Ok, Hesperia Zoo and Bearizona have many differences, especially in animal welfare. Could you elaborate on why you dislike Bearizona?
Cities in need of zoos
- Thread starter elefante
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DomoKomodo
Member
+1 for Las Vegas...
To be honest, with all due respect, I would rather discuss that via private message.
Brussels once had a zoo in the 19th century. Later there was a small public aquarium and the Museum of Natural Sciences also used to have a small vivarium section and some saltwater aquariums. Sadly the aquarium has since closed and the museum to my knowledge no longer has living animal displays. I don't think there would be space for a large zoo in Brussels, but something like an aquarium/vivarium, perhaps with a greenhouse-type exhibit and/or aviary, perhaps associated with or near the museum, would I think be nice to have in Brussels.
However, the current government of Brussels is pretty left-wing and animal-rights minded (for example they implemented a purely symbolic ban on marine mammal captivity in Brussels), so I don't see any zoological facilities happening in Brussels again.
However, the current government of Brussels is pretty left-wing and animal-rights minded (for example they implemented a purely symbolic ban on marine mammal captivity in Brussels), so I don't see any zoological facilities happening in Brussels again.
Tiger
Well-Known Member
Does the Natural History Museum of Brussels no longer have living animals?
I think that a zoo could definitely come to Brussels, namely at its old location: the Leopold Park, along 1 side even located against the Natural History Museum. It would certainly be an important addition to the museum.
Almost every big, and sometimes smaller city, has a zoo, and just about every capital city has one, so why not Brussels? This was also exactly the same reason why the now-closed Brussels Zoo opened its doors in 1851.
The museum hasn't had a living animal display since the malacology and entomology halls closed in April of 2017 and a temporary exhibition on toxic species closed later that same year. To my knowledge the new Living Planet section that opened last year also does not include living specimens.
Heavy disagree.
The Netherlands is currently already filled with a lot of zoos for such a small country. There are a dozen small zoos as is, let these flourish and grow before building new ones.....
Also I definitely think there should not be a zoo in Leiden.... Having a zoo will make Naturalis less attractive to visit I reckon. After all, why see dead animals if you can see the living.
There's almost barely any place in the country where you won't be able to reach a zoo within a short drive, so all it will do it create even more competition between zoos and I don't think this is worth yet another new zoo that likely will stay small if it got into existence and add to the pile of small zoos unable to grow because of this competition.
I think the Netherlands already have enough zoos, but I would definitely like a couple more in Belgium personally. Ghent would be a nice place, and any of the cities at or near the coast, like Bruges, Oostende, Blankenberge or Veurne could also use a zoo, which I think would be an interesting place for such an attraction, given that currently only the SeaLife in Blankenberge and De Zonnegloed, which is not a zoo but a sanctuary (though operating with a zoo license), exist in the broader coastal/Westhoek region.
Personally I also think that a more European/temperate/boreal wildlife park type facility, , something along the lines of for example Han or Forestia in Wallonia, or even something like Safaripark Beekse Bergen, would be an interesting thing to have in the Belgian province of Limburg. We don't really have something like that in Flanders.
Tiger
Well-Known Member
I was just giving examples of cities that could use zoos because of their reputation and because they had one in the past, and so i didn't look at the smaller parks because they are in small towns or villages.
I think improving zoos that already exist in third world countries is a better discussion than adding new zoos to Anglo and European cities (I suppose similar discussions have happened).
However I do think that Ankara should get a zoo. (Brace yourself for my umpteenth rant about the mismanagement of the Ankara zoo). Technically speaking our city did have a zoo: the Ataturk Forest Farm zoo. A lame, outdated place which could be compared to a European zoo before the seventies or any other zoo in the Middle East. That is until the Ataturk Forest Farm (lThat's the name of the land the zoo stood on) got stripped off its legal protections from the benovelent mayor Gökçek administration to build a pallace our supreme leader Erdoğan is entitled to. Some of animals got sent to a crummy place in Kayseri while some others got sent to God knows where.
Ankara did get a live animal collection. But it is a collection in a shopping mall. It is ironic but the owner of the shopping mall probably has the power to open a zoo in the form of a proper park (actually any of the hundreds of shopping mall owners have the power rather than open just another mall). But he didn't. Instead he just allowed a contreversy to happen. On the bright side this place is not Guzoo and Horii Zoo. Most people in Ankara bear with the bad rep because this is probably the only place where they can see any animal other than those that live on the streets. Not to mention pet ownership is regulated heavily for the lower class to the point that corn snakes and ferrets are even banned; so people really can't add diversity to their animal world even if they want to. The shopping mall zoo has become a point anti-zoo activists use to push their ideals to a cou try thatis already crippled regarding animal sciences.
Anyways, I think the Capital of Turkey is in need of a new zoo. And a good one at that.
Edit: I also think Ankara is fit for a zoo. It has dry summers suitable for warm climate animals and cold winters for animals that are adapted for the cold. Being the capital of Turkey, it does have a hefty population. Sadly however the current Economic situation won't permit a good zoo from happening anytime soon.
However I do think that Ankara should get a zoo. (Brace yourself for my umpteenth rant about the mismanagement of the Ankara zoo). Technically speaking our city did have a zoo: the Ataturk Forest Farm zoo. A lame, outdated place which could be compared to a European zoo before the seventies or any other zoo in the Middle East. That is until the Ataturk Forest Farm (lThat's the name of the land the zoo stood on) got stripped off its legal protections from the benovelent mayor Gökçek administration to build a pallace our supreme leader Erdoğan is entitled to. Some of animals got sent to a crummy place in Kayseri while some others got sent to God knows where.
Ankara did get a live animal collection. But it is a collection in a shopping mall. It is ironic but the owner of the shopping mall probably has the power to open a zoo in the form of a proper park (actually any of the hundreds of shopping mall owners have the power rather than open just another mall). But he didn't. Instead he just allowed a contreversy to happen. On the bright side this place is not Guzoo and Horii Zoo. Most people in Ankara bear with the bad rep because this is probably the only place where they can see any animal other than those that live on the streets. Not to mention pet ownership is regulated heavily for the lower class to the point that corn snakes and ferrets are even banned; so people really can't add diversity to their animal world even if they want to. The shopping mall zoo has become a point anti-zoo activists use to push their ideals to a cou try thatis already crippled regarding animal sciences.
Anyways, I think the Capital of Turkey is in need of a new zoo. And a good one at that.
Edit: I also think Ankara is fit for a zoo. It has dry summers suitable for warm climate animals and cold winters for animals that are adapted for the cold. Being the capital of Turkey, it does have a hefty population. Sadly however the current Economic situation won't permit a good zoo from happening anytime soon.
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Let's do it for Germany!
The obvious one is Bremen, the only 500k+ city not in rhe NRW-cluster without a major zoo. Bremerhaven is almost 60km away as well as Walsrode, everything else are only minor institutions.
Essen and Düsseldorf are the others but there are enough zoos in the general area and Düsseldorf has the Aquazoo.
So now let's focus on medium-sized cities without anything major in the area
Freiburg: Basel and Mulhouse are not to far, but the German side is pretty empty
Lübeck: Schleswig-Holstein has no major zoos at all and a zoo with focus on marine animals similar to Bremerhaven, but bigger would fit nicely here
Würzburg: Northern Bavaria has many good wildparks but between Nürnberg and Frankfurt a medium-sized-zoo could work really well
Ingolstadt/Regensburg: My childhood region. It would have been really nice to have something between München and Nürnberg suitable for more than a once-in-a-year visit
For countryside regions I could see something in the Bavarian Alpine region working, something similar to Alpenzoo
Other than that I think most of Germany is covered pretty well
The obvious one is Bremen, the only 500k+ city not in rhe NRW-cluster without a major zoo. Bremerhaven is almost 60km away as well as Walsrode, everything else are only minor institutions.
Essen and Düsseldorf are the others but there are enough zoos in the general area and Düsseldorf has the Aquazoo.
So now let's focus on medium-sized cities without anything major in the area
Freiburg: Basel and Mulhouse are not to far, but the German side is pretty empty
Lübeck: Schleswig-Holstein has no major zoos at all and a zoo with focus on marine animals similar to Bremerhaven, but bigger would fit nicely here
Würzburg: Northern Bavaria has many good wildparks but between Nürnberg and Frankfurt a medium-sized-zoo could work really well
Ingolstadt/Regensburg: My childhood region. It would have been really nice to have something between München and Nürnberg suitable for more than a once-in-a-year visit
For countryside regions I could see something in the Bavarian Alpine region working, something similar to Alpenzoo
Other than that I think most of Germany is covered pretty well
Alright, let me throw in another US state. In Montana, they have ZooMontana in their largest city, Billings.
Other cities in Montana that could use a major AZA-Accredited zoo include the following;
Missoula - Population of 73,489 at the city level, and a population of 121,630 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level.
Bozeman - Population of 53,293 at the city level,
and a population of 118,960 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level. Though they already have the Bear & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, the county seat of Gallatin County. I think it would be nice to see a more well-rounded biodiverse full-fledged zoo to compliment them. In Bozeman, they have The Museum of the Rockies, which has natural history exhibits, why not a zoo?
Kalispel - Population of 24,558 at the city level and a population of 104,357 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level.
Other cities in Montana that could use a major AZA-Accredited zoo include the following;
Missoula - Population of 73,489 at the city level, and a population of 121,630 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level.
Bozeman - Population of 53,293 at the city level,
and a population of 118,960 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level. Though they already have the Bear & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, the county seat of Gallatin County. I think it would be nice to see a more well-rounded biodiverse full-fledged zoo to compliment them. In Bozeman, they have The Museum of the Rockies, which has natural history exhibits, why not a zoo?
Kalispel - Population of 24,558 at the city level and a population of 104,357 at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level.
I like the idea of a major zoo in Oslo, Norway!
Now for Kansas, one city that I think definitely needs a major AZA-Accredited zoo is Lawrence, despite being close to both Topeka and Kansas City which each have large AZA zoos, I think Lawrence would be a nice place to establish a zoo. The population of Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas at the city level is 94,934 and their population at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level is 118,785. In Lawrence, they have the University of Kansas which has an excellent natural history museum on its campus, why not a major AZA-Accredited zoo?
Despite being as close as they are to Kansas City, I think Olathe could also use an AZA-Accredited zoo. Their population is 141,290. Overland Park, Kansas despite also being located in Johnson County, and again in close proximity Kansas City, I believe they could use an AZA accredited zoo themselves. The population of Overland Park is 197,238. All that said, I could see a WCS type of concept established in the Greater Kansas City area.
I will say, I am impressed by the number of AZA accredited zoos that Kansas has despite the state's size as a whole. Hutchinson, Manhattan, Emporia, Salina, Garden City, Topeka, Wichita etc. It wouldn't hurt to have more. As far as I know, Kansas is the only state to have more AZA zoos than electoral college votes.
Despite being as close as they are to Kansas City, I think Olathe could also use an AZA-Accredited zoo. Their population is 141,290. Overland Park, Kansas despite also being located in Johnson County, and again in close proximity Kansas City, I believe they could use an AZA accredited zoo themselves. The population of Overland Park is 197,238. All that said, I could see a WCS type of concept established in the Greater Kansas City area.
I will say, I am impressed by the number of AZA accredited zoos that Kansas has despite the state's size as a whole. Hutchinson, Manhattan, Emporia, Salina, Garden City, Topeka, Wichita etc. It wouldn't hurt to have more. As far as I know, Kansas is the only state to have more AZA zoos than electoral college votes.
The city where I live, Cagliari.
It's the chief town of Sardinia, it's a rather famous tourist destination especially during the summer, but it lacks of both natural history museums and any sort of zoological structure (although it has a quite rich collection of plants in the botanical garden);
There were plans to transform the Padiglione Nervi, an old salt storage, into an aquarium but it's now being renovated into a gym.
Considering the fact that there's no WAZA accredited zoo in the island and the only aquarium is quite distant
It's the chief town of Sardinia, it's a rather famous tourist destination especially during the summer, but it lacks of both natural history museums and any sort of zoological structure (although it has a quite rich collection of plants in the botanical garden);
There were plans to transform the Padiglione Nervi, an old salt storage, into an aquarium but it's now being renovated into a gym.
Considering the fact that there's no WAZA accredited zoo in the island and the only aquarium is quite distant
That would be a great location for a major zoo as well.
While I can certainly appreciate the love of Kansas....Olathe and Overland Park are suburbs and Lawrence is an exurb of Kansas City...while they may be defined cities in their own right, they are solidly in the orbit of Kansas City - Overland is surrounded by KC on two sides.
The Kansas City Zoo is actually really close to both Overland Park (under 9 miles) and Olathe (about 20 miles), they are all on the south side of Kansas City metro area. Lawrence is only 30 miles from Topeka zoo and 47 from Kansas City Zoo. I don't think that they should invest in their own institutions.
The Kansas metro isn't really large enough to support a multi-institution environment like WCS in the New York metro.
The number of AZA zoos really is great for the size of the state, it is something to be proud of.
Indeed, the only problem is there's no place inside the city to build it as I don't see the citizens letting the Town Hall closing the parks to free access and replacing them with zoos, without considering that both have sport fields inside of them, meaning that those would have to be closed and demolished; neither can it be builded outside of the city, as the interland is filled with scattered shopping malls and warehouses that make impossible the construction of something bigger
That would be fantastic, but is almost impossible. At least for the next two decades, I would say.
Sadly, Oslo is one of the very few capitals without a significant zoological facility in a 100 km radius and the closest one is Nordens Ark (200km) in Sweden.There were plans for a wild park next to Oslo called Animal Kingdom, which was about to open in 2016 and to have Snow Leopards and Siberian Tigers in huge naturalistic enclosures. The animal rights activists stood against the idea and the project was abandoned.
The Futuristic aquarium in Oslo (Bærum) was politically accepted, but one of the major owners of the land changed their plans and wants to build apartments instead. There is a backfire from animal rights activists too and most probably this project also is not going to be bringed to fruition.
The construction prices here are also very limiting factor and a subject of hot debates.
To illustrate: I'am working at the biggest hotel in Norway, which was completely renovateted in 2019. The initial estimate cost was 250 000 000 euro, but they end up on 350 000 000!