There are certainly a lot of indoor exhibits and historic buildings within this urban zoo, including a Planetarium, Biodiversity Centre and Zoological Museum on the same site. According to the book "What Zoos Can Do" there is also a Monkey & Bird House, a Butterfly House, Jungle by Night, Small Mammal House, Elephant House, Aquarium, Gorilla House, Primate House, Giraffe House, Reptile House, Insectarium, Borneo House and Chimpanzee House.
The animal collection is very impressive, with substantial numbers of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, but are the exhibits mainly modern or still a little dated? There is certainly a lot of history at this zoo that is over 170 years old.
The Monkey, Bird, Small Mammal, Insectarium, Aquarium, buttergly and the Borneo House (Metzelaarkas, more a greenhouse then a house) are outstanding. Although the outdoor enclosures of the small mammal house are outdated. The Giraffe, gorilla, reptile are quite oke. Not very special but oke. Only the elephant en chimpanzee houses are a bit on the small side, but especially they are quite ugly . The Jungle by Night closed this year, the animals now live in the monkey house and behind the scenes.
Artis is doing a very good job at the moment in renovating their historic and monumental architecture and improving the living conditions for the animals, but it takes some time. But the newest additions (monkey, bird and butterfly house) are really good!
