Diergaarde Blijdorp

Rotterdam's zoo moved to its present site in 1940, laid out by the architect Sybold van Ravesteyn in a distinctive curving modernist manner with decorative ironwork, and the entrance building, the Rivierahal and several enclosures are protected monuments in their own right - unusual for zoo architecture. The site is divided by a railway cutting into an Asian and an African half, connected by a tunnel. Blijdorp is known for breeding programmes in red pandas, Asian elephants and okapi, and for the Oceanium, a walk-through marine building opened in 2001 following a route from Canadian coast through kelp forest to a Caribbean reef, with a tunnel under the shark tank. The zoo has moved away from small enclosures over decades and rebuilt most of them; some older structures remain and are visibly of their period, which the zoo acknowledges.

History

In 1855 a garden for pheasants and waterfowl was set up near the Kruiskade in central Rotterdam, and on 18 May 1857 the Rotterdamsche Diergaarde opened as its successor, with the animal trainer Henri Martin as first director; in 1937 it was decided to move the zoo to a new site, and it celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2007 (Wikipedia, Diergaarde Blijdorp).

Highlights

• Listed zoo architecture - Van Ravesteyn's 1940 buildings protected as monuments.
• A walk-through Oceanium - Canadian coast to Caribbean reef with a shark tunnel.
• Breeding programmes - red panda, Asian elephant and okapi among them.
• A site split by a railway - Asian and African halves joined by a tunnel.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Practical notes

Very busy in school holidays and at weekends. Some older enclosures remain and look their age. It is a zoo, with the welfare questions that raises. Parking is limited; the metro is better.

Nearby

Rotterdam's centre is south; the Depot Boijmans is in Museumpark.

Key facts