Dutch Zoos -Information Needed (Please)

S

Shorts

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I'd be very grateful if some of our Dutch members could advise me re the following.

I'm coming over for a holiday in The Netherlands very shortly and (being based in Arnhem) I'm planning to visit most of the following zoos:

Harderwijk
Epe/Wissel/Animal Exchange
Apenheul
Best
NOP/Veldhoven
Burgers (of course)
Rhenen/Ouwehand
Owls De Paays

My questions, to assist in planning which zoo to visit on which day, are which (if any) zoos are too crowded/busy at weekends and which (if any) zoos are more suitable than others to visit if it's raining.

(I'm also visiting Blijdorp but that date is fixed by ferry and Rotterdam accommodation).

Many, many thanks for your responses.
 
Let's see...

When it's raining, i'd say Burgers' would be best. Together with Harderwijk and Ouwehands it's the best on the list for a rainy day.

Apenheul is located in a protected park and therefore not permitted to build too much roofing in their park, so I'd avoid that when it's rainy together with Dierenpark Wissel (Epe). Relatively handy, as Wissel and Apenheul are located near each other and together doable in one day.

The only Zoos to avoid on a really busy day would be Burgers' and Harderwijk. Both parking facilities can clog up, although if you arrive early enough you'd be OK. At Harderwijk, you might end up missing one or two shows because it's full. Usually though, the real busy time is between 12 and 15 and as long as you rough out that time you'd be ok before and after that.

edit: Mind that Duisburg is within an hour drive from Arnhem and i'm missing Overloon on your list ;)
 
Many thanks for your comprehensive and useful reply, that's Burgers' and Harderwijk being visited on a weekday then:).

jwer said:
Mind that Duisburg is within an hour drive from Arnhem and i'm missing Overloon on your list ;)
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I visited Duisburg in 2010 along with all the other major "Ruhr valley" zoos (great they were too). I'm aware how close they are and initially was a little tempted to cram in a visit but choosing just one would be next to impossible. To avoid the dilemma I decided just to stick with Dutch zoos on this holiday (I don't know when my next Dutch visit will be so I thought it best to visit as many as I can on this trip).

Unfortunately Overloon didn't make the shortlist (judged on proximity, history, feedback from others and obscure species). Amersfoort also didn't make it (just) and (rather stupidly with hindsight) I wasn't that sure on Apenheul until they got Proboscis Monkeys (after which it was a 100% certainty).
 
You are also missing Gaiapark from the list
I also have done several NRW zoo trips and Gaia was an easy train/bus ride away, I'd imagine it's even easier from Arnhem. I liked the place, but just a thought.....
 
chizlit said:
You are also missing Gaiapark from the list
I also have done several NRW zoo trips and Gaia was an easy train/bus ride away, I'd imagine it's even easier from Arnhem. I liked the place, but just a thought.....
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We're doing a similar trip later in the year and have also excluded Gaiapark - being stuck right down in the Maastricht corner of the Netherlands it's actually closer to the NRW zoos than most of the other Dutch ones so I'm sure it will get fitted in with a Ruhr trip at some point!
 
I was guessing you where ruling out Gaiapark, Artis and Emmen on a distance base. Shame you can't fit in Emmen though, it's kinda getting a "last chance to see" ;)
 
jwer said:
I was guessing you where ruling out Gaiapark, Artis and Emmen on a distance base. Shame you can't fit in Emmen though, it's kinda getting a "last chance to see" ;)
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You've read my mind. I hope to visit Artis as part of some future "long weekend" visit to Amsterdam and Emmen along with Walsrode and other nearby zoos at some future date.
 
Curious why Amersfoort (which kinda is a full blown Zoo) didn't make it and De Paay (which is more like hobby that went out of hand) did. Just for the grison and the lesser mara?

Amersfoort new elephant barn and "De Nacht" (night-exhibit) really is worth seeing, allthough i agree it's curator isn't into the most obscure species.

Also mind that Emmen will be completely destroyed and rebuild on a different location before 2015 and that it's much easier to reach from Arnhem then from the Hannover/Hamburg area. (sorry i'm messing your plans up like this :))
 
jwer said:
Curious why Amersfoort (which kinda is a full blown Zoo) didn't make it and De Paay (which is more like hobby that went out of hand) did. Just for the grison and the lesser mara?

Amersfoort new elephant barn and "De Nacht" (night-exhibit) really is worth seeing, allthough i agree it's curator isn't into the most obscure species.
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Again, you're reading my mind re De Paay (the only Greater Grisson in Europe and the attached bragging rights:D is quite a draw) though that and Rhenen will only be visited if time and energies permit.

Amersfoort was on the "reserves" shortlist along with Rhenen/Ouwehands, neither prime objectives due to lack of obscure species. Amersfoort was leading, due to a personal recommendation, until I found out Polar Bear twins had been born at Rhenen/Ouwehands -given the rarity of Polar Bears and bear cubs (of any species) in the UK this tipped the scales to Rhenen/Ouwehands.
 
When you visit Apenheul en de Wissel at the same day, visit de Wissel first, because it is much smaller than Apenheul and after about 2 hours you have seen it there, where the Apenheul can take up to a whole day if you like monkeys, although 4-5 hours is also enough. With red howlers as additions this year and some mistery species to come, Apenheul is even more a must...

Even with Polar bear cubs I personnaly find Ouwehands quite boring, except the two bear enclosures they have no great exhibits and rarities are very rare, with only the black eagles and some hornbills. I find Amersfoort a much more pleasant zoo than Ouwehands, with some nice theme area's, a suberb elephant enclosure and a very nice walktrough night-exhibit.

de Paay is a nice little hobby zoo, but nothing to special, although they keep nice animals as hoopoo, red river hog, grisons, kea, lesser mara and a really good owl collection. It could easily be combined with Ouwehands on one day, but less good with Amersfoort.

I would also recommend visiting Emmen, over de Paay and Ouwehands. As the park is getting a " last chance to see" and it really is a zoo that is still very good with large enclosures and most of the times large groups of animals (9 hippo's, 10+ elephants, 25+ impala, 120+ baboons, 100+ penguins, large group of naked mole rats etc.). Although it has not much real rarities the park is really worth a visit.
 
lintworm said:
When you visit Apenheul en de Wissel at the same day, visit de Wissel first, because it is much smaller than Apenheul and after about 2 hours you have seen it there, where the Apenheul can take up to a whole day if you like monkeys, although 4-5 hours is also enough. With red howlers as additions this year and some mistery species to come, Apenheul is even more a must...
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Thanks for that advice, revised my itinerary accordingly.

lintworm said:
Even with Polar bear cubs I personnaly find Ouwehands quite boring, except the two bear enclosures they have no great exhibits and rarities are very rare, with only the black eagles and some hornbills. I find Amersfoort a much more pleasant zoo than Ouwehands, with some nice theme area's, a suberb elephant enclosure and a very nice walktrough night-exhibit.

de Paay is a nice little hobby zoo, but nothing to special, although they keep nice animals as hoopoo, red river hog, grisons, kea, lesser mara and a really good owl collection. It could easily be combined with Ouwehands on one day, but less good with Amersfoort.
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I hear what you're saying but bear cubs are a big draw (for me personally). Though my decision is moving towards equi-distance between the two options (I do like a nice Nocturnal House and Amersfoort have, another favourite, hyenas) the fact that Ouwehands have a guide book and it being closer to de Paay keep it having the edge.

lintworm said:
I would also recommend visiting Emmen, over de Paay and Ouwehands. As the park is getting a " last chance to see" and it really is a zoo that is still very good with large enclosures and most of the times large groups of animals (9 hippo's, 10+ elephants, 25+ impala, 120+ baboons, 100+ penguins, large group of naked mole rats etc.). Although it has not much real rarities the park is really worth a visit.
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Sounds good but the distance is too far (I'm not used to driving on the right hand side of the road and want to minimise travelling and eliminate risks for myself and the Dutch population:D). Maybe next time.......
 
@Shorts, by train it would take you 2 hours to get to Emmen from Arnhem and it is a 5 minute walk from the train station, so it is easily doable by train :p.
 
zoolander said:
what did you think of Rotterdam today?
the takin left as far as i know
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Sorry for the lateness of my response, a combination of internet access issues (now resolved) and being busy visitring more Dutch zoos:D.

It was great to meet you on Friday and good to chat.

In summary, with the qualification that this is only my second trip to Europe visiting zoos (and I've not been to Berlin yet, hopefully next year), Rotterdam is the best zoo I've ever visited. It is quite a bit ahead of the best the UK has to offer (I'm being gentle to UK zoos there). It's a great combination of common and rarer displayed displayed species and they are pretty much all exhibited very, very well. The only exhibit that I think is probably outdated is the Lion one (though, being fascinated by zoo history, I love the architecture of it).

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the Takin but I did get to see the exhibit (I'm not sure whether I should have gone through the gate to the left of the toilets to get close-up but it wasn't locked so I assume it was okay to do so) which, as you said, is falling apart. I did get to see an extremely obese Rhesus Macaque though:). I can't really complain on not seeing the Takin as it's the nature of zoo visiting that you very rarely get to see absolutely everything you want and I had seen a big load of "new to me" animals.

I could go on praising the place for a long time (I loved some of the quirky "over water" paths and the Riverhaul is very special) but I have a lot of photos to edit and label. In summary it's a fantastic zoo, a total credit to The Netherlands, and anyone in the UK (or Europe) who's into zoos should try to visit. I did and my mind was blown.

Final point, it's very hard to "do" the whole zoo in one day (I felt I was rushing around the Riverhaul and other areas a little) and might be more enjoyable to do at a slightly more leisurely place over one and a half days.
 
My last visit to Rotterdam was the only visit i wasn't disappointed about the place because I liked most of the things that had changed or where rebuild since the previous visit.

But seeing the praise of just about anyone else that visits it, I'm probably kinda weird...

Wonder how you like Burgers', because I hold it higher then Rotterdam.

Fun to read these short reviews on zoos that i know pretty well though, so keep it coming :)
 
jwer said:
My last visit to Rotterdam was the only visit i wasn't disappointed about the place because I liked most of the things that had changed or where rebuild since the previous visit.
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Don't forget we are spoiled little bastards. I have been dissappointed with Blijdorp as well lately, but I fear my problem is that I compare Blijdorp with itself and that I don't like how the collection is developping (especially with the Rivierahall being emptied at the moment.)

But Shorts ignore those Dutchies and keep the reviews coming.
 
I feel the same as the other dutchies here, with the last visits to blijdorp getting more a disappointment than a real pleasure, because of the choices being made there and certain species being phased out. But it is still a top zoo, when looking to the current collection and exhibits, but is has been better in my opinion :p.

looking forward to your other reviews, especially Apenheul and Burgers, which are about my favourite Dutch zoos ;).
 
jwer said:
Fun to read these short reviews on zoos that i know pretty well though, so keep it coming :)
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Don't worry, the reviews (of all zoos visited) will be coming once I've made a few adjustments to the zoo visit/energy/photo sorting/zoo chat posting equation:).
 
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