Your five favourite UK Zoos and Why?
- Thread starter garyjp
- Start date
It's possible the weather made it seem even worse, but I completely agree with your assessment on the zoo's decline !
New Tropical House might remedy this?
Time to bump one of my favourite threads on ZooChat... 
Having now visited Hamerton I can safely put it in my top five at the expense of Paignton, such a brilliant species line-up and some very nice (and so-so) exhibitry, nothing I could point at and say "that brings the zoo down".
And having made it back to CWP for the first time in about 7 or 8 years I feel confident removing Bristol and replacing it with Cotswold. As one of my companions said on the day, it really is a satisfying zoo to visit. A perfect balance of some popular megafauna and the commoner small species, but all wrapped up in a package that includes five species of bat, so many rodents, clouded leopards, a reptile collection with venomous snakes, Pallas cats, sifakas, and wolverines, plus even more to boot.
So now it looks like this :-
Chester (best)
CWP (most satisfying)
BWCP (childhood collection)
Hamerton (just superb)
Dudley (guilty pleasure)
My top 5 that I've visited (in no particular order bar number one) are :-
Chester - a giant amongst the UK zoos, a well rounded collection that is constantly improving, with the addition of Islands it will surely be even higher on the worlds stage.
Dudley - a well rounded collection that does have a sentimental attachment. I love taking the kids there as it brings back so many memories of my visits. I just wish they'd scrap the bloody funfair though...
Birmingham Nature Centre/Wildlife Conservation Park - my local zoo, I tend to make quite a few visits each year and for the price it offers true value for money; sentimental reasons may also play their part too!
Paignton - always been a firm favourite, I can barely remember the old zoo but truly love the place as it is now, Crocodile Swamp, the tenrec house and tropical/desert houses are particular highlights.
Bristol - it's amazing what they've done on a 12 acre site in the middle of a city. The animal houses are fantastic and the place oozes history.
Honourable mentions go to Shaldon, Cotswold, Living Coasts and Whipsnade. I don't rate London too highly but understand the historical importance of the zoo and society as a whole.
Having now visited Hamerton I can safely put it in my top five at the expense of Paignton, such a brilliant species line-up and some very nice (and so-so) exhibitry, nothing I could point at and say "that brings the zoo down".
And having made it back to CWP for the first time in about 7 or 8 years I feel confident removing Bristol and replacing it with Cotswold. As one of my companions said on the day, it really is a satisfying zoo to visit. A perfect balance of some popular megafauna and the commoner small species, but all wrapped up in a package that includes five species of bat, so many rodents, clouded leopards, a reptile collection with venomous snakes, Pallas cats, sifakas, and wolverines, plus even more to boot.
So now it looks like this :-
Chester (best)
CWP (most satisfying)
BWCP (childhood collection)
Hamerton (just superb)
Dudley (guilty pleasure)
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BeakerUK
Well-Known Member
I last said my top 5 were Chester, Monkey World, Hamerton, Bristol and possibly Twycross at number 5.
Now:
Hamerton
Chester
Monkey World (for personal reasons)
But I would now probably have Exmoor and Yorkshire Wildlife Park (for the sheer amount of time I can spend there watching the Polar bears) completing my top 5.
Now:
Hamerton
Chester
Monkey World (for personal reasons)
But I would now probably have Exmoor and Yorkshire Wildlife Park (for the sheer amount of time I can spend there watching the Polar bears) completing my top 5.
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sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
With this thread bumped by @Brum, I looked back at my own contribution, from just over half a decade ago.
At risk of making life very difficult for @snowleopard, or anyone else wanting to catalogue people’s choices, my top five favourites would look rather different now. RSCC has, very sadly, gone; Shorelands, which I had bubbling under, never really got going as a visitor attraction, despite its very real loveliness. London? There comes a time, with an author, or a band, or a film director, or a zoo, when you feel as if you’ve had enough. I’m afraid I’ve reached that point with London. I think it was the crazy-golf-for-giant-anteaters move that did for me, even more than the closure of the aquarium - this latter move was awful, but possibly necessary. Crazy golf’s arrival is just crass.
Colchester, too, has declined, for me, over the past five years. The collection just seems a little duller, the egregious architectural lowlights just that little bit more grim. It too slips out of my personal top five.
So., in alphabetical order....
1. Bristol - because there has to be at least one historical city zoo there, and although Bristol is in something of a state of flux, I really do think that it will be moving in the right direction.
2. Cotswolds WP - because it still presents a collection with its fair share of quirks, in beautiful surroundings.
3. Hamerton - of course. The collection is fantastic, the grounds look better and better (the days of it being a bleak windswept field seem long gone), and exciting things keep happening....
4. Newquay - small, but very nicely done, with a genuinely interesting collection and some great people working there. I wish it wasn’t so far away.
5. Whipsnade - still, just about. But the decline of the antelope collection leaves me worried, and it should be looking over its shoulder when I update again, in 2024 (by which time I am sure Wild Place will have caught up...).
No Chester. I appreciate it’s very good, but it just doesn’t do it for me. Too many faux “artefacts”. Too many silly names for exhibits. Too much of that horrible font. Longleat was a contender. Dudley, too, but I don’t visit it often enough. Africa Alive might have been in there. But I’ll stick with these five, today.
Having visited Colchester for the first time this year I agree with the points above. As a collection it is almost definitely in the five "best" collections in the UK, well for the general public at least, but it's never going to be one of my favourites. There's no soul to the place in my opinion, it's all about the glitz rather than the animals and that's a shame because it is a very comprehensive collection... (Well excluding birds!)
I agree entirely, for me, Colchester is easily a top 5 zoo, only Chester clearly is better, but as one of my local zoos, like Whipsnade, recent developments have failed to excite me whilst Hamerton continues to reach for the stars!
I though I'd post my thoughts in this thread. I would first point out I haven't visited all the collections in the UK. The main major ones I've never been to are Edinburgh, Highland, Paignton, Aspinall Parks and Wingham. I would also say that I have a strong preference for mammals.
1. Chester - for obvious reasons, it is quite clearly in my view the UK's premier zoo
2. Whipsnade - I enjoy the spacious nature of the park and its range of large mammals in large enclosures
3. YWP - for similar reasons to Whipsnade and because of its constant developments meaning there is always something new to look forward to
4. Colchester - has an excellent collection with a good balance in my views between houses and open spaces
5. Hamerton - exciting collection with something new and surprising to look forward to on every visit and with plenty of potential for further growth
1. Chester - for obvious reasons, it is quite clearly in my view the UK's premier zoo
2. Whipsnade - I enjoy the spacious nature of the park and its range of large mammals in large enclosures
3. YWP - for similar reasons to Whipsnade and because of its constant developments meaning there is always something new to look forward to
4. Colchester - has an excellent collection with a good balance in my views between houses and open spaces
5. Hamerton - exciting collection with something new and surprising to look forward to on every visit and with plenty of potential for further growth
1. Chester Zoo
2. Highland Wildlife Park
3. Hamerton Zoo
4. Paignton Zoo
5. Bristol Zoo
~Thylo
2. Highland Wildlife Park
3. Hamerton Zoo
4. Paignton Zoo
5. Bristol Zoo
~Thylo
In no particular order, here are mine! (Including only the zoos I have been able to visit) A little South West heavy, I know... 
1. Bristol Zoo - It's historical importance, alongside its great collection does the trick for me. I'm a huge fan of twilight world, and look forward to seeing the zoo continue to develop over the coming years with some exciting new arrivals.
2. Paignton Zoo - As many of you know, I do probably have some bias... but with their fantastic setting, and great collection in some wonderful exhibits (quarry being my favourite), they had to make the list.
3. Exmoor Zoo - Like Paignton, it has a fantastic setting, in addition to some real rarities for the UK. Whenever I visit, there always seems to be development, which is great for a small/medium sized zoo.
4. YWP - Clearly a fantastic zoo with some great future developments taking place! If you're not much of a mammals person, then it probably wouldn't make your list... but for me, it's fantastic. Their recent additions of some UK rarities, with more on the way, are a very welcome treat!
5. Blackpool Zoo - Again, I'm probably a little biased considering I lived there a few summers ago... IMO it's a great all rounder.
Honourable mentions - Chester was a possibility as it is clearly the best in the UK... but like @sooty mangabey, it just "doesn't do it for me". I do love Chester though, and can't wait to visit again... there just isn't that personal connection that I have to the aforementioned zoos. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis, Paradise Wildlife Park, Newquay Zoo and Wild Place were also considerations.
1. Bristol Zoo - It's historical importance, alongside its great collection does the trick for me. I'm a huge fan of twilight world, and look forward to seeing the zoo continue to develop over the coming years with some exciting new arrivals.
2. Paignton Zoo - As many of you know, I do probably have some bias... but with their fantastic setting, and great collection in some wonderful exhibits (quarry being my favourite), they had to make the list.
3. Exmoor Zoo - Like Paignton, it has a fantastic setting, in addition to some real rarities for the UK. Whenever I visit, there always seems to be development, which is great for a small/medium sized zoo.
4. YWP - Clearly a fantastic zoo with some great future developments taking place! If you're not much of a mammals person, then it probably wouldn't make your list... but for me, it's fantastic. Their recent additions of some UK rarities, with more on the way, are a very welcome treat!
5. Blackpool Zoo - Again, I'm probably a little biased considering I lived there a few summers ago... IMO it's a great all rounder.
Honourable mentions - Chester was a possibility as it is clearly the best in the UK... but like @sooty mangabey, it just "doesn't do it for me". I do love Chester though, and can't wait to visit again... there just isn't that personal connection that I have to the aforementioned zoos. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis, Paradise Wildlife Park, Newquay Zoo and Wild Place were also considerations.
Jess_Greenwood
Member
This is a cool idea, I try to visit as many zoos as possible but haven't managed to get to a lot down south yet so this gives me a few ideas!
Of the zoos I have visited, I have a definite top two but not really sure about the rest.
1. Highland Wildlife Park - amazing naturalistic enclosures, and I am one of those awful people that loves the big fluffy mammals and over rated animals so it's right up my street.
2. Yorkshire Wildlife Park - very similar to above, fantastic space imo and I was lucky enough to go behind scenes once and the keepers were so friendly. Only reason it isn't number one is because I never get to see the Amur leopards and HWP has snow leopards!
3. Chester - obviously Chester is fantastic but I'm not *in love* with it mainly because as an attraction I find it very difficult to navigate within one day. I mean, as a zoo enthusiast and animal lover, I want to try see as much as possible but visiting with my family or friends can be difficult because they don't want to walk to the other end of the zoo again to try see something we missed. I'm just glad I don't have kids to take with me because I imagine for parents that it is hard work to get round. But it is beautiful of course.
4. Five sisters zoo - massive range of animals, new snow leopard enclosure, some maybe need updating but I honestly quite liked the zoo and the brown bear enclosure seemed pretty spacious!
I don't really have a fifth, but Lakeland Wildlife Oasis will always be special to me because I based my research there and the team there are all brilliant and do their best with the limited space and funding.
Others I've visited: Blackpool, Safari Zoo, Lake District WP, Bristol, Paignton, Welsh Mountain Zoo, Wild Discovery, Northumberland County Zoo, Newquay.
Of the zoos I have visited, I have a definite top two but not really sure about the rest.
1. Highland Wildlife Park - amazing naturalistic enclosures, and I am one of those awful people that loves the big fluffy mammals and over rated animals so it's right up my street.
2. Yorkshire Wildlife Park - very similar to above, fantastic space imo and I was lucky enough to go behind scenes once and the keepers were so friendly. Only reason it isn't number one is because I never get to see the Amur leopards and HWP has snow leopards!
3. Chester - obviously Chester is fantastic but I'm not *in love* with it mainly because as an attraction I find it very difficult to navigate within one day. I mean, as a zoo enthusiast and animal lover, I want to try see as much as possible but visiting with my family or friends can be difficult because they don't want to walk to the other end of the zoo again to try see something we missed. I'm just glad I don't have kids to take with me because I imagine for parents that it is hard work to get round. But it is beautiful of course.
4. Five sisters zoo - massive range of animals, new snow leopard enclosure, some maybe need updating but I honestly quite liked the zoo and the brown bear enclosure seemed pretty spacious!
I don't really have a fifth, but Lakeland Wildlife Oasis will always be special to me because I based my research there and the team there are all brilliant and do their best with the limited space and funding.
Others I've visited: Blackpool, Safari Zoo, Lake District WP, Bristol, Paignton, Welsh Mountain Zoo, Wild Discovery, Northumberland County Zoo, Newquay.
Jack is fantastic - Like you've said, it's a great place and they're doing a brilliant job
Late to the party but here’s mine.
1. YWP. It’s my local zoo and I love it. Enclosures are great and the expansion means more and more beautiful animals arriving regularly
2. Hamerton. Don’t really know why but I like the wide open spaces and the wide variety of unusual animals.
3. Flamingo Land. An out of season favourite when the adjoining theme park is closed. The cheetah/rhino exhibit, tigers and hippos are must sees.
4. Paradise Wildlife Park. Haven’t been recently but the grandkids love it. Nice mix for families.
5. The Wild Place. Visited for the first time recently and was very impressed with The new bear woods exhibit.
I know Chester is probably the best but it is a bit overwhelming unless you have two or three days to do it properly.
1. YWP. It’s my local zoo and I love it. Enclosures are great and the expansion means more and more beautiful animals arriving regularly
2. Hamerton. Don’t really know why but I like the wide open spaces and the wide variety of unusual animals.
3. Flamingo Land. An out of season favourite when the adjoining theme park is closed. The cheetah/rhino exhibit, tigers and hippos are must sees.
4. Paradise Wildlife Park. Haven’t been recently but the grandkids love it. Nice mix for families.
5. The Wild Place. Visited for the first time recently and was very impressed with The new bear woods exhibit.
I know Chester is probably the best but it is a bit overwhelming unless you have two or three days to do it properly.
I really like Blackpool Zoo. Its small enough to get around easily and has most of the ABC species + many others. Almost prefer it to the huge collection that is Chester in some ways...
As to a top five in 2020;
1. Bristol and 2. Whipsnade would have to be in there for personal/historical reasons as the first zoos I visited regularly as a child, apart from London. Both have changed a lot- Bristol now with the emphasis on smaller species, and Whipsnade sadly diminished in number and variety of species.
Probably still 3. Chester and 4. Colchester for their size and breadth of collections.
That only leaves space for 5. Blackpool in the Top Five..
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But you're a busy student now, so its fair enoughSeeing this thread is active again I wanted to update my top 5 but it is still the sameI really need to get to more zoos here, all of my recent ones have been out of the country.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
1. Jersey zoo (Gerald Durrell and his legacy, their commitment / ethos to ex-situ and in-situ conservation and overall excellence, the species kept are very interesting).
2. Bristol zoo (Brilliant use of space and range of smaller species kept and commitment to ex-situ and in-situ conservation).
3. Shaldon zoo (Never visited but love the smaller zoo setup and focus on smaller species and their outsized contribution to the conservation of Brazilian primates).
2. Bristol zoo (Brilliant use of space and range of smaller species kept and commitment to ex-situ and in-situ conservation).
3. Shaldon zoo (Never visited but love the smaller zoo setup and focus on smaller species and their outsized contribution to the conservation of Brazilian primates).