Did they always just have the two? Or were there originally more? I remember there being 2.2 at some point if I'm not wrong!!
It is intriguing to read the rankings of Dutch zoos from various individuals on this forum and just to add something to the mix...here are Anthony Sheridan's personal rankings from his 2016 book Zooming in on Europe's Zoos. Since he produced a publication that is almost 500 pages of European zoo analysis then I'll post a small segment of that information here: Category "A" zoos (1 million or more annual visitors): Rotterdam - tied 9th best zoo in Europe Arnhem - 13th best zoo Amsterdam - 16th best zoo Category "B" zoos ((500,000+ visitors) Ouwehands - 10th best zoo (although surely attendance will skyrocket with giant pandas) Emmen - 14th best zoo (old site) Amersfoort - 31st best zoo Beekse Bergen - 34th best zoo Category "C" zoos (250,000+ visitors) Kerkrade - tied 11th best zoo Specialist zoo: Apenheul It seems that the list of Rotterdam, Arnhem, Amsterdam, Ouwehands, Emmen (the old zoo), Amersfoort, Beekse Bergen, Kerkrade and Apenheul gives a fairly accurate group of 9 top-notch Dutch zoos that are pretty much in line with the thoughts of ZooChatters. Harderwijk is another zoo that is highly rated, along with Avifauna, but the new Emmen zoo received a fairy poor review in the latest Zoo Grapevine/International Zoo News publication.
Can you suggest me a 2 week itinerary of NL and nearby parts of Germany and Belgium when those pandas arrive? I already went to all those Category A collections and Avifauna as well as Koeln. I like birds, small mammals, reptiles, aquaria and such.
Just a question about the ranking, is Ouwehands 10th overall or 10th within the category 'B' zoos? I am looking forward to reading that book when I go back to Europe in the summer. I will enjoy muttering angrily about some of the rankings almost as much as I will just reading the vast amount of interesting information.
About the notion of ranking zoos at all, or about Sheridan's approach to it and results? I've never quite understood the opposition to attempts at (personal) rankings.
I don't think anyone (rational) could oppose any attempts at personal rankings; rather, the antipathy towards Mr Sheridan's approach is that he attempts to instil his own rankings with some sort of quasi-scientific rationale, suggesting that there is something "factual", something subjective about them, when, of course, they are simply a reflection of his own feelings, prejudices and preferences.
To the extent that he has claimed that his rankings are an authoritative assessment, that cannot be empirically challenged, I agree. But I don't think there's anything wrong with parts of his approach, which basically boils down to a system of scales for different types of exhibits (and other factors), and weighting the results. I plan to undertake a similar exercise on my imminent European trip. It will certainly be subject to my inherent biases that underpin how I evaluate certain exhibits, but nevertheless I will find it an interesting exercise.
I don't really object to anything about it. I disagree with him at times, but then I imagine I would disagree with everyone on this site if they made a similar attempt. The ensuing discussion is the fun bit! If I were to throw some criticism Sheridan's way, I would say that first of all, having so many parameters 'beneath the surface' that the reader never has explained is very frustrating, and secondly I think such a numeric approach will always produce some real stinkers of results. His ranking system is capable of putting bad zoos with large collections above excellent zoos with small collections, which I disagree with fundamentally. On a separate note, I'd also like to see sealpup's itinerary, which I'm sure they are capable of producing themselves. The suggestion is often made of establishing a base in Utrecht, because of its central location.
Well as well as finishing the itinerary of notable Dutch zoos, or coming closer to it, I hope to see at least Duisberg in Germany and the best of Belgium (Antwerp, Planckandael and Para Daiza). How far to travel from wherever is a matter of public transport timing: overnight travel is uncomfortable but cuts down hotel costs.
I spent some time trying to design a trip that would allow me to visit all the major zoos of what I christened the BeNeRuhr region, as well as enjoy the various historic cities. I concluded that it couldn't be done in a fun way in less than a month. Interested to see what you come up with.
Ouwehands is ranked 10th in the category 'B' zoos. Interestingly, Sheridan's rankings of German zoos or Dutch zoos or any nation's zoos usually falls in line with the opinions of most ZooChatters. Some folks grumble about his lists but in actuality Sheridan comes extremely close to many other people with his choices. His overall "top European zoos" list is almost identical to the lists of zoo nerds that I'm friends with.
...with the difference being that none of those nerds would have the chutzpah, or the hubristic arrogance, to suggest that the lists they provided were anything other than a personal choice based on their prejudices, backgrounds, preferences and idiosyncrasies (well, this nerd would not want his lists to be viewed as anything other than this sort of parlour game, anyway). Anyway, back to the Netherlands....
In the latest Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News magazine (Issue 56, Autumn 2020), there is an interesting article about attendance figures. Here are the 7 Dutch zoos that were mentioned, based on 2019 attendance figures: 1- Blijdorp (Rotterdam) - 1.56 million visitors 2- Artis Amsterdam - 1.4 million 3- Burgers' (Arnhem) - 1.1 million 4- Ouwehands (Rhenen) - 1.06 million 5- Wildlands (Emmen) - 930,000 6- Amersfoort - 900,000 7- GaiaZOO - 505,000 (a record-breaking year) On my European zoo trip in 2019 I visited 43 zoos in the Netherlands: Netherlands: 43 zoos (aquatic facilities are in bold) 1- Stichting AAP (Almere, NL) 2- Almere Jungle (Almere, NL) 3- Natuurpark Lelystad (Lelystad, NL) 4- Artis Royal Zoo (Amsterdam, NL) 5- Dierentuin Animal Farm (Beverwijk, NL) 6- Avonturia de Vogelkelder (The Hague, NL) 7- Sea Life Scheveningen (The Hague, NL) 8- Vlinders aan de Vliet (Leidschendam, NL) 9- Stichting Schildpaddencentrum (Foundation Turtle Center) (Alphen aan den Rijn, NL) 10- Vogelpark Avifauna (Alphen aan den Rijn, NL) 11- Landgoed Hoenderdaell (Anna Paulowna, NL) 12- Fort Kijkduin Aquarium (Huisduinen, NL) 13- Van Blanckendaell Park (Tuitjenhorn, NL) 14- Bergen aan Zee Aquarium (Bergen aan Zee, NL) 15- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam, NL) 16- Familiepark Plaswijckpark (Rotterdam, NL) 17- Faunapark Flakkee (Nieuwe-Tonge,NL) 18- Deltapark Neeltje Jans Aquarium (Neeltje Jans, NL) 19- Berkenhof’s Tropical Zoo (Kwadendamme, NL) 20- Reptielen Zoo Iguana (Vlissingen, NL) 21- Het Arsenaal Aquarium (Vlissingen, NL) 22- GaiaZOO (Kerkrade, NL) 23- Mondo Verde (Landgraaf, NL) 24- BestZOO (Best, NL) 25- Zoo Veldhoven (Veldhoven, NL) 26- Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Nuenen, NL) 27- Klein Costa Rica (Someren, NL) 28- Dierenpark Zie-ZOO (Volkel, NL) 29- Beekse Bergen (Hilvarenbeek, NL) 30- Dierenpark de Oliemeulen (Tilburg, NL) 31- Reptile House de Aarde (Breda, NL) 32- Vogelopvangcentrum Breda (Breda, NL) 33- De Eekhoorn (The Squirrel) Experience (De Evenaar, NL) 34- De Bosruiter (Sprundel, NL) 35- ZooParc Overloon (Overloon, NL) 36- De Paay (Beesd, NL) 37- Aquazoo Leerdam (Leerdam, NL) 38- Ouwehands Dierenpark (Rhenen, NL) 39- Apenheul Primate Park (Apeldoorn, NL) 40- Dolfinarium Harderwijk (Harderwijk, NL) 41- Burgers' Zoo (Arnhem, NL) 42- Wildlands Adventure Zoo Emmen (Emmen, NL) 43- Dierenpark Amersfoort (Amersfoort, NL)
I think almost all zoos have something unique worth visiting Burger's zoo has the desert hall and mangrove dome that are simply spectacular. As well as a beautiful and huge aquarium Amersfoort has a glorious walkthrough nocturnal house, as well as a very large walkthrough aviary and a lemur walkthrough with the most curious lemurs I've ever encountered (They will set on your shoulders as soon as you sit down) Blijdorp has one of the most impressive aquariums in the country, WILDLANDS might not be too impressive, but it certainly has some of the biggest enclosures Ouwehands is not that spectacular, but has the best panda enclosure worldwide (According to China) Apenheul might be a bit specific to primates, but has one of the biggest and best gorilla enclosures worldwide, as well as a beautiful barbary macaque walkthrough Beekse Bergen has a colossal and immersive savannah, as well as many different ways to experience it (Boat safari, car safari, etc) Zoo bizar is incredibly small, and you won't be there for much longer than an hour, but the free-roaming armadillos are adorable little balls of energy that you can pet and honestly it's still worth it There are some zoos that I can't speak for, as I haven't actually been there (GAIAzoo, Zoo park Overloon, BestZoo). But they're still beautiful and on my bucket list
New article about the Top 10 of Dutch zoos : Dierentuinen: 10 best zoos in the Netherlands I found it a little strange that 3 zoos are mentioned which hardly any ZooChatter would consider a Top 10 Zoo ( Sea Life Scheveningen, Pieterburen Seal Sanctuary and Ecomar Texel ) and a few others which surely belong to the Top 10 are not listed like Avifauna, Ouwehand and Amersfoort...
