Thanks for the summary information on the Zoos of the Netherlands! I'm just curious -- IF I were to make a trip to your country and wanted to make sure I visited any Dutch zoo that was among the "Top 50 zoos in Europe", which zoos should I make sure I visit?
I've already seen Artis, but I've long heard good things about Rotterdam, Arnhem, Emmen, and others. I was stunned to see Artis still open to the public at 22:00 when I was there.
Another question: I've heard that politics in the Netherlands lean pretty far to the Left. Thus, how strong is the "zoos are animal prisons" movement in your country?
By the way, maybe you've noticed from my name, but my heritage is Dutch. My ancestors come from Enschede, where my grandfather was born. I think that, before he came to America, his last name was actually "Nijhuis".
I usually lack the wow-factor in Rotterdam, but i can very easily imagine just about everyone else placing it in the top 5 of Europe. When i think of it rationally, it has just about everything a good zoo needs. A collection that could rival any other zoo in europa, some very nice exhibits and some very decent architecture. I personally love Arnhem better, but if a person would say he could only visit one zoo in the Netherlands, i would tell him to go to Rotterdam.
So next is Arnhem. Grandeur, unique and made by somebody with a vision. Not even remotely comparable to anything else I've seen, in my opinion an overwhelming experience the very first visit.
In my opinion, the gap with the rest of Holland is pretty big. But it all depends on what your criteria for great are. I'd say Apenheul and Emmen are definately worth going to, Apenheul only on a sunny day (just about nothing is inside) and Emmen's worth going to, just for Radza alone! (warning about Emmen, if you've seen their Playa pinguinos, every other penguin exhibit after that will look shabby...).
The Dolfinarium only holds something like 8 species but if you want to see how dolphins and walrus should be kept, i'd hop in, see the exhibits and hop out (expensive hop though, something like € 24).
Many other zoo's are very decent indeed (Dolfinarium, Overloon, Beekse Bergen, Amersfoort and Gaiapark are all very nice) and might scrape into the top 50 somewhere along the 40-50 mark, but i doubt it.
About the left-wing, i'd say our zoo's are at such a standard that they seem to leave them alone. Like Icequeen said, it's mostly directed towards our rather large fur industry, the bio-industry and the animal laboraties.
About your name, whenever an american would use an Y, we use a letter that is typed IJ but is written like a cross between ij and y. The pronounciation is a tone not used in english. Nijhuis is also a very common name in Holland, so i'd say there's a 99,9% that you are right (when you first registered, i actually thought you might be Dutch and your name should be written Nijhuis).
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