A Report from the North America Galleries

Great Argus

Great Argus

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Recently I've been frustrated when trying to navigate the increasingly clunky United States gallery list, and finally decided to have a look through them all to see what's there. The results were surprising to say the least, lots of empty galleries and many tiny ones.

There are a grand total of 907 individual galleries in the United States section as of late August 31. Out of these, 216 of them are empty or in a couple cases basically empty (1-2 photos). This is twenty-four percent of all galleries, so nearly a quarter. Many of these are tiny places that may or may not even still exist, and a good number of them are duplicates - in a few cases two empty duplicate galleries sitting side by side. See the following list in spoilers (note that all facilities with (closed) have it actually in the gallery name, it is not an add-on by me.)

  1. Abrams Animal Farm
  2. Africa USA California (Closed)
  3. Aquarium at the Boardwalk (Branson)
  4. Aquarius Aquarium
  5. Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo
  6. Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
  7. Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
  8. Ballyhoo Petting Zoo
  9. Bee City Zoo
  10. Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary
  11. Big Joel’s Safari
  12. Blue Hills Trailside Museum
  13. Branson’s Wild World
  14. Brecksville Nature Center
  15. Buena Vista Museum of Natural History and Science
  16. Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
  17. BUGarium - needs merged with ABQ Biopark BUGarium
  18. Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
  19. Busch Gardens California (Closed)
  20. Busch Gardens Texas (Closed)
  21. Butterfly Pavilion - one old photo labeled “Butterfly”
  22. Caledonia Zoological Park
  23. Calusa Nature Center
  24. Camel Safari
  25. CanalWay Center
  26. Center for Great Apes
  27. Center for Science Teaching and Learning
  28. Charmingfare Farm
  29. Children’s Aquarium and Exploration of GFR (Closed)
  30. Chiricahua Desert Museum
  31. Christenson Natural Wildlife Center
  32. Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
  33. Cicchelli Second Chance Rescue and Exotics
  34. Cleveland Aquarium (Closed)
  35. Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife
  36. Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum
  37. Coral World Ocean Park
  38. Cypress Zoo & Wildlife Rehabilitation
  39. Daggerwing Nature Center
  40. Dallas Museum of Natural History (closed)
  41. Dallas Museum of Nature & Science (closed)
  42. Deer Forest Exotic Animal Sanctuary (closed)
  43. Deer Ranch
  44. Deer Tracks Junction
  45. DEW Haven
  46. Discovery Place Nature
  47. Donald R. Dickey Bird and Mammal Collection
  48. ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
  49. Eight Point Ranch
  50. El Dorado Nature Center
  51. El Rancho Exotica
  52. Elephant Sanctuary
  53. Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge
  54. Enchanted Village (Closed)
  55. Everglades Outpost Wildlife Rescue
  56. Everglades Safari Park
  57. Exotic Animal Paradise (Closed)
  58. Exotic Bird Sanctuary
  59. Exotic Feline Rescue Center
  60. Farmony’s Safari Edventure
  61. Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters
  62. Florida Teaching Zoo
  63. Forever Florida (Closed)
  64. Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo
  65. Forty South Farm and Zoo
  66. Fox River Environmental Education Alliance
  67. Gabbert Raptor Center
  68. Garfield Park Reservation
  69. Giraffe Ranch
  70. Gorman Nature Center
  71. Great Valley Museum
  72. Gulf Specimen Marine Lab
  73. Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
  74. Hawk Creek Wildlife Center
  75. Herps Alive Foundation
  76. Hesperia Zoo
  77. Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery - two pics of signs
  78. International Exotic Animal Sanctuary
  79. Japanese Village and Deer Park (Closed)
  80. John D. Cooper Archaeological and Paleontological Center
  81. Jungle Adventures
  82. Kentucky Down Under Adventures
  83. Key West Aquarium
  84. Kings Island Wild Animal Habitat (Closed)
  85. Kisma Preserve
  86. Lagoon Deer Park
  87. Lake County Farm Park
  88. Lake Erie Nature & Science Center
  89. Lakewood Zoo (Closed)
  90. Lana Bella Alpaca Farm
  91. Large Animal Research Station - is doubled, one empty
  92. Las Vegas Natural History Museum
  93. Lazy 5 Ranch
  94. Liberty Science Center
  95. Lion Country Safari California (Closed)
  96. Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue
  97. Living Shores Aquarium
  98. Long Island Game Farm Wildlife Park & Children’s Zoo
  99. Lowcountry Zoo
  100. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
  101. Maine State Aquarium
  102. Maria Mitchell Association Aquarium
  103. Marineland Dolphin Adventure
  104. Mesalands Community College's Dinosaur Museum & Natural Sciences Laboratory
  105. Messinger Wood Wildlife Care and Education Center
  106. Micanopy Zoological Preserve
  107. Michigan Whitetail Hall of Fame Museum
  108. Milwaukee Public Museum
  109. Mississippi Aquarium
  110. Missouri Botanical Garden - 1 image
  111. Moonridge Animal Park (Closed)
  112. Mount Dora Aquarium
  113. Museum of Osteology
  114. Museum of Science and Industry (Tampa)
  115. Museum of the Big Bend - doubled, one empty
  116. Myrtle Beach Safari
  117. National Marine Life Center
  118. Natural Science Center of Greensboro
  119. Nature Center of Cape May
  120. NGALA Wildlife Preserve
  121. Noah’s Lost Ark
  122. North Chagrin Nature Center
  123. O. Orkin Insect Zoo
  124. Ohio Bird Sanctuary
  125. Oleson Park Zoo
  126. Open Door Bird Sanctuary
  127. Parrot Mountain and Gardens
  128. Peace Reserve
  129. Pelican Harbor Seabird Station
  130. Penitentiary Glen Nature Center and Wildlife Center
  131. Perot Museum of Nature and Science
  132. Petting Zoo Ocala
  133. Pioneer Park
  134. Prairie Homestead
  135. Pratt Museum and Park
  136. Prehistoric Pets
  137. Promised Land Zoo
  138. R LAZY J Wildlife Ranch
  139. Ralph B. Clark Regional Park
  140. Ramsey Park Zoo
  141. Randall Oaks Zoo
  142. Reptarium
  143. Reptile Discovery Center
  144. Reptile World Serpentarium
  145. Richard H. Schmidt Museum of Natural History
  146. Riverside Metropolitan Museum
  147. Rizzo’s Wildlife World
  148. Rocky River Nature Center
  149. Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History and Planetarium
  150. Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch
  151. Rowan Wildlife Adventures
  152. Ruby Ranch Center of Biological Conservation
  153. Safari Edventure
  154. Safari Wild Animal Park
  155. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
  156. San Bernardino County Museum - 1 photo of a fossil
  157. Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History - 2 photos of fossils
  158. Sarasota Jungle Gardens
  159. SEA Discovery Center - doubled, one empty
  160. SeaQuest Roseville
  161. SeaQuest Trumbull
  162. Serpentarium
  163. Sewee Visitor & Environment Education Center
  164. Shamba Safari
  165. Shreveport Aquarium
  166. Slater Park Zoo (Closed)
  167. Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center - 3 old photos of horses
  168. St. Lucie County Aquarium
  169. STAR ECO Station Culver City
  170. STAR ECO Station Rocklin (Closed)
  171. Stearns Homestead
  172. Sternberg Museum of Natural History
  173. Sunken Gardens Florida
  174. Sunrise Side Exotics & Nature Trail
  175. T&D’s Cats of the World
  176. Tallahassee Museum
  177. Tamarack Nature Center
  178. Tennessee Safari Park
  179. Teton Raptor Center
  180. The Bighorn Institute
  181. The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature
  182. The Center for Birds of Prey
  183. The Children’s Museum
  184. The Marine Mammal Center - 1 photo, is this a different place from the various similarly named?
  185. The Natural History Museum of Santa Maria
  186. The Preserve at Animal Adventures - unnecessary double of Animal Adventures
  187. Theater of the Sea
  188. Thomas Condon Paleontology Center
  189. Tiger World
  190. Tree Hill Nature Center
  191. Trowbridge Creek Zoo
  192. Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary
  193. Tuscon Petting Zoo
  194. Tybee Island Marine Science Center
  195. UAF Large Animal Research Station
  196. UC Riverside Entomology Research Museum
  197. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History - 1 photo of a skeleton
  198. University of Kansas Natural History Museum
  199. University of Nebraska State Museum
  200. Valley of the Kings Sanctuary and Retreat
  201. Victor Valley Museum
  202. Wagon Wheel Safari
  203. Watershed Stewardship Center
  204. Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology
  205. White Elk Ranch
  206. Wild Adventures Theme Park
  207. Wildcat Bluff Nature Center
  208. Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center
  209. Wilstem Wildlife Park
  210. Wolf Hollow
  211. Wooten’s Animal Sanctuary & Alligator Park
  212. Yakima Valley Museum
  213. Yellow River Game Ranch (Closed)
  214. Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary
  215. Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center
  216. Zoological Wildlife Foundation

There are also around a dozen galleries that are just there for half a dozen or so photos of fossils, and several that are just three or four photos of tiny facilities. Really these could just go under the "Other" category I feel. A good thirty galleries have less than half a page of media, many of these harken back to the days of Snowleopard's road trips and have not been updated since. There are also a large number of museums with nothing but taxidermy photos apparent. In several cases taxidermy can be quite interesting for extinct and rarely seen species, but we sure have a lot of them in the gallery.


O Canada - I mentioned this project to @TinoPup, and of her own accord she went and did the Canada galleries with the intent of the results being added on. Turns out Canada's galleries are in even worse shape than the US ones, with 45 out of 105 galleries being empty. This totals to 43% of Canada's galleries being empty.

  1. BFLY
  2. Bioparc de la Gaspesie
  3. Brockville Aquarium
  4. Buffaloland Provincial Park
  5. Caribou Crossing Trading Post
  6. Cherry Brook Zoo (Closed)
  7. Chinguacousy Park Petting Zoo
  8. Club Regent Casino Aquarium - 2 photos of outside
  9. Exotarium
  10. Falardeau Zoo
  11. Fauna Foundation
  12. Greenview Aviaries Park & Zoo
  13. Indian River Reptile Zoo
  14. Jurassic Bart’s Dinosaur Museum and Park
  15. Ken Jen Petting Zoo
  16. Kluane Museum of History
  17. Little Big Bear Safari
  18. Magnetic Hill Zoo
  19. Miller Zoo
  20. Moose Jaw Wild Animal Park (Closed)
  21. Mountsberg Conservation Area
  22. Newfoundland Insectarium
  23. Oaklawn Farm Zoo
  24. Ontario Science Center
  25. Oshawa Zoo
  26. Ottowa Insectarium
  27. Pacific Undersea Gardens (Closed)
  28. Polar Park (Closed) - 3 photos of a brochure
  29. Safari Zoo Camp
  30. Scales Nature Park
  31. Stanley Bridge Marine Aquarium
  32. Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary
  33. Taquanyah Nature Center
  34. The Butterfly House
  35. The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada
  36. Turda Farms
  37. Two Rivers Wildlife Park
  38. Victoria Bug Zoo
  39. Victoria Butterfly Gardens
  40. Waterford Deer Park
  41. Westman Reptile Gardens
  42. Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center
  43. Yukon Wildlife Preserve
  44. Zoo Academie
  45. Zoo St-Edouard (Closed)

Some surprising misses there, such as Magnetic Hill. A lot of places have relatively little media.


@TinoPup also did the UK, for comparison purposes. The result was far better than the previous two, with only 15 of 298 galleries being empty (5%). Additionally the large majority of their zoos have had media uploaded within the last two years, the same cannot be said for the USA and Canada's.

  1. Almond Valley Heritage Center
  2. Belle Vue Zoo (Closed)
  3. Bowland Wild Boar Park
  4. Bugtopia Hornsea
  5. Crealy Great Adventure Park and Resort
  6. Earsham Wetland Center
  7. Fife Zoo
  8. Green Dragon Eco Farm
  9. Ilfracombe Aquarium
  10. Leopard and Goat Farm
  11. Manchester Zoo
  12. Moss Bank Park Animal World
  13. North Somerset Bird of Prey Center
  14. Smithills Open Farm
  15. The Magic of Life Butterfly House


With that data presented, I think a lot of cleaning up and streamlining could be done to the USA and Canada galleries in particular. Some of the empty galleries have been requested recently, but some I've seen requested awhile ago and never filled. Many of the closed facilities have sat for a long time without images, can they just be removed and then people can ask for them if they have photos? Though too the United States gallery in particular seems prone to getting facilities added that lie empty or just get a sprinkle of photos and then sit untouched for years. Somewhere around 25-30% of the galleries that do have photos have less than a page of media - often approaching 5-8 years old. Many of the natural history museums have had a smattering of fossil photos uploaded (almost entirely by one member) and otherwise sit empty. Only the couple large NH museums actually are fleshed out. No shortage of visitors centers with a few taxidermy photos either.
Conversely, we have zoos like Bronx (242 pages), Omaha (168 pages), San Diego (370 pages), and San Diego Zoo Safari Park (176 pages) that are massively represented in the gallery. Likely plenty of photos in there that could be cleaned out, but I wouldn't want to do it and I don't think anyone else does either!

Anyways, this was a very interesting project, and I hope some things can be done to clean out a lot of the empty galleries. Even just ones that are unlikely to be uploaded to and the doubles would be better than nothing.
 
Thank you @Great Argus and @TinoPup for such a high-effort post! I can't imagine how long it took you two to sift through and compile all this information. I agree that streamlining would definitely be very beneficial, and I wonder how many of the facilities with empty galleries also have no threads (ie news threads, reviews, or otherwise)?

Since the topic of streamlining was brought up, part of me also wishes that each US facility (in the gallery or in the forums) could have a US state tag, so that you could sort the gallery by what part of the country each place was located. But this would likely be a lot of work to do, and I think removing empty galleries would likely be more worth the effort at this point in time.

Great Argus said:
Some of the empty galleries have been requested recently, but some I've seen requested awhile ago and never filled.
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I have to apologize because I am partially guilty of this. In the late summer, I requested Wolf Hollow, because I planned on visiting only to find out a few days later that their tours were entirely booked for the season. In retrospect, it may be better to only request an unlisted facility after I have already visited and taken photos of it.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
I agree that streamlining would definitely be very beneficial, and I wonder how many of the facilities with empty galleries also have no threads (ie news threads, reviews, or otherwise)?
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I suspect a great many do not have threads, especially the history museums, insect places, and small nature centers. It's something I've considered looking into alongside the gallery. Probably quite a few of the ones that do have threads haven't been updated in years.

ZooElephantsMan said:
In retrospect, it may be better to only request an unlisted facility after I have already visited and taken photos of it.
Click to expand...

This I believe is the preferred method for new galleries, and what I and quite a few other members go by.
I've also opted to upload a few places under the "Other" category on grounds of only having a few photos and a very low likelihood of other Zoochatters visiting. Seemed the better option.
 
I know at least a few of those empty galleries do have threads.

Also, I do have photos for one of those empty galleries that I've been meaning to upload, I just haven't gotten around to it yet (Milwaukee Public Museum).
 
The gallery list should be a seperate entity from the map list and the dropdown list by the country threads.
Some facilities have news/review threads but no images uploaded to the gallery; using the facility dropdown is the best way to filter through them, better than searching keywords which sometimes people don't add anyways.
The map is also very useful for finding facilities in an area. I personally use it to find places to check out in my area or those I'm visiting, I actually find it works much better for finding nature centers and smaller sanctuaries in the area compared to google, and its great for research. Although I must say with the main map api in USA not working anymore its become less useful now.

I can understand removing non-used or small galleries but the issue is the facility tag will get removed from everywhere on the site and suddenly the map and news threads are less useful or harder to find items. Just my opinion though:)

Oh, and I'd love if there was also a state filter for facility listings (maybe the same idea can be used in other countries for provinces or territories).
 
After seeing the results for USA, I wanted to look through the UK galleries because I had a hunch that the results would be different. That definitely ended up being true. UK users seem to only request a place be added when they have media to contribute. In the US, people seem to frequently request places be added when they want to start a thread. You don't need a thread facility to tag to make a new post about a facility, though, and the search function can be used to find anything previously mentioned about a place. The list of US facilities is so long, I automatically go to search to look up relevant threads, even if it's a major zoo.

ZooElephantsMan said:
Thank you @Great Argus and @TinoPup for such a high-effort post! I can't imagine how long it took you two to sift through and compile all this information. I agree that streamlining would definitely be very beneficial, and I wonder how many of the facilities with empty galleries also have no threads (ie news threads, reviews, or otherwise)?

Since the topic of streamlining was brought up, part of me also wishes that each US facility (in the gallery or in the forums) could have a US state tag, so that you could sort the gallery by what part of the country each place was located. But this would likely be a lot of work to do, and I think removing empty galleries would likely be more worth the effort at this point in time.

I have to apologize because I am partially guilty of this. In the late summer, I requested Wolf Hollow, because I planned on visiting only to find out a few days later that their tours were entirely booked for the season. In retrospect, it may be better to only request an unlisted facility after I have already visited and taken photos of it.
Click to expand...


@Great Argus deserves all of the credit for this! I decided to do a quick run through Canada because I had seen so many empty galleries while researching places in Quebec. Compared to my many other projects, this one only took a few hours :D Just a quick spreadsheet with the names, then number of pages, year of last photo, and any other notes.

I request places be added only after I've visited them and have the photos. I'd be responsible for quite a few empty ones, otherwise, lol. Like Argus, I also utilize the "other" album if I don't have many photos. I recently added photos from Loon Center and Libby Museum in there, both of which are small facilities with no live animals but would be of interest to anyone in New Hampshire. I need to add a local nature center in there, too.
 
I do have the same question in recent times when a few japanese aquarium gallery have been requested. There will be few people who have photos of those facilities, and i suppose they will be empty for quite a while. I believe people who suggest them want to use it for the tag of news for such facilities, but i just dont believe those will be filled anytime soon. (And i'm sure there are more example of similar things, just i am more fond of looking through gallery of Asian facilities)
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
I wonder how many of the facilities with empty galleries also have no threads (ie news threads, reviews, or otherwise)?
Click to expand...
Great Argus said:
It's something I've considered looking into alongside the gallery. Probably quite a few of the ones that do have threads haven't been updated in years.
Click to expand...

I decided to knock this out because it's something I've been wondering about too; I've trawled through the US threads looking for untagged species lists in the past and was surprised by how many zoos lacked any threads at all.

Of the 216 facilities @Great Argus listed, 47 have at least one thread; the remaining 169 do not (of which 163 have zero photos).

Aquarium at the Boardwalk (Branson)
Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum (no threads, but photos have been added since its listing today)
Bee City Zoo
Branson’s Wild World
Butterfly Pavilion - one old photo labeled “Butterfly”
Chiricahua Desert Museum
DEW Haven
Discovery Place Nature
Elephant Sanctuary
Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge
Exotic Feline Rescue Center
Florida Teaching Zoo
Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo
Fox River Environmental Education Alliance
Giraffe Ranch
Gorman Nature Center
Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park
Hawk Creek Wildlife Center
Hesperia Zoo
Lake County Farm Park
Lakewood Zoo (Closed)
Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue
Lowcountry Zoo
Marineland Dolphin Adventure
Milwaukee Public Museum
Mississippi Aquarium
Myrtle Beach Safari
Noah’s Lost Ark
Oleson Park Zoo
Promised Land Zoo
R LAZY J Wildlife Ranch
Reptile World Serpentarium
Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch
SeaQuest Trumbull
Shamba Safari
Shreveport Aquarium
Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center - 3 old photos of horses
Stearns Homestead
Tallahassee Museum
Teton Raptor Center
The Preserve at Animal Adventures - unnecessary double of Animal Adventures
Tuscon Petting Zoo
Valley of the Kings Sanctuary and Retreat
Wild Adventures Theme Park
Wilstem Wildlife Park
Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary
Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center

My own two cents: as an American member who has been around for several years and has traveled extensively, I have not even heard of the vast majority of those. I'm vaguely familiar with about three dozen max, and most of those I either only knew existed or they are duplicates of places that do have threads and photos.

Speaking of which, a couple other duplicates: Natural Science Center of Greensboro is the same as Greensboro Natural Science Center, and Prehistoric Pets is part of the same facility as The Reptile Zoo.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Of the 216 facilities @Great Argus listed, 47 have at least one thread; the remaining 169 do not (of which 163 have zero photos).
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Ah thank you for this @Coelacanth18, very interesting information. By that count 18% of all US facility galleries and thread tags are sitting completely unused - which is rather high.

I've further had a look at what facilities do have threads, and there is a lot of notable information there too. See below:

Aquarium at the Boardwalk (Branson) - one post in Mar 2021

Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum (no threads, but photos have been added since its listing today)

Bee City Zoo - 2 posts, created Jul 2022

Branson’s Wild World - 1 post on this Monday

Butterfly Pavilion - one old photo labeled “Butterfly - 1 post, Dec 2018

Chiricahua Desert Museum - 6 posts, created 6 Apr 2014, last post May 2018

DEW Haven - 4 posts, created Dec 2021, last post Mar 2022

Discovery Place Nature - 1 post, Oct 2019

Elephant Sanctuary - 26 posts, created Apr 2008, last post on Fri

Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge - 2 posts, created Oct 2019

Exotic Feline Rescue Center - 1 post, Jun 2013

Florida Teaching Zoo - 2 posts by the same person, created Nov 2021

Fort Rickey Discovery Zoo - 6 posts by the same person, created Nov 2021, last post Jul 2022

Fox River Environmental Education Alliance - 1 post, Apr 2019

Giraffe Ranch - 2 threads with 6 posts between both

Gorman Nature Center - 3 posts, Jan 2015

Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park - 4 posts, created on Monday

Hawk Creek Wildlife Center - 3 posts, Nov 2017

Hesperia Zoo - 1 post, Feb 2022

Lake County Farm Park - 1 post, Nov 2014

Lakewood Zoo (Closed) - 1 post, Nov 2017

Little Ponderosa Zoo and Rescue - 9 posts by the same person, created Nov 2021, last post Aug 2022

Lowcountry Zoo - 4 posts, Aug 2022

Marineland Dolphin Adventure - 9 posts, created Jun 2019, last post May 2022

Milwaukee Public Museum - two threads, 10 posts between them

Mississippi Aquarium - 8 posts, created Aug 2020, last post May 2021

Myrtle Beach Safari - 2 posts, created on Sunday

Noah’s Lost Ark - 1 post, Aug 2016

Oleson Park Zoo - 2 threads, 19 posts between the two, most recent post 2016

Promised Land Zoo - 7 posts, created on Sunday

R LAZY J Wildlife Ranch - 41 posts, created Jan 2020, last post Feb 2021

Reptile World Serpentarium - 13 posts, created Jul 2022

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch - 1 post, Aug 2017

SeaQuest Trumbull - 4 posts, created on Sunday

Shamba Safari - 2 relatively large threads

Shreveport Aquarium - 2 posts, created Aug 2022

Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center - 4 posts, created Dec 2016, last post Aug 2019

Stearns Homestead - 4 posts, Nov 2014

Tallahassee Museum - two threads for a total of 3 posts, Dec 2013 and Jun 2022

Teton Raptor Center - 1 post, Sep 2018

The Preserve at Animal Adventures - 4 posts by one member, Aug 2022

Tuscon Petting Zoo - 5 posts, Feb 2019

Valley of the Kings Sanctuary and Retreat - 4 posts, Feb 2019

Wild Adventures Theme Park - 5 posts, created Jan 2019, last post Apr 2022

Wilstem Wildlife Park - 2 threads for a total of 6 posts, Aug 2022

Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary - two threads, one large one almost solely one member, May 2020 and Nov 2020 creations, Nov 2020 is current

Zoological Wildlife Conservation Center - 2 posts, Apr 2013

Of the 47 that do have tagged threads, we see the following:
9 threads have been dead over 5 years now
19 threads have been dead over 3 years now
9 threads are new within the last two months
6 threads are new just this week
7 of them are largely or entirely posted by one certain member, including a 23 post "news" thread almost completely by said member. Said member is also prominent in many of the other newer threads listed here.

Very interesting that nearly half the listed facility threads have been dead over three years. Six of the places didn't have a thread up until this week. Most of these places are clearly pretty obscure by their low post count and dead status in terms of last post. I don't think there is much loss if they were to lose their tag status, especially when a couple of them are just a sole member spamming news with no likes or discussion.
 
I’ve noticed that the UAF Large Animal Research Station has (or recently had) three galleries. The two labeled Large Animal Research Station should be removed. The one labeled UAF Large Animal Research Station should stay. Proper name for the facility and I’ll relocate my photos there.

If that works for everyone.
 
Pleistohorse said:
I’ve noticed that the UAF Large Animal Research Station has (or recently had) three galleries. The two labeled Large Animal Research Station should be removed. The one labeled UAF Large Animal Research Station should stay. Proper name for the facility and I’ll relocate my photos there.

If that works for everyone.
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I did notice this and figured at least two of them were duplicates. Definitely a fair handful of duplicates that need cleaned up.
 
I'm going to throw my two cents into this:

1. I absolutely agree that the Canadian list needs to be updated. There are so many facilities that are either duplicates or just "why are they there", and there have been many facilities that are in desperate needing of adding/updating.

2. I also agree that closed facilities shouldn't really have galleries (unless they were closed during the lifetime of this site and some person has decent-quality pictures of it). I'm guilty of adding one, (Slater Park Zoo) so if it gets deleted I won't mind.

3. From reading this thread, I think that Tinopup and Great Argus think that this site as a whole, Zoochat, is a gallery-based forum with a thread area to the side. I would have to disagree with them, as I think zoochat is primarily a thread-based forum with galleries on the side. That's how it is reflected when I request a "gallery". I request one because I think the facility looks interesting and at some point, I will make a thread on it, not necessarily that I've visited that and took pictures of it.

Is there a way you can remove galleries and just have a thread and where it appears on the map. That could solve the problem of galleries being inactive/0 pictures in them while keeping the dropdown list. And if someone really wants a gallery just request to add it on a later date.

Also could someone explain why you chose the United Kingdom as an example to compare with the United States and Canada? Personally, I think you should have compared the United States to something of more or less equivalent size, like Australia or China. Comparing it to the United Kingdom maybe would make more sense if you were comparing a region, not the entire USA.
 
Smaggledagle said:
Also could someone explain why you chose the United Kingdom as an example to compare with the United States and Canada? Personally, I think you should have compared the United States to something of more or less equivalent size, like Australia or China.
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I don't know about China but as far as I know, the United Kingdom has a greater density of zoos compared to Australia.
 
You do not need a zoo to be added in order to make a thread on it. You can start a thread about any place you want, and it can be searched for, it just won't have the tag at the front, which isn't a requirement. You do need a facility to be added in order to upload photos of it (yes, there's the "others" gallery for each country, but adding a bunch of photos of one place to that defeats its purpose).

We were comparing photos of zoos, not the size of countries. The UK has a lot of active members here who go to a lot of facilities and post photos and threads. Australia has relatively few zoos for its size, given its basically just the coasts that are inhabited, and there's barely any Chinese members on here.
 
Smaggledagle said:
2. I also agree that closed facilities shouldn't really have galleries (unless they were closed during the lifetime of this site and some person has decent-quality pictures of it). I'm guilty of adding one, (Slater Park Zoo) so if it gets deleted I won't mind.
Click to expand...

I have nothing against closed facilities being in the galleries so long as there are a good handful of pictures - that is historical value, and in many cases there are members who actually visited the facilities.

Smaggledagle said:
3. From reading this thread, I think that Tinopup and Great Argus think that this site as a whole, Zoochat, is a gallery-based forum with a thread area to the side
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I do not, rather that they are even in importance. Many, many threads lean heavily on the gallery: the photographic guides, many trip reports, the various best exhibit/best zoo threads, as well as many of the population threads - I know that @TinoPup, @IndianRhino, and myself at least all scrounge through the gallery looking for species confirmations for our various threads. The two are very much intertwined.

Smaggledagle said:
I would have to disagree with them, as I think zoochat is primarily a thread-based forum with galleries on the side. That's how it is reflected when I request a "gallery". I request one because I think the facility looks interesting and at some point, I will make a thread on it, not necessarily that I've visited that and took pictures of it.
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Which is generally not the correct reason to request a new facility as I understand it - as stated to you numerous times, you do not need a tag to create a new thread about a facility. Most people requesting new places have actually been there and have photos and lists to upload. I know a few people who are sitting on photos until the creation is green-lighted again - conversely we have many empty galleries and tags created because apparently "they looked interesting. "

Smaggledagle said:
Is there a way you can remove galleries and just have a thread and where it appears on the map. That could solve the problem of galleries being inactive/0 pictures in them while keeping the dropdown list. And if someone really wants a gallery just request to add it on a later date.
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Simon has already stated there is not with the current software.

Smaggledagle said:
Also could someone explain why you chose the United Kingdom as an example to compare with the United States and Canada? Personally, I think you should have compared the United States to something of more or less equivalent size, like Australia or China. Comparing it to the United Kingdom maybe would make more sense if you were comparing a region, not the entire USA.
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Because the UK has a very high ratio of both zoos and zoochatters, and thus was more comparable. As Aardvark already mentioned, there are very few Chinese zoochatters, and many of the zoos are little to unrepresented on here. Australia has a fair few, but nowhere close to the USA and Canada. It was not about size, it was about ratios.
 
I just found this thread, and definitely agree with other posts that the gallery needs a bit of "cleaning up". It's certainly frustrating if I'm looking into a smaller facility, either because I want to visit or am looking into a specific species, and click on the gallery to find it empty. I've noticed this both with US and Canadian Zoos. If all the empty galleries were removed, it'd make it both easier to find the zoos most commonly frequented, and it'd be more obvious/save time looking to see if there are pictures of ones that are empty. I tend to look at a gallery before any trip to a new zoo for me, and on one occasion, I took some extra exhibit photos, something I don't usually take much of, in order to make sure there's something in an otherwise empty galley (Hawk Creek Wildlife Center). However, I could've just as easily requested the addition of this gallery myself, and then added the pictures. No reason wasting space on the long list of facilities for places that nobody on the site visits or have visited.
 
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