Apenheul Primate Park

New best friend for a day? Wikimedia user Ziko (Creative Commons)

Spend the afternoon *just close enough* to this male bonobo Wikimedia user natataek (Creative Commons)

This guy probably won't charge you Wikimedia user Isaladag (Creative Commons)

Gorilla statue greets visitors at the entrance of Apenheul Flickr user David Stanley (Creative Commons)

A baby red howler monkey, a species native to Brazil and Venezuela Mr. Pi

A baby buffy headed capuchin monkey, a critically endangered species native to Brazil Missud

A pygmy marmoset, the smallest species of monkey in the world and native to South America Rolf Venema

A red titi monkey, this species is native to the Amazon rainforest of Peru and Brazil jerryvermanen

A male proboscis monkey, this strange and highly endangered species is endemic to Borneo Missud

A pair of night monkeys, this species is native across South America and is the only nocturnal monkey in the world Missud

A white faced capuchin monkey, this species is native to Central America havankevin

A golden headed lion tamarin, this endangered species is endemic to Brazil nio_nl

A female blue-eyed black lemur, this critically endangered species is almost extinct in the wild in Madagascar Lennart Tange

A golden lion tamarin, this species is endangered and endemic to Brazil FrancoiseRonday

A silvery marmoset, a species native to the Brazilian Amazon Tjarko Busink

A red capped mangabey monkey, a species native to Central Africa MVD4156

A lion tailed macaque, an endangered species native to India MVD4156

A family group of Javan langurs, an endangered species native to Indonesia Saparevo

A pied tamarin, a critically endangered species endemic to Brazil Tjarko Busink

An emperor tamarin (so called because of its "Kaiser-like" moustache), a species native to South America Tjarko Busink

A white faced saki monkey, this species is native to Brazil and the Guianas Tjarko Busink

A black and white ruffed lemur Tjarko Busink

hansgeijtenbeek (Atlas Obscura User)

A male Bornean orangutan at Apenheul jinterwas (Creative Commons)

hansgeijtenbeek (Atlas Obscura User)

A pair of crowned sifaka lemurs, this critically endangered species is close to extinction in the wild in Madagascar Missud (Creative Commons)

A Mexican spider monkey, a species native to Mexico and Central America Mr. Pi

A red ruffed lemur, this critically endangered species is close to extinction in the wild in Madagascar Vincent Teeuwen

Opened in 1971, Apenheul is the first and only zoo in the world where monkeys live in a forest setting but remain free to walk around alongside the visitors who flock to see them.

The story of Apenheul started back in the late 1960s when Rotterdam-based photographer Wim Mager gave up his profession in favor of developing a more human living concept for his two pet tamarins. At the time, owning primates was still legal and purchasing the animals was common in local pet stores. But it occured to Mager that a happier, more natural environment for the animals would return in the form of a happier exprience for all who encountered them.

What resulted from this epiphany became the totally revolutionary Apenheul Primate Park still in operation today. It started simply: Apenheul would be a zoo without bars, beginning with a few smaller species including spider monkeys and woolly monkeys. Throughout the following decades, the reserve’s inhabitants have expanded to more than 35 species of monkeys, including howler monkeys, orangutans, gorillas, and marmosets to name just a few.

Though Mager’s initial revelation may seem obvious to us today, without the work of Mager and his contemporaries it’s unlikely this would seem so. Strolling through this totally unique park, rubbing shoulders with our furry little cousins, provides an excellent reminder of just how far we’ve come – and how far we have yet to go – in understanding human-animal relationships in so short a time.