Most overrated zoo

Smithsonian National Zoo.

I recently visited it. Since Smithsonian has a good collection of museums, I had high hopes for this zoo. Sure, some of their other museums are hit or misses, but I had seen lots of hype around the zoo. So I did it and I finally went. To a disappointment, it was not all that.

Firstly, the best part was, of course, the pandas. A.k.a. the only thing they advertise. I don’t entirely blame them for that though, since it is one of the few zoos in North America with the species.

Anyway, back to my main point. Have you ever listened to a song, or watched a movie that just didn’t feel complete for release? It felt more like a demo? That’s how I felt when visiting this zoo. It didn’t feel complete, there’s a lot of empty land. Wherever I went, there was either just even more and more walking or there was just construction. The zoo needs an upgrade. It’s fine for it to not be complete, I just feel like it is not set for public appearance.

Some of their enclosures are below average and very last minute. I’m not surprised by that too much, but you would usually expect it to be a little nicer.

It wasn’t a bad zoo but it could use some upgrades and patching. I guess I got too hyped by the advertising.
 
Galapagos Penguin said:
Smithsonian National Zoo.

I recently visited it. Since Smithsonian has a good collection of museums, I had high hopes for this zoo. Sure, some of their other museums are hit or misses, but I had seen lots of hype around the zoo. So I did it and I finally went. To a disappointment, it was not all that.

Firstly, the best part was, of course, the pandas. A.k.a. the only thing they advertise. I don’t entirely blame them for that though, since it is one of the few zoos in North America with the species.

Anyway, back to my main point. Have you ever listened to a song, or watched a movie that just didn’t feel complete for release? It felt more like a demo? That’s how I felt when visiting this zoo. It didn’t feel complete, there’s a lot of empty land. Wherever I went, there was either just even more and more walking or there was just construction. The zoo needs an upgrade. It’s fine for it to not be complete, I just feel like it is not set for public appearance.

Some of their enclosures are below average and very last minute. I’m not surprised by that too much, but you would usually expect it to be a little nicer.

It wasn’t a bad zoo but it could use some upgrades and patching. I guess I got too hyped by the advertising.
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Consider contacting your lawmakers to call for an increase in the Smithsonian budget! A lot of what you're talking about is because there's budget constrains with being a gov-affiliated zoo.
 
As much as it pains me to say it because I do like the place....Chester Zoo is very overrated. Don't get me wrong, they have some fantastic exhibits and an amazing range of animals, but I can't help but feel there's a bit too much to see and do there, and it feels a bit over-excessive.
The sheer size of the zoo makes it extremely hard to get around and see everything in a single visit. Shaving off maybe 40 or 50 acres would improve the zoo a lot in my opinion. But from what I've heard it's soon to get even bigger as they've recently received approval to build a huge African Grasslands exhibit.
As I say, Chester Zoo is a fine place, but I've been to smaller zoos that provide just as good, if not better, of a zoo experience, so I do wonder if Chester really deserves its prestigious gold standard reputation.
 
Jambi said:
As much as it pains me to say it because I do like the place....Chester Zoo is very overrated. Don't get me wrong, they have some fantastic exhibits and an amazing range of animals, but I can't help but feel there's a bit too much to see and do there, and it feels a bit over-excessive.
The sheer size of the zoo makes it extremely hard to get around and see everything in a single visit. Shaving off maybe 40 or 50 acres would improve the zoo a lot in my opinion. But from what I've heard it's soon to get even bigger as they've recently received approval to build a huge African Grasslands exhibit.
As I say, Chester Zoo is a fine place, but I've been to smaller zoos that provide just as good, if not better, of a zoo experience, so I do wonder if Chester really deserves its prestigious gold standard reputation.
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You don’t have to look at everything if you don’t want to. How would you have coped with London Zoo in the days of their enormous postage stamp collection?
 
Jambi said:
But from what I've heard it's soon to get even bigger as they've recently received approval to build a huge African Grasslands exhibit.
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The Grasslands development is entirely within the current zoo, so it certainly won't be physically any bigger.


littleRedPanda said:
it's posts like this that reinforce my belief that calling things overrated, is overrated.
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My thoughts exactly. All it means is "other people like this more than me" - and all too often, "other people like this more than me and I'd like to make them feel bad about it".
 
Jambi said:
As much as it pains me to say it because I do like the place....Chester Zoo is very overrated. Don't get me wrong, they have some fantastic exhibits and an amazing range of animals, but I can't help but feel there's a bit too much to see and do there, and it feels a bit over-excessive.
The sheer size of the zoo makes it extremely hard to get around and see everything in a single visit. Shaving off maybe 40 or 50 acres would improve the zoo a lot in my opinion. But from what I've heard it's soon to get even bigger as they've recently received approval to build a huge African Grasslands exhibit.
As I say, Chester Zoo is a fine place, but I've been to smaller zoos that provide just as good, if not better, of a zoo experience, so I do wonder if Chester really deserves its prestigious gold standard reputation.
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I fail to understand how a zoo being too big makes it overrated. Overwhelming, maybe, but certainly not overrated. For the most part, when it comes to zoos, I think the bigger the better. That is unless it’s so big, the zoo has financial issues or visitors aren’t able to see the entire zoo within 2-3 days. Which most certainly isn’t the case for Chester.
 
Jambi said:
Chester Zoo is very overrated......I can't help but feel there's a bit too much to see and do there
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Given the fact that most people hold Chester in high regard *because* it provides plenty of value-for-money and content, and regularly adds new content and developments, it somewhat amuses me that your reason for claiming the collection is significantly worse than commonly believed (this being a synonym for "very overrated") is the precise reason people rate it so highly.

This presumably means that in order for a zoo to *not* be overrated, it must aim to be solidly average, take only 2-3 hours to visit, and actively lose content..... in which case a certain collection north of the border must be the most underrated zoo in the UK :P
 
Azamat Shackleford said:
My problem with Detroit is probably well-known for some of the Midwestern Zoochatters here, but the problems I have with them is their recent massive species phase-out exodus and their extreme measures to expand exhibits for like one or two animals. Even with the overrated/oversized Arctic Ring of Life, it was bearable (pun unintended) even just 8 years ago:
Detroit Zoo News 2021 [Detroit Zoo]
Detroit Zoo Former Species [Detroit Zoo]
Zoo/Aquarium Hot Takes
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Interesting! I personally think Arctic Ring of Life should be the standard, not the exception for polar bears given their size and natural range
 
Arctic Ring of Life is easily the most overrated zoo exhibit in North America, and probably the world. It's just too big, you probably won't see the bears in person and it's mostly just a space for gulls and pigeons to hand out. Imagine if Detroit used for other species instead.
 
guess I got lucky - I got to see the whole gang back in December. from a welfare perspective, it's an amazing exhibit
 
Thing is, a good exhibit doesn't have to be that large. Studies have literally shown that while space is an important factor, the area also has to be enriching in itself. I'm not saying the Arctic Ring of Life is not enriching (for it has some opportunities for the bears), the fact is that such opportunities aren't evenly spread out so much of it remains unused. A lot of the potential space could've also been used for other species, but instead remains wasted.
 
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