Members views to the best 5 Regional zoos with Aust/NZ and why
- Thread starter Zorro
- Start date
Of the Zoos I have visited - here is my top 5.
1) Wildlife HQ - growing collection, nice layout, good collection of small primates. (needs more birds)
2) Mogo Zoo - Primates and more primates. Love Gibbons! (Collection loses points for lack of birds and reptiles)
3) Moonlit Sanctuary - the most amazing collection of Australian fauna - love the work they are doing with endangered parrots.
4) Halls Gap - a zoo that is confident in what it does. good all round collection. (just need to improve the housing of their larger reptiles)
5) Hartleys Crocodile Adventures - best tropical zoo in Australia, excellent reptile collection. Crocodile Lagoon cruise a highlight. (More primates and a couple of extra aviaries would round out the collection).
The zoo I would have added if it was still in existence would have been The Cairns Wildlife Safari. I miss the vast exhibits for Hippos, Pygmy hippos and Rhino. (One of my most favourite memories from this collection is wolf whistling at the rhino, way off in the distance, only to have it charge around the lagoon thinking a keeper had brought it lunch).
Of the Zoos I have yet to visit here are 5 that I think are punching above their weight. (In no particular order)
Altina
Darling Downs Zoo
Tasmania Zoo
Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park
Hunter Valley Zoo
Notable mention goes to Kyabram Fauna Park which seems to have an energized presence with their local community and a sizable grant from the State Government to roll out some major improvements in the next couple of years.
Of course The National Zoo in Canberra and Orana Park in Christchurch NZ are great, but they probably count as big players!
1) Wildlife HQ - growing collection, nice layout, good collection of small primates. (needs more birds)
2) Mogo Zoo - Primates and more primates. Love Gibbons! (Collection loses points for lack of birds and reptiles)
3) Moonlit Sanctuary - the most amazing collection of Australian fauna - love the work they are doing with endangered parrots.
4) Halls Gap - a zoo that is confident in what it does. good all round collection. (just need to improve the housing of their larger reptiles)
5) Hartleys Crocodile Adventures - best tropical zoo in Australia, excellent reptile collection. Crocodile Lagoon cruise a highlight. (More primates and a couple of extra aviaries would round out the collection).
The zoo I would have added if it was still in existence would have been The Cairns Wildlife Safari. I miss the vast exhibits for Hippos, Pygmy hippos and Rhino. (One of my most favourite memories from this collection is wolf whistling at the rhino, way off in the distance, only to have it charge around the lagoon thinking a keeper had brought it lunch).
Of the Zoos I have yet to visit here are 5 that I think are punching above their weight. (In no particular order)
Altina
Darling Downs Zoo
Tasmania Zoo
Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park
Hunter Valley Zoo
Notable mention goes to Kyabram Fauna Park which seems to have an energized presence with their local community and a sizable grant from the State Government to roll out some major improvements in the next couple of years.
Of course The National Zoo in Canberra and Orana Park in Christchurch NZ are great, but they probably count as big players!
There are a number of excellent smaller zoos, but I’d rate the top five as:
1. Orana Wildlife Park:
Arguably a major zoo, Orana Wildlife Park always leaves it’s visitors with lasting memories. The staff seem engaged and passionate about their job and there are a number of free keeper talks (including giraffe feeding). What’s great is that these talks link up i.e. you go from one to the next; something you don’t often see in zoos. Orana has an impressive range of species and have just recently opened an exhibit for native frogs. They achieved great success in breeding Cheetah, with several litters born since 1993 (all descended from the same family line). Seeing their most recent litter on my last visit in 2015 was an unforgettable experience.
2. Mogo Zoo:
Mogo Zoo is a zoo that has built up it’s collection steadily over the three decades since it opened. They have acquired numerous exotic species and have contributed to several high profile breeding programmes. It was especially impressive how they threw themselves into the conservation of the Snow leopard during the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. They held two pairs; and bred two litters of cubs. With a new director, Mogo Zoo are at interesting crossroads. I’ll be watching with interest over the next decade to see if they continue to evolve; or stagnate on top of what has been done.
3. Darling Downs Zoo:
Darling Downs Zoo seem to currently be evolving at an exponential rate. They are constantly acquiring new species and have a real drive to improve on what is already an outstanding zoo. Most impressive is their initiative to lead the way in reviving breeding programmes neglected by the mainstream zoos (e.g. Grant’s zebra) and founding new breeding programmes for species such as the Sri Lankan leopard.
4. Altina Wildlife Park:
Like Darling Downs Zoo, they have saved species like the Maned wolf from disappearing from the region. They have taken the initiative to import new bloodlines from overseas and almost single handily created a resurgence that is now being supported by other small zoos like Darling Downs Zoo and Hunter Valley; as well as the mainstream zoos like Adelaide. Altina is also renowned for it’s diverse range of ungulates (and it’s regular breeding efforts).
5. Wild Cat Conservation Centre:
It was a tough call between this facility, Hunter Valley and Tasmania Zoo. My reasoning for the latter two are similar to the reasons I gave for Darling Downs Zoo; so I will choose the WCCC for their regionally unique focus on felids; and their initiative to import Clouded leopard, the first of their species in the region in over a decade.
1. Orana Wildlife Park:
Arguably a major zoo, Orana Wildlife Park always leaves it’s visitors with lasting memories. The staff seem engaged and passionate about their job and there are a number of free keeper talks (including giraffe feeding). What’s great is that these talks link up i.e. you go from one to the next; something you don’t often see in zoos. Orana has an impressive range of species and have just recently opened an exhibit for native frogs. They achieved great success in breeding Cheetah, with several litters born since 1993 (all descended from the same family line). Seeing their most recent litter on my last visit in 2015 was an unforgettable experience.
2. Mogo Zoo:
Mogo Zoo is a zoo that has built up it’s collection steadily over the three decades since it opened. They have acquired numerous exotic species and have contributed to several high profile breeding programmes. It was especially impressive how they threw themselves into the conservation of the Snow leopard during the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. They held two pairs; and bred two litters of cubs. With a new director, Mogo Zoo are at interesting crossroads. I’ll be watching with interest over the next decade to see if they continue to evolve; or stagnate on top of what has been done.
3. Darling Downs Zoo:
Darling Downs Zoo seem to currently be evolving at an exponential rate. They are constantly acquiring new species and have a real drive to improve on what is already an outstanding zoo. Most impressive is their initiative to lead the way in reviving breeding programmes neglected by the mainstream zoos (e.g. Grant’s zebra) and founding new breeding programmes for species such as the Sri Lankan leopard.
4. Altina Wildlife Park:
Like Darling Downs Zoo, they have saved species like the Maned wolf from disappearing from the region. They have taken the initiative to import new bloodlines from overseas and almost single handily created a resurgence that is now being supported by other small zoos like Darling Downs Zoo and Hunter Valley; as well as the mainstream zoos like Adelaide. Altina is also renowned for it’s diverse range of ungulates (and it’s regular breeding efforts).
5. Wild Cat Conservation Centre:
It was a tough call between this facility, Hunter Valley and Tasmania Zoo. My reasoning for the latter two are similar to the reasons I gave for Darling Downs Zoo; so I will choose the WCCC for their regionally unique focus on felids; and their initiative to import Clouded leopard, the first of their species in the region in over a decade.
@kiwimuzz Thanks for your input I would agree with what you have said also I agree some of the zoos do seem to be lacking in the bird area for some reason!
I believe with your thoughts with these stated zoos there are quite a few small and up coming zoos, now its getting difficult to rate them to the best 5 I expect some of these collections to power over the next few years!
Does the David Fleay Wildlife Park count here?
Sure it does, The only zoos which are not included are the big major city zoos!
I would put the David Fleay Wildlife Park in the top 5 and I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned earlier
The idea is to rate what zoos you believe are the top 5 in your view and why you believe so!
I've only been to Taronga, Auckland and the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
You don’t have to have visited the zoos either. Visiting zoos such as Orana Wildlife Park contributed to my insight; but the reasoning for ranking the Wild Cat Conservation Centre was purely based on what I’ve read about the facility (i.e. I’ve never visited).
Thats quite correct its members views, Some having been following some zoos over a period of time have have at least a good understanding of the work they do there but guessing about a place has little valve!