After leaving this building you find yourself in an African village which is partly a petting-zoo with several walk-through goat-enclosures. For the kids this is realy fun ( don't know how the goats think about it ) but for a ZooChatter this isn't an area to spend to much time so I went on and entered another walk-through area this time filled with Prairi dogs. This walk-through is realy large and nicely done and Prairi dogs are populair by the big public and I also like them. The ones here were everywhere and very active.
After this walk-through you enter again a small square with a ice-selling car and other commercial thingies, a playing ground ( with gold-digger tower and sand box ) and then we come to a very barren Hippo-enclosure.
From different viewing-points you can look in the enclosure but I only could discover in the farest corner of the enclosure an Hippo-back half out of the water
. There is however also tunnel in which you can view the Hippos underwater. The water was however so unclear that it was here also impossible to see anything - even not an animal the size of an Hippo !
Next to the Hippo enclosure the is the relative green enclosure for some Red-necked wallabies and a quite large enclosure for Guinea pigs.
Next to the Guinea pigs a way goes down to a large indoor-playing ground but I left that on my right side - didn't feel the need of playing - and went on to the next enclosure. This was the Asian desert plain and here a group of Bactrian camels and a small group of Onagers ( saw 3 adults and a foal ). Trough this enclosure and through the next to it laying African plain a Safari-truck is driving and for the visitors this is big fun, for the animals I guess its every time a disturbance.
At the other side of the path along the Asian desert plain there is the large enclosure for the Lions. The Lions tried ( quite succesfully ) to hide and did where they are best in - sleeping and resting !
Now we have reached the big African plain and some intresting animals are living here together - ostrich, zebra, giraffe, white rhino, blue wildebeest and impala ). I found the African plain to barren and it didn't give me the old "Emmen-feeling" . Along this enclosure again a small square with a small farm with some domestic cattle and again some shops and restaurants. Funny was the was also a small group of visitors getting a drum course. Here is also the entree for the Safari-truck drive but looking at the row of people standing already waiting I dicided that I wanted to spend the next hour NOT standing in such a row so I went further. Now we have reached the far end of the park and here a large temple is home to a very large group of Hamadryas baboons and they and the enclosure looked realy fine.
Along the other side of the African plain and the Asian desert plain
( the way partly going through some busses which were connected with each other ) we ended up again at the Wallaby-enclosure. We walk the way back now to the entrance / exit of Senenga and are also again on the Compass square. From here we now went to the third and last area Jungola.
The first enclosure here is an Asian temple building and by entering it we find a large enclosure in which some real large Reticulated pythons are living. After this we enter a Free-flight area for Butterflies and there were a lot of them ! Also here a open-topped enclosure for the Chinese alligators and some turtles and a large aquarium with freshwater-fish from Asia ( and Australia ? ). This walk-through is realy nicely done, well-planted and with a nice collection of animals - I found it the best part of the zoo !
After leaving this building we walk along the large outdoor-enclosure of Emmens famous Asian elephant-herd and outside I counted 4 animals - among them the large bull with large tuskers. Along this way again a small square with - yes you guessed it, some shops and restaurants !
At the end of the path we enter the largest tropical hall in Europe ( at least that is what they claim ) and I must say : it is large !
First part of the hall is a free-flight area for birds and althrough there should be Touracos, starlings and pheasant pigeons ( among others ) inhere I only saw 1 Java sparrow, 2 Victoria crowned pigeons and coundless Rainbow lorikeets - for which you can by nectar at a small shop in the walk-through !
Next part of the hall is a walk-through for Ring-tailed lemurs and along a small river we walk along some islands in this river which are home to a small group of Spider monkeys and White-handed gibbons.
At the end of the hall again a squire with - you got it - shops, restaurants and the standard crashted aeroplain ! From here you can also view the indoor-elephant enclosure which is huge and there were 2 smaller animals during my visit inside. Also near this squire is the place were you can went into small boats to take a ride on the river along the monkey-islands and the elephant indoor enclosure.
Here again a waiting-row to become affrais off so no river-ride for me !
Along the other side of the hall you enter the exit of the hall and along the other side of the elephant-outdoor enclosure you come to the last animal-enclosure, a nice exhibit for Asian small-clawed otters.
Because I knew Emmen should also have some Green turtles and I hadn't seen them I asked a volontaire and he told me they were in the indoor-playing ground in Serenga so I went for a second time into Serenga and headed to the playing-ground. Here indeed a large but barren Sea-aquarium is home to 3 Green turtles and a nice collection of marine fishes.
Now I had seen it all and could went home. Because I was by train I had lots of time ( 5 hours to be exactly ! ) to think about the things I had seen I came to the conclusion that :
- it's ways to expensive !
- the number of animals and even more the number of species is ways to small for a zoo of this size
- it's ways to commercial - some shops and restaurants is Okey but here it realy is reducilous !
- ways to little education - a point in which the old zoo was SO good !
As already told in other threads on this forum I loved the old zoo and the feeling it gave me. The new zoo lackes this completly. For the enormous amount of money spend on this place I had expected a world-class zoo but that is surtainly not the case. Maybe ( and hopefully )it will improve in time but I'm affraid that it will not and I also fear that it won't survaive for a real long time. Emmen is far away of the more populated areas of the Netherlands and there is to little offered for the money you have to pay to get in.......
( will up-load photos of my visit in the Emmen Zoo ( new ) Gallery soon )
The entrance-building was impressing as was the entrance price ( Euro 30 ! ).
Afterpaying this you come on a large square - the Compass Square. From here you can start to take one of the 3 routes into the 3 main areas : Nortica, Senenga and Jungola. On the borders of this square several shops and restaurants are placed.
Because the weather forecast had said that it would rain a little that day and it still wasn't raining I dicidedto do first the outside-parts of the Zoo and so I went on to Nortica. The first enclosure here is a harbour-like enclosure for South American fur seals. On the other side of this harbour there Arctic 1 - an interactive movie-theater and if I'm informed right here an informative and interactive movie about the ( Ant)arctic is shown. However, because I don't go to zoos to view movies but want to see the real thing I didn't went in and I don't can tell if it is good or bad.
I went further along Harbour like and rocky enclosures for the fur seals and Californian sea lions with which also shows are preformed. A large enclosure for Humboldt penguins realy looked good and through 2 barren containers conected with each-other you come to another - smaller square with several smaller shops and restaurants. Here also the enclosure for the Polar bears can be found and althrough the enclosure is not bad, I didn't liked it. The 3 Polar bears I saw were very active and althrough the water wasn't very clear I had some good underwater-views through the windows which are placed in a way that you can see the animals both under and above waterlevel. Along some by-pass ways you again went back to the entrance of Nortica and I must say I didn't realy liked this area : to many commercial items and only 4 animal-species is in my eyes to little for a zoo !
Now we are back on the Compass square and because it still didn't rain (
) I went to the second out-door area this being Senenga, an area devoted to the animal-life of the drier areas of our planet. You enter this area through a large african-looking building in which there is an indoor-enclosure for a nice group of Dwarf mongoose. The enclosure looked a little strange but the animals were very active and I even saw the young which were among the first animals born in this young Zoo. After leaving this building you find yourself in an African village which is partly a petting-zoo with several walk-through goat-enclosures. For the kids this is realy fun ( don't know how the goats think about it ) but for a ZooChatter this isn't an area to spend to much time so I went on and entered another walk-through area this time filled with Prairi dogs. This walk-through is realy large and nicely done and Prairi dogs are populair by the big public and I also like them. The ones here were everywhere and very active.After this walk-through you enter again a small square with a ice-selling car and other commercial thingies, a playing ground ( with gold-digger tower and sand box ) and then we come to a very barren Hippo-enclosure.
From different viewing-points you can look in the enclosure but I only could discover in the farest corner of the enclosure an Hippo-back half out of the water
. There is however also tunnel in which you can view the Hippos underwater. The water was however so unclear that it was here also impossible to see anything - even not an animal the size of an Hippo !Next to the Hippo enclosure the is the relative green enclosure for some Red-necked wallabies and a quite large enclosure for Guinea pigs.
Next to the Guinea pigs a way goes down to a large indoor-playing ground but I left that on my right side - didn't feel the need of playing
- and went on to the next enclosure. This was the Asian desert plain and here a group of Bactrian camels and a small group of Onagers ( saw 3 adults and a foal ). Trough this enclosure and through the next to it laying African plain a Safari-truck is driving and for the visitors this is big fun, for the animals I guess its every time a disturbance.At the other side of the path along the Asian desert plain there is the large enclosure for the Lions. The Lions tried ( quite succesfully ) to hide and did where they are best in - sleeping and resting !
Now we have reached the big African plain and some intresting animals are living here together - ostrich, zebra, giraffe, white rhino, blue wildebeest and impala ). I found the African plain to barren and it didn't give me the old "Emmen-feeling" . Along this enclosure again a small square with a small farm with some domestic cattle and again some shops and restaurants. Funny was the was also a small group of visitors getting a drum course. Here is also the entree for the Safari-truck drive but looking at the row of people standing already waiting I dicided that I wanted to spend the next hour NOT standing in such a row so I went further. Now we have reached the far end of the park and here a large temple is home to a very large group of Hamadryas baboons and they and the enclosure looked realy fine.
Along the other side of the African plain and the Asian desert plain
( the way partly going through some busses which were connected with each other ) we ended up again at the Wallaby-enclosure. We walk the way back now to the entrance / exit of Senenga and are also again on the Compass square. From here we now went to the third and last area Jungola.
The first enclosure here is an Asian temple building and by entering it we find a large enclosure in which some real large Reticulated pythons are living. After this we enter a Free-flight area for Butterflies and there were a lot of them ! Also here a open-topped enclosure for the Chinese alligators and some turtles and a large aquarium with freshwater-fish from Asia ( and Australia ? ). This walk-through is realy nicely done, well-planted and with a nice collection of animals - I found it the best part of the zoo !
After leaving this building we walk along the large outdoor-enclosure of Emmens famous Asian elephant-herd and outside I counted 4 animals - among them the large bull with large tuskers. Along this way again a small square with - yes you guessed it, some shops and restaurants !
At the end of the path we enter the largest tropical hall in Europe ( at least that is what they claim ) and I must say : it is large !
First part of the hall is a free-flight area for birds and althrough there should be Touracos, starlings and pheasant pigeons ( among others ) inhere I only saw 1 Java sparrow, 2 Victoria crowned pigeons and coundless Rainbow lorikeets - for which you can by nectar at a small shop in the walk-through !
Next part of the hall is a walk-through for Ring-tailed lemurs and along a small river we walk along some islands in this river which are home to a small group of Spider monkeys and White-handed gibbons.
At the end of the hall again a squire with - you got it - shops, restaurants and the standard crashted aeroplain ! From here you can also view the indoor-elephant enclosure which is huge and there were 2 smaller animals during my visit inside. Also near this squire is the place were you can went into small boats to take a ride on the river along the monkey-islands and the elephant indoor enclosure.
Here again a waiting-row to become affrais off so no river-ride for me !
Along the other side of the hall you enter the exit of the hall and along the other side of the elephant-outdoor enclosure you come to the last animal-enclosure, a nice exhibit for Asian small-clawed otters.
Because I knew Emmen should also have some Green turtles and I hadn't seen them I asked a volontaire and he told me they were in the indoor-playing ground in Serenga so I went for a second time into Serenga and headed to the playing-ground. Here indeed a large but barren Sea-aquarium is home to 3 Green turtles and a nice collection of marine fishes.
Now I had seen it all and could went home. Because I was by train I had lots of time ( 5 hours to be exactly ! ) to think about the things I had seen I came to the conclusion that :
- it's ways to expensive !
- the number of animals and even more the number of species is ways to small for a zoo of this size
- it's ways to commercial - some shops and restaurants is Okey but here it realy is reducilous !
- ways to little education - a point in which the old zoo was SO good !
As already told in other threads on this forum I loved the old zoo and the feeling it gave me. The new zoo lackes this completly. For the enormous amount of money spend on this place I had expected a world-class zoo but that is surtainly not the case. Maybe ( and hopefully )it will improve in time but I'm affraid that it will not and I also fear that it won't survaive for a real long time. Emmen is far away of the more populated areas of the Netherlands and there is to little offered for the money you have to pay to get in.......
( will up-load photos of my visit in the Emmen Zoo ( new ) Gallery soon )
) and completely zoo-unworthy. There are some onride clips of the show on Youtube, I'll put the link to one of them here (
