Official Description

Breeding successes

It soon became obvious that the primates appreciated Apenheul as much as the visitors did. In – or because of – their great freedom of movement, the animals formed perfect social groups and many offspring were born and reared naturally by their own mothers. Even with species which, until then, had been considered ‘difficult’ to keep, did Apenheul achieve spectacular successes.

Largest gorillatroop in the zooworld

That was a good reason for Apenheul to expand and acquire more species. In 1976 the first gorilla’s arrived on a spacious island (1,5 hectare) and three years later, in 1979, the first baby was born. In those early days it was still unique if a gorillamother nursed her own baby. At Apenheul natural mothercare was normal since the very beginning. Since 1979 no less than 35 gorillababy’s were born and raised in the Apenheul gorillatroop that nowadays counts 18 animals and is one of the largest and most natural social haremtroops in the zoo-world. Gorilla’s born in Apeldoorn are known to have exellent ‘gorilla-manners’ and now live in zoos all over Europe and beyond (The Netherlands, Germany, England, Switzerland, Israel and even Australia).

Orang-utans and bonobo’s

Since 1995 the park started a large development again. Since then a lot has changed and many new primate species have arrived. Among them is a group of bonobo’s (11 animals) where two babies were born already since their arrival in 1998. In the summer of 1999 a revolutionary exhibit for orang utans was opened. No less than 8 islands with hundreds of trees and over 10 km of ropes and nets surround the large indoor exhibit. This living-area provides the 7 inhabitants with endless possibilities to climb. The exhibit enables the keepers to constantly challenge the animals to use their great intelligence by regularly creating new routes to the islands where the best food is hidden.

Education and Conservation

Since 1986 Apenheul Primate Park is a foundation that invests its profits in nature-education and (in-situ) conservation. Through the years, Apenheul Primate Park has acquired an important position within the international zoo community. Apenheul is a member of the Dutch- (NVD, http://www.nvdzoos.nl), European- (EAZA, http://www.eaza.net) and Worldwide Federation of Zoos (WAZA, http://www.wzo.org) and plays an important role in the international breedingprogrammes for gorilla’s, bonobo’s, woolly monkeys and many other endangered primate species.

Visitor Reviews

Review posted by Caroline Berkhof

Species List