Ouwehands dierenpark, aquariums

12 min. aquariums in the Ouwehands zoo (Netherlands).
The historie of the zoo:
1932 Opening
1933 - 1939 Development and growth
1940 - 1945 World War II
1946 - 1990 Rebuilding and heydays
1991 - 1999 Increase competition
2000 New owner zoo
2001 -Today New investments and growth
On 18 June 1932, Ouwehands Zoo Rhenen opened its gates to the public for the very first time. The zoo’s founder, Mr C.W. Ouwehand, had moved from Rotterdam to Rhenen some years before, to set up a cigar factory there, with his brother. After a while, he decided to pull out of this business and, in 1919, started a chicken farm on a 10-hectare site on the Grebbeberg. The chicken farm did extremely well and the most beautiful breeds of chicken were kept there. With excellent advertising and a special team of experts, Mr Ouwehand visited many farmers’ associations to promote his farm and his produce. Many busloads of farmers visited his farm, and it turned out that the visitors were more interested in his exotic animals, such as the racoons, peacocks and pheasants, than the beautiful breeds of chicken.
From chicken farm to zoo
During the economic crisis of the 1930s, the chicken farm did not do very well. But the animals on the farm, Mr Ouwehand’s great hobby, continued to attract interest and that soon led to the idea of converting the chicken farm into a zoo. In the years prior to opening, he visited and studied several zoos in Europe, so that the latest developments could be incorporated into the design. Ouwehands Zoo was a success right from the start, and it attracted a great deal of interest. During the war, there was massive destruction, in terms of both the livestock and the buildings. Due to the foreign exchange controls on purchasing abroad and the fact that the recovery allowances did not materialise until 1953, the reconstruction got off to a slow start. Despite this, the efforts of the Ouwehand family and staff meant that the Zoo was retuned to its former splendour, and a new period of prosperity dawned. In the past few decades, the site has been expanded to 22 ha and scores of modernisations have been made.
Ouwehands Zoo: 80 years old
In 2012, Ouwehands Zoo celebrates its 80th anniversary. It has become clear, without any doubt, that a zoo is not "something" a person just visits once in their life. No, Ouwehands Zoo Rhenen is a zoo with modern insights into the environment and education on nature, and a zoo with a function when it comes to preserving endangered species. Ouwehand is on its way to becoming the most enjoyable and most beautiful zoo-playground in the Netherlands.