Zoo, Antwerp

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Located in the Centre of Antwerp right next to the Central Railway Station,the Zoo is the oldest Animal park in Belgium and one of the oldest Zoo's in the World.
The initial objective was to encourage Zoological and Botanical Sciences.The first director was renowned Zoologist 'Jacques Kets',he accepted this positon on one condition:a museum had to built to house his nature-historical collections.This building was inaugurated in 1844 by H.M.King Leopold I.In its early years the park grew bigger and bigger with notable buildings such as The Egyptian Temple and the Antelope House,now home to the Okapis.In 1983 the park was classified as a monument and ten years later in 1993 celebrated its 150th anniversary.The houses over 6000 Animals from 950 species and attracts 1.5 million visitors a year.
opening times:10.00 till 16.45 every day.
Prices:Adults:€22.00,Children(3-17 yrs)/Disabled:€17.00,Children(under 3):free

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I know we visited the zoo in Antwerp. It was near the railway station which had some bomb damage. The zoo is one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843. After the war (and after our visit)the zoo was turned into a model zoo

My father took a lot of time trying to get the male peacock to show his tail, and then he took front and back views.

It is very easy to find the Zoo entrance in Antwerp as it is right next to the central train station which is stunning inside and also worth a look . On the front/right of the station is a Starbucks with very friendly and helpfull staff.In front of the station you will see before you the gold quarter of Antwerp...dont forget to haggle!

We enjoyed special rates upen entering the Zoo as it was Easter monday and we paid E78 for 5 of us. Directly after you hand over your tickets you can get a free map of the Zoo which includes a list of all the attractions and a numbered guide to keep you going the right way without missing anything.. very useful!

The animals seem well kept if a tad bored but the enclosures are clean and the staff and carers can be seen to be doing a good job of keeping the animals safe and given a good diet...they are also presently making strides forward in building new and stimulating environments for them.

The reptile house and the aquarium part are a fair size and very well made.

Watching the antics of the penguins is amusing and the sea lions grace in the water is a wonder to witness.

There are plenty of facilities in the Zoo and the toilets I visited were clean and well stocked, there are plentiful stands to buy an ice cream or a snack and a least 2 souvenier shops.

All in all it was a good first part to our day out and we were there for at least 4 hours in total.

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It is a seperate feeling to see those animals off a different kind in the center of a big city !!
I like the natural free born animals in South Africa or and Namibia.
The natural habitant of this owl is northern Europe
But nevertheless - a zoo has it's scientific importance and worth to visit.
The most interesting Zoo ever i saw in Europe was the Zoo in Berlin (look at my page if you are interested)

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The historic part gives it a nice atmosfere but in some place some renovation wouldn't hurt.
Especially some of the animal exhibits really needed to be updated, just to give the animals more room. But that isn't easy since the zoo is really in the center of the city.

But all in all it's worth a visit, just for an afternoon, or so.

Antwerp Zoo is a located in the centre of Antwerp next to the train station. It is the oldest and largest animal park in the country housing over 5,000 animals of about 950 species. The zoo gets nearly 1.3 million visitors each year. If you like animals visiting this zoo while in Antwerp is a must. It takes a around 5 hours to see everything so arrive as early as possible.

Photographers and art appreciators will delight in several unusual garden features within the zoo gardens. There are some sculptural fighting frogs placed on two sides of a water feature. One father frog with son or daughter frog (I didn't look closely enough to discover which) perched on his shoulders is holding a hose and shooting actual water across the creek towards their adversaries. The opposing upright frog holds an umbrella against the stream of hosed water while the little darling atop his shoulders is definately displaying an unkind gesture, one that parents will recognize but children probably will not. One is charmed at the family fun and then slightly shocked at the human frogish display of temperment. When I dig up those pictures with details I will upload them as quickly as a frog can jump. Extremely amusing.

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The Antwerp Zoo is one of the oldest and most famous zoos in the world. Its location is typical of its nineteenth-century origins. You must set aside at least half a day for a visit because there really is so much to see and do. Penguins in Vriesland, elephants and giraffes in a unique Egyptian temple and a brand new pink villa for the hippos, and their neighbours, the tapirs. More than 6 000 animals await you here.
The Antwerp Zoo has developed an international reputation because of its participation in international breeding programmes for threatened species, such as the okapi, the bonobo, the Golden Lion Tamarin and the Congo peacock.
The Zoo is famous for its scientific research, for instance in Brazil, Congo and Cameroon and guarantees that the animals can spend their lives in the best possible conditions. The buildings and garden have been classified and the Zoo has managed to combine nature and history with modern animal quarters. Depending on the season you can have a bite in one of the three restaurants. But of course, there's nothing to stop you from having a pick nick on a bench.

Opening times:
January-February, November-December: 10.00 - 16.45
March-April, October: 10.00 - 17.30
Mai-June, September 10.00 - 18.00
July-August 10.00 - 19.00
Presentations at the Planetarium: Sundays and Wednesdays around 14.00

Admission fees:
Adults: 15 Euro
3 -11 years: 9.90 Euro
-3 years: free

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Zoo Antwerp is famous. Its located in the citycentre and exists since the year 1843.
The entrance is 16 euro per person and a book about the zoo will cost you 3 euro.
The Zoo is interesting because of the extensiveness and wide variation in animals.

Tip: the penguins and monkeys.

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I prefer to see animals in their natural environment, but for photographing them, a Zoo is much easier then on a safari in Africa. The zoo is a bit small, but there's a lot of variety and the garden is very neat when you visit in april/may as I did. Especially the blossoming chestnuttrees are great in that time of year!