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The visitors can reach Artis Zoo by NS’ train (Dutch Railways), tram, metro or canal boat. From Schiphol Airport, NS train will take you to Amsterdam Central in just 15 minutes. Trams 6, 9 and 14 from Waterlooplein Station will easily take you to the zoo. During the summer the visitors can avail canal boat, Artis Express, from Amsterdam Central Station.

Route

The route indicated on the map in the zoo guide will direct you through the Children’s Farm, the Gibbon Island, the Small Mammal House, the elephants, Wolf Wood, the Artis Aquarium, the Penguin Rock, the Californian Sea Lions, Polar Bears, Artis Insect House, Gorillas, the European Bison, the African Savannah, the giraffes and the springboks, the Artis Geological Museum and the Artis Planetarium.

You can also proceed through the Artis sculpture route that will direct you along 50 sculptures of different artists laid throughout the zoological garden. Sculptures by famous Dutch artists such as Jaap Kaas and Arie Teeuwisse along with Tengenenge art can be witnessed following the sculpture route. Some of the historical works donated by members of the Royal Zoological Society are also in display, here.

Parking

Safe and secured car parking area is available near the zoo with provisions for limited number of cars.

Opening Time

The opening and closing times of the Zoo are as follows:
9.00 a.m.- 5.00 p.m. daily
9.00 a.m.- 6.00 p.m. during summer

Visitors Guide

A Guide Book worth Euro 2.50 can be availed from the Zoo ticket counter for thorough guidance. This booklet is available in Dutch/English/German/French.

Artis, the Botanical Garden

Artis is known even as a botanical garden with species from not only Netherlands but also from the rest of the world. An extensive range of multifarious plants, trees and shrubs are found in this plant kingdom. The posterior of the zoo gives way to a large greenhouse, which contains species that need heated environment to survive.

Countless number of bulbs blooms in grassy areas or between the bushes every year from January to May. Some of these are even cultivated carefully in the flowerbeds and flower tubs. Tulips, daffodils, crocuses, yellow star of Bethlehem, alpine squill, iris and glory of the snow are all harmoniously aligned in this magnificent garden. Bulbous plants such as the common meadow saffron and the saffron thrive even in the winter.

Artis is a house of around 200 various species of trees of which many antecede Artis itself; for example, the common oak by the side of the outdoor chimpanzee atrium is 250 years old. An unusual Mediterranean region species of an evergreen live oak can be found at the Goat Rock. The Japanese nut tree or ginkgo by the side of the statue of Bodhisattva (Buddha) in the Japanese Stone Garden is another unconventional tree surviving naturally for 180 million years in the temperate regions of Asia.

Greenhouses
The zoo facilitates a provision for four centrally heated greenhouses in its backside. Cacti and agaves from America, as well as African euphorbia thrives in the Succulents Greenhouse. Climbing plants and epiphytes mark the characteristic of the Tropical Greenhouse. The Morass Greenhouse is an abode to a variety of carnivorous plants that are found in the bushy areas and are usually low in nitrogen. These plants are reflection of rich vegetation of the mountainous region of Borneo.

Japanese Stone Garden
Designed by the renowned artist Wim Tap, the Japanese Stone Garden is a reminiscence of Japanese garden architecture and bears reminiscence of the Garden of Eden. A winding waterway with its source in a bowl-shaped stone imparts a serene ambience in this manual masterpiece. The big stones are made up of basalt and, therefore, are said to belong to the volcanic region. An elated Japanese Bodhisattva is seen here resting at the foot of the two Japanese nut trees called Gingko biloba the fan-shaped leaves of which cast a lovely golden-yellow ting in the autumn.

The Five Elements of Artis

The five elements of Artis are as follows:

Artis as a Zoo and Aquarium
Botanical gardens
Zoological Museum
Geological Museum
Planetarium

All these combined, Artis’ tries to propagate the culture of wide spread educational knowledge.

Aquarium
December 2 1882 marks the opening of the Artis Aquarium, a monumental building with the salt water systems on the left and the fresh water on the right. The four magnanimous aquariums within the building are representative of different ecosystems. The Amazonian flooded forest fosters arowana, a fish that leaps out of the water in search of spiders and beetles in the trees, and the pacu, a fruit and nut-eating cousin of the piranha. The other aquariums reflect the tropical coral reef and the Amsterdam canal. The Artis Aquarium is home to 300 species of fish, amphibians and vertebrates. A small fish, the Banggai cardinal, is visible in one of the smaller aquariums. Many endangered species of Indonesia are reared in the Artis Aquarium. Frogs, toads and salamanders are also found, here.

The Great Hall
Salt-water life, an estuary in the Dutch province of Zeeland and the North Sea, the distant waters of the tropics, a diverse range of underwater life is at display in the Great Hall of the Artis Aquarium. Close inspection will let you see plaice, flounder and sole and flatfish that disguise them on the sandy seabed. Anentire reproductive cycle of the bullhead shark was collected in the year 2000. Moray eels, rays, lion fish all form part of the preservations of the Great Hall. The rainbow fish from New Guinea , the cichlids from East Africa and South America, the nishikigoi Japanese decorative carp, the giant gourami, the unusual sturgeon from Asia, the longnose gar from North America, the ravenous piranhas, the South American electric eel and the eery lantern fish, every kind is in store here.

Zoological museum
Within the aquarium edifice is the Zoological Museum's exhibition halls. Relationship between man and nature is being artistically projected in the galleries of the museum. The permanent exhibition of the museum, “The Biological Revival” bears sketches of the two father figures in the field of nature conservation, namely Jac. P. Thijsse and Eli Heimans. Books and guides prepared by them as well as the photographic equipment used in their time are displayed in the exhibition. Steenhuizen, a bird taxidermist at Artis, made use of these cameras to take the first photographs of birds, presaging the beginning of nature photography in the Netherlands.

Artis Geological Museum
The first floor of the Geological Museum bears a collection of precious and semiprecious stones, ores, crystals and fossilized ammonites. On the ground floor one can get acquainted with the story of 'Genesis in Artis'. Life, Atmosphere, Water and the Solid Matter of the Earth are all interwoven in this exhibition. The 'time capsules' and multimedia computers help portraying the history of life on Earth in a series of colossal leaps trough time commencing with the first provisional single-celled organisms from the Precambrian era. The reptiles were regarded as the first vertebrates to adjust to life on land. Unlike the amphibians they did not require to return to the water to reproduce. A massive meteorite impact brought a tragic end to the life of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, and, thus, allowed the mammals a safe life. Skulls of the apeman Australopithecus (2 million years old) and the Neanderthal (250,000 years old) exhibit a part of human history and its evolution.

Volcanoes, earthquakes, shifting tectonic plates and faults in the Earth's crust are all featured in this highly informative museum carved with radiant stones and bearing special ‘touchstone” wall.

Planetarium
The Artis Planetarium enjoys its location next to Artis’ main entrance and is a contemporary building with a huge copper dome and walls made up of blue glass. This 20-metre dome enables its visitors to gather information of an extensive range of celestial bodies of the night sky by the help of a huge star projector, Zeiss. 100 other projectors for displaying slides, videos and special effects are also used in this 640 square meters dome. Configurations from anywhere in the world, for example the positions of the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets now or in the future, can be seen in this informative planetarium. All these are accompanied with apt sound pieces to match the aura. Shows for children and school parties are performed. Family based compositions are also being organized. The Planetarium Counter sells summaries of the text of the Planetarium in various languages, English, French, German and Spanish

African Savannah

Artis’ African Savannah with the hillocks and gorge and 7-metre high waterfall is home to a variety of species like the North Kenyan African Grevy's zebra, the South African white-tailed gnu and the slender-tailed meerkat. Numerous species of birds like ostriches, ground hornbills, guinea fowl, crowned cranes, Egyptian geese and white pelicans are also found in the wildness of the savannahs. The scimitar-horned oryx is a splendid antelope with long and excellent curved horns. This desert creature originally belonged to the Sahel and the Sahara Desert. Giraffes, springboks and gemsboks are also seen here.

Wolf house

Foundation of the Wolf House was laid before even Artis laid its ground in 1838. The predominance of the wolves attributed the name Wolf House. Presently, a variety of Maned wolves can be found in the Wolf House. These are predominantly South African species with a special ability to detect the rustling of their prey like cavies or insects with their hearing potential. Sweet fruit and nuts are among the favourite diet of these foxes. Racoons of North America and Europe are also found here. They primary dwell by the side of running water and use their tiny paws to grab at fish, shrimps and mussels. The African hunting dogs are also found in the Wolf House.

The Minangkabauan House

The Minangkabauan House is designed in the shape of the houses in the Padang Highlands of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a former Dutch colony. An extensive range of miniature, placid ungulates dwell in this building. The smallest deer in the world, the endangered Chilean or Andean pudu, the Indian hog deer and the roe deer are all found in this house. Among the other species are the owls of which African Verreaux's eagle owl is celebrated as the finest of its kind.

Predator Gallery and the Kerbert Terrace

Since 1929 there is a predominance of the lions in the Kerbert Terrace, which has been named after the second director of Artis, Dr C. Kerbert, who retired in 1927. This spacious building gives way to a large variety of jaguars, Sumatran tigers and striking European lynx.

Small Mammal House

A warm and sultry greenhouse in the middle of this building is home to many animals from the tropical rainforests. South American monkeys, including the lively Bolivian squirrel monkey and the pale-headed saki, several types of tamarins, including the world's smallest monkey, the pygmy marmoset are all found here. The tree-shew, ancestors of the prosimians, primitive apes from the island of Madagascar, along with ring-tailed lemur can be seen in the atrium of the building. The Californian sea lions and the seals are among the various species available in this building.

Children's Farm

This is a place where the animals are found to wander freely and the visitors can feel at home with them. Domesticated farm animals like Dutch land goats, belted calves, moorland sheep and tufted ducks are found here. The venture to preserve these varieties has received success in collaboration with Netherlands' Rare Domestic Animals Foundation.

Dutch Meadowland Birds

An old-fashioned rustic fence, a variety of pollard willows, a farmhouse with bright red-and-white shutters mark the beauty of the Children’s farm. The fields remain flush with cornflowers, poppies, daisies, cow parsley, irises, clover and camomile. Exquisite black-and-white avocets plod through the channel; tufted ducks and garganeys paddle around. Lapwings and black-tailed godwits and oystercatchers loiter around in the ground. Spoonbills were found for the first time in the Netherlands in the Artis zoo. They are characteristically recognized for their spoon-shaped bills. They find their prey in insects, larvae and small fish. Here, manmade steel nestling platforms are provided to them to weave branches. They build their nests very close to the ground. It is a pleasurable sight to see these birds brood and take care of their young during springtime.

Goat Rock

Many years ago, the whole species of Alpine ibex are known to get deceased in its natural habitat, the Alps of Switzerland and Northern Italy in the heart of Europe. Lots of zoos took the responsibility to breed these wild goats with an aim to return them once again to the wild. This venture commenced in Switzerland in the 1950s with a mere 20 animals. This species now count up to a thousand. Artis made an effort to travel to Innsbruck Alpine Zoo with a desire to adapt to the austere life in the Alps of Austria before being letting out the world.

Important Species

The important species in Artis Zoo that deserves special mention are as follows:

European Bison
Spring gives birth to the European bison, somehow similar to its American counterpart, in Artis. The European bison is found to have a fascination for a dwell in the woods, whereas, the American one prefers grassy lands. Europe recognized the European bison as the largest wild animal for centuries. Poland witnessed the death of the last animal in 1921. Zoos and wildlife parks, however, preserved a few number of European bison. Artis, too, made a venture with a wish to return this international breed to the wild in Russia and Poland. Their programme today is being recognized as a great success.

European Marsh
The European river delta white pelicans enjoy their repose around the pond in the Artis zoo. Their first eggs are laid in mid-winter; the growing period of the young ones till summer provide picturesque beauty to the visitors, especially the ardent photographers. Free-flying grey herons and black-crowned night herons are also found there on the other side of the pond. Larder enjoys its dwell in the zoo all throughout the year. The Little Marsh is filled up with glory by the calls of the common crane. The Bird Meadow opposite the European Marsh announces their mating season by chattering loud with their beaks.

European birds of prey
The Artis zoo is a permanent domicile for various vulture species, of which there are the European black vultures of Europe’s southern region that are mainly known for being carrion eaters. Their survival was at stake a few years back as they were subjected to be hunted without lenience. Artis’ breeding programmes helped to protect these species to the end of releasing them in the wild, once again.

European mouflon
European Mouflon consisting of female ewes and male rams are found in abundance in the open space of the Artis zoo. The wild sheep owes its origin on Corsica and Sardinia but was released in the European wild for hunting. The ewes and the rams prefer to live in separate groups. During early autumn, they are seen to fight ardently for the best terrain where they can accumulate their harems. In march/April, however, the rams leave the ewes once again just after the young ones are born.

Shop

The shop in Artis Zoo with a provision for a small café near by offers the following:

Books
Posters
Models
Slides
Videos
CDs
Music cassettes
Other articles catering to information on space flight and astronomy.
Books on plants and animals
Posters
Adventure trails
ARTIS magazine
Zoo guides
Zoo maps

Restaurant and Party-Congress Centre

The zoo makes provision for a restaurant, 'de twee cheetahs', by the side of the African Savannah. The Artis Party- and Congress Centre facilitate different festivities, parties, conferences and dinners. The Tijgerzaal (Tiger Hall), Koningszaal (King's Hall), Flamingoserre (Flamingo Sun Lounge) and Planetarium Dome can also be hired over here.

A meal in the restaurant also provides with a wonderful view of the slender-tailed meerkat. These South African predators are noteworthy for their posture of standing straight on their tails.

Cosmosphere Exhibition

An exhibition on astronomy and space exploration encompasses the prime hall of the Planetarium dome. In the ‘Cosmosphere’, the visitors receive illumination on stars, sun, moon, planets and the universe. At the push of a button one can attain information on the topics of astronomy and space exploration and can also play quiz games or consult the planetary encyclopedia in the computer. With a click of a mouse one can operate one’s own Mars landing module on a computer screen.

Entry Fee

The admission fees to the Artis Zoo are as follows:
Adults: Euro 16
Senior Citizens (65+): Euro 15
Children (3-9 years): Euro 12.50
Group (20 people): Euro 1 off per Person

Policies

With a single entry ticket of the Artis zoo, one can visit the Planetarium, the Geological Museum, the Aquarium and the Zoological Museum.

Pets
Dogs are not allowed within the premises of the zoological garden.

Conclusion

Rare animals from all over the world, diverse plants, trees and flowers, sporadic birds, every bit of the animal kingdom you desire to witness, you can enjoy in this zoological garden. The Geological museum acquaints you with the evolution of a vast range of species and the development of our planet Earth. In the Planetarium you can peregrinate to the space and can witness the position of the stars, the sun and the moon and their configuration from anywhere in the world. The zoo also facilitates a huge aquarium with an extensive range of both fresh and salt-water fish. In the Children’s park the visitors enjoy the privilege to pet the friendly animals and feel at ease in their company. The expedition to the zoo begins with the planetarium and the camel exhibit in the left. Lions, giraffes, zebras, polar bears and sea lions of all kinds are found here. The girdled paths of the zoo bear signs indicating directions in multiple languages. Food stands, cafes and restaurant scatter around the zoo premises providing snacks and meals to the visitors in a relaxing atmosphere. Here, man and nature are united in harmony and their relationship is accordingly projected in this massive dwell of the scarce species of the animal kingdom.

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