Amsterdam’s zoo should become a “cultural park for all” with no more animals in captivity, according to a formal policy proposal.

The Partij voor de Dieren has proposed that the historic buildings of Artis in Amsterdam east should be transformed into an open, green space instead of a charity-run zoo. The zoo, founded in 1838, is based on city property and land and supported by €4.3 million a year in municipal subsidies.

In a policy proposal submitted this week, head of the local party for the animals Anke Bakker, suggests an alternative vision: “a popular city park bursting with heritage” where schoolchildren can take a treasure hunt for “virtual predators” in the historic buildings rather than “studying how these extraordinary animals behave in captivity.”

In a press release, Bakker said that the revived park would fit better with the times and would be a place for all Amsterdammers instead of having captive animals as attractions. “The new Artis will be a beautiful city park that it is accessible to everyone,” she said. “Full to the brim with heritage and museums where education about nature is central.”

The party believes that in Artis it is impossible for captive animals to behave fully as they would in the wild: birds cannot fly freely, jaguars cannot sprint and sea lions cannot dive, according to the party. It believes Amsterdam should follow the example of Buenos Aires, which closed its zoo in 2016, released some 2,500 animals and converted it into an “animal friendly eco-park”.

“As a progressive city, Amsterdam should be an important example in respectfully getting on with animals by saying clearly now: this no longer belongs to this time,” said Bakker.

Concern

Although the party believes that its proposal will be “welcomed” by the council – which is controlled by a coalition of Labour, the GreenLeft and liberal democratic D66 – it has already caused concern in the zookeeping world.

Artis said in a reaction online that it brings millions of people in real, emotional contact with the world around them and is proud of its work, especially in nature preservation. “We think it is a shame that the Party for the Animals launched this proposal without dialogue with Artis,” said the statement.

“We actually have a lot of common ground on a lot of subjects such as the wellbeing of animals and striving for a liveable world where we deal well with all of the life around us…It’s not news that Artis has been working for years on major renewal and we will continue to build a strong Artis.”

Support

Wineke School, director of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Dierentuinen zoos association told Dutch News that they did not agree with the proposal at all. “I believe that good, modern zoos are more relevant than they have ever been,” she explained. “The RDA Council on Animal Affairs recently ran a poll (conducted by Kantar) amongst the Dutch population and this showed enormous support.”

The study, published in December, suggested 70% of the Dutch population were positive about zoos although 7% objected on principle to keeping wild animals in captivity. Six in 10 thought that animal wellbeing was adequate, although almost half said that “some animals are not suitable for a zoo”.

The Netherlands has 64 registered zoos, and the study put Artis –  which also has a museum of microbes – in seventh place in terms of popularity. Following years of criticism over cramped conditions, Artis opened a new lion enclosure last autumn. In 2022, according to its latest annual report, it had 1.2 million visitors.