Zoo Rating: Aqua Zoo Friesland

Aqua Zoo Friesland

Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

 

About the zoo

In 1993 AquaLutra Leeuwarden opened its doors. Things weren’t going all too well, so the park closed and later reopend in 2003 as Aqua Zoo Friesland and as part of Zodiac Zoos. The zoo houses about 85 species.

 1. Species

At first sight the zoo doesn’t seem to have many special species, but when having a closer look, you’ll see that the South American fur seals, Canadian beavers, raccoon dogs, Ocelots and their Venezuelan red howler monkeys are quite special, at least in The Netherlands. The zoo doesn’t really house big species, and don’t have many of the regular zoo animals.

Score: 7.5

2. Animal welfare

Wherever you look, you’ll always see young animals at Aqua Zoo, which shows a good care for their animals. Each species have got a spacious enclosure, sometimes so big that’s it hard to spot the animals.

Score: 7.5

3. Construction

Aqua Zoo is quite forested, sometimes even a bit overgrown. Having a lot of plants in each enclosure, it might be quite hard to spot the animals. With a lot of trees, the zoo even looks somewhat dark. The enclosures are of a good quality, but not all of them look that appealing, but quite simple.

Score: 6

4. Accomodations

The zoo isn’t that big, so it only has one restaurant. It’s the only toilet building in the zoo aswell. The zoo is divided into two ‘trails’, with both starting and ending at the restaurant. Though, when halfway at a trail, you surely need to walk a bit before getting there.

Score: 6

5. Education

With the exception of the zoo signs, you won’t find that much education at Aqua Zoo.

Score: 5.5

6. Interaction

The zoo has three big walkthrough enclosures, one walkthrough house and an underwater viewing, so you can interact with the animals. Next to that, they also have a birdshow.

Score: 7.5

 

Total Score: 6.7

Aqua Zoo Friesland probably isn’t a zoo youll visit regularly, but when you do there’s enough to see. With a big variation of animals, you will easily enjoy youself there for a day.

Gerben, 10/05/14