So, after having visited Apenheul Primate Park recently, I had to post about it – because it is awesome!
What is Apenheul?
Apenheul is a Primate Park. That means, the entire zoo is devoted to primates, ie – Apes, Gorillas, Monkeys, Sloths, Orangutans etc!
Where is Apenheul?
Apenheul is an hours drive East from Amsterdam, almost as far as the city Apeldoorn, so it is quite easy to get to if you have a car!
The Must-Experience Moments:
I absolutely LOVED Apenheul and felt like a child all day! This place is an amazing park and the animals have fantastic habitats to live in. For instance the gorilla enclosure is so big that most of it is not visible to the public.
What is particularly unique to Apenheul is that they hand out Monkey-proof bags to everyone who enters with belongings. As the little roaming monkeys are very curious animals, it is important to keep everything in the monkey-proof bag so that they don’t get a hold of your belongings, or even your snacks!
Gorilla Feeding
One of the absolute best moments for me was the gorilla feeding. It’s your best chance to see many gorillas in one go and they are super interesting to watch!
When it began, the Alpha male comes out and decides where he will sit. That is when the other gorillas can then choose where they will sit for the feeding. The Alpha also has favourites from week to week so one week his best friend gets to sit next to him and then the next he might be banished to the very edge of the feeding area!
My favourite moment was also the most revolting moment – one of the gorillas chose to do a poo into its own hand, and then EAT HIS OWN POO!!!!! It turns out that this kind of behaviour is totally normal for gorillas as the amount of nutrients left in their poo is quite high.
There is also a feeding order for the gorillas – so the trainers need to be on top of this each day so that they don’t feed the gorillas in the wrong order – this might cause the Alpha to get pissed!
Enjoy Monkeying About
The most fun I had at Apenheul was definitely having monkeys climbing on my and being able to watch them so up close! Though, as seen in the next picture, the monkey made some kind of squawk at me and I got a little bit alarmed!
Thankfully all of these little monkeys are harmless and can be seen roaming freely whilst visitors marvel at how exciting it is to witness them climbing on their babies. I saw one monkey literally sitting on top of a toddlers head, while the toddlers mother was taking the picture, and said toddler was crying for being scared!
Basically, playing with the monkeys is also very good people watching! I’ve never seen people revert to being idiots so quickly than when they are confronted with the opportunity to have a monkey climb on them!
But – it’s just so fun!
Orangutan Feeding
The orangutans are some of the most interesting primates in the park. Just watching how they move around their enclosure to eat is fascinating!
Currently there is a new baby in the orangutan enclosure that is attached to mommys side/back which is incredibly cute to watch.
Also, an interesting tid-bit of info I found out whilst at Apenheul? Orangutans are super clicky. If one of them does something to upset another orangutan, you can bet that upset orangutans whole click is coming for you.
Treetop Monkeys
Okay, so what’s not to love about monkeys hopping from tree branch to tree branch, and landing on a branch with it’s weight, that the leaves fall on your face, or jumping onto a wooden post so close to you that you can see the detail of colour in its eyes?
We had a really good time hanging out in the treetops with the fun small monkeys! One monkey in particular was all about comfort, constantly finding a spot better than the last to lounge at; and another one was constantly trying to torture comfort-loving monkey, and then there was the monkey that would come and snatch food away from the trainer who was handing out live worms, and scurry away to a little hiding spot to eat, back turned to the world.
And we also got to be big kids so…
SLOTHS!
I have NEVER seen a Sloth. And while walking around Apenheul, I said to the Hunk that I would LOVE it if they had sloths, but it did not say there were sloths on the animal map. 🙁
However, at the end of the treetop adventure, there was a ‘night-time animal’ enclosure! And guess what was there?!
So sloths move around quite slowly, and hang upside down. They seem to be constantly looking for their next mouthful of food (a little like myself) and they can see in the dark. So, imagine that. Being really hungry, whilst having to find food upside down in the dark? Aint gonna happen. Yet – these creatures get it done! And I love them.
If you like animals, then Apenheul is like being a kid in a candy store! The amount of contact you can have with some of the most wonderful and smart animals in the world is pretty amazing and I’ve never before been to a zoo where I could see so many different monkeys up close like this – with 3/4 of the park having monkeys roaming free!
I hope this inspires some of you to make a visit to Apenheul!
Apenheul website: http://www.apenheul.com/
5 thoughts on “Apenheul Primate Park, Netherlands”
Free running monkeys were the best!
hehe at this sentence ‘They seem to be constantly looking for their next mouthful of food (a little like myself)’
Hi there! I’m going to Apenheul in a week and my 12 year old daughter who LOVES animals is SO excited. However, my mom is extremely afraid of animals and will not do well with being in a place where the monkeys can jump on her. Are the monkeys out in the open everywhere? Or are there some places where she can enjoy looking at the other monkeys through a fence without fearing a smaller monkey jumping on her? Thanks for you help! I haven’t been able to find this info online.
Hi! Yes – near the entrance is where the tiny monkeys roam free. You can get through without having an encounter, but if you stop walking, they will come and visit you. Perhaps best yo advise your mum to keep walking! The rest of the zoo is enclosures so she should be fine. We loved it there and I’m sure you will too! Enjoy! Let me know your experience next week!