Artis Zoo Amsterdam; the good, bad and the ugly

We recently enjoyed a mini break in one of my favourite places, Amsterdam. In the past, we'd visited (pre children) and had visited many of the main attractions; Anne Frank Museum, Van Gough Museum, Rembrandt etc. However, this time we were seeking out some more family friendly activities. We'd looked online and the Artis Royal Zoo seemed to have quite positive reviews, so we planned our trip there.

Priced at €19.95 an adult, €16.50 for a child and free for under 3s, it was quite a reasonably priced day out. On the whole, we enjoyed our day. Noah loved the giraffes and their more modern enclosure was clean, secure and well planned. 

However, I was rather heavy hearted after viewing the lions. After seeing animals in the wild in Kenya and the wide expanse that they had, it upset me to think that these animals had such a limited space and witnessed such a lack of activity from them. I don't know the history of how they came to live at the zoo, but I believe firmly that their enclosure needs a complete redesign and thought for their long term wellbeing needs to be at the forefront of the zoo keepers minds. 

This was also very much the same for the elephants. Unhappy animals that were pacing around the enclosure with very little stimulation.

The zoo is quite a traditional and old zoo, so I appreciate that guidelines and expectations would have been a little different years ago. However, Artis need to review this. As a result, I don't think I'd return to visit the zoo and seek out alternative places to visit on our next trip.