Maguari, from your photos and others in the gallery it looks like this zoo has a very diverse collection and really good exhibits. Is this considered to be one of the "superzoos" of Europe like San Diego, the Bronx, or Disney's Animal Kingdom in the U.S.?
I would say it's fairly widely considered one of the top zoos in Europe, yes. Certainly one of my favourites, and it's hard to think of any serious criticisms you could make.
A more contentious debate - is it the best in the Netherlands? Better than Artis? Haven't been in some years but I'd say probably yes. Better than Emmen? Emmen's very good but I'd certainly give Arnhem the edge. Better than Rotterdam? Hmmm. Very close indeed.
Normally I would give Rotterdam the lead, but at the moment there is so much building and so many blocked-off exhibits at Rotterdam that, even if only for a few months, Arnhem is a more enjoyable visit. On the ferry on the way back from this trip we passed some of the time by voting, Eurovision-style, for the 'most enjoyable zoo visit' of the trip - one point for our least favourite up to fifteen for most enjoyable. Arnhem got a clean sweep of 15s.
An interesting thing about Arnhem is with all the big themed 'ecodisplays' it always feels to me like a rather non-traditional animal collection. Until you look at its species line-up on paper, and find almost all the ABCs present and correct - lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, bears, meerkats, otters, elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, zebras, chimps, gorillas, monkeys, seals, penguins, flamingos, ostriches, pelicans, croc(odilian)s, huge sharks - all present. Just nicely wrapped up in cacomistles, manatees, darters, duikers (two species), hartebeest, jackals and all the others. Perfect.
Previously I've always seen the capys up by the bridge, but they don't seem to be confined there alone; I think on this occasion the manatees' veggies were a bit too tempting!
