Your Top 10 Zoos

1. Chester Zoo
2. Berlin Zoo
3. Zurich Zoo
4. Berlin Tierpark
5. Cotswold Wildlife Park
6. Highland Wildlife Park
7. Disney's Animal Kingdom
8. Yorkshire Wildlife Park
9. Whipsnade Zoo
10. London Zoo
 
1. Zoo Zuerich
2. Burgers' Zoo
3. Zoo de Beauval
4. Whipsnade Zoo
5. Highland Wildlife Park
6. Chester Zoo
7. Zoo Antwerpen
8. Zoo Magdeburg
9. Cotswold Wildlife Park
10. London Zoo

Zurich and Burgers' are easily the top two - they are truly in a league of their own, but I have ranted enough about their quality elsewhere on this site.

Beauval and Whipsnade both have strong sentimental connections to me. The former due to it being the first 'world-class' zoo that I visited, on a family holiday to a beautiful country, where everything about it, from the pandas to the cable cars, the tasmanian devils to the underwater viewing for hippos, blew me away. The latter is instead due to a series of childhood visits, where I fell in love with its scale, and how it felt like something beyond a zoo, inspiring my love for zoos and animals, no doubt. Today, Beauval edges Whipsnade, but on another day, their order might change.

Chester should be in the top three, but was let down by closures on my visit. When Heart of Africa opens, I shall have to plan a return. Even still, seeing the exhibits and animals which I had heard about growing up with my own eyes was a real treat, with my childhood love for the zoo's TV series, 'the Secret Life of the Zoo,' no doubt helping.

Highland, Antwerp, Magdeburg and Cotswold are all smaller zos in scale and ambition, but so charming, welcoming and high in quality that they simply had to be included. London has fallen a lot in my lifetime, but it has a very promising future based on recent developments, and my strong sentimental connection to the place (not as extreme as Whipsnade's, but its up there) was enough to push it into the list.
 
As to better differentiate my list from the rest. I’ll take a page out of @antonmuster’s book, and organize my top ten “traditional” zoos in the following category:

Excellent
1. Zoo Miami
2. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
3. North Carolina Zoo

Very Good
4. San Diego Zoo
5. Bronx Zoo
6. Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens > (very biased)
7. ZooTampa at Lowry Park

Good
8. Houston Zoo*
9. Smithsonian National Zoo
10. Brevard Zoo


(* current ranking subject to change)
 
I haven't put this list in any preferential order as I keep changing my mind
Exmoor zoo I've mentioned before ,this zoo I would love to have owned
Dudley zoo
Cotswold Wildlife Park
Paignton Zoo
Bristol zoo, even though it's no longer, in my view it was always better than some
Dublin zoo
Chester Zoo
Drayton Manor
Shaldon Zoo
Birdland Bourton on the Water
I've only included two large zoo’s because on the whole I prefer the smaller collections
 
1. San Diego zoo safari park- very good African collection, consistently excellent exhibit quality.
2. Tierpark Berlin- very nice collection (particularly ungulates), mostly very good enclosures.
3. San Diego zoo-Excellent collection, very mixed exhibit quality, most areas are quite immersive.
4. Bronx zoo-HUGE zoo, really good collection, mostly great exhibits.
5.Disney’s Animal Kingdom- Pretty good collection (especially with rainforest animals, some really immersive areas, very nice enclosure quality overall.
6. North Carolina zoo-pretty meh collection, but excellent enclosure quality.
7. Zoo Berlin- Amazing collection, mostly good exhibit quality (though I hate that primate house!).
8. Smithsonian National zoo- mostly nice collection, mixed, but mostly good enclosure quality.
9. Philadelphia zoo-Nice collection, largely decent exhibits.
10. Took me a while to pick this last one, but I went with ZooTampa at Lowry Park, due to a nice species list (Shoebills being the highlight), but mostly decent to bad enclosures.
 
That I’ve visited?

1. San Diego Zoo
2. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
3. San Diego Safari Park
4. Miami
5. Fort Worth
6. Smithsonian
7. Pittsburgh
8. Seaworld San Diego
9. DWA
10. Minnesota
 
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  1. Prague Zoo
  2. (Zoo+Aquarium) Berlin
  3. Bronx Zoo
  4. Tiergarten Schönbrünn
  5. Tierpark Berlin
  6. Zoo Plzen
  7. Brevard Zoo
  8. Pairi Daiza
  9. Antwerp Zoo
  10. Kobe Animal Kingdom
 
pachyderm pro said:
Changes often, although at the moment I’d say…

1. San Diego Zoo
2. Omaha
3. Saint Louis
4. San Diego Zoo Safari Park
5. Miami
6. Brookfield
7. Lincoln Park
8. Minnesota
9. Nashville
10. Detroit
Click to expand...
Brookfield above Minnesota and Detroit? Any particular reasons why? I went to Detroit last September and found the place very underrated(at least based on all the negative opinions I've seen about it on ZooChat).
 
Pleistocene891 said:
Brookfield above Minnesota and Detroit? Any particular reasons why? I went to Detroit last September and found the place very underrated(at least based on all the negative opinions I've seen about it on ZooChat).
Click to expand...
I think I've been a bit harsh on Brookfield in the past. It still has a lot of issues that need fixing, but knowing this place that has been largely stagnant for about 12 years now is about to undergo a massive overhaul makes me appreciate its current iteration more. There's a lot to love too: The addition of smaller bird and reptiles alongside the large megafauna, excellent preservation of historic buildings, and from a personal perspective I have lots of nostalgia for the place. Also, the zoo has been good with bringing in lots of cool new species as of late especially when it comes to birds and small mammals.

I originally had Minnesota higher, although it has been slipping just a little. They've lost a few key species in recent years (musk ox, dhole, etc.) and lacks any real historic houses. I wasn't a big fan of Tropics Trail and was underwhelmed by the aquarium building. Still a lot of the great stuff outdoors, some of the best I've ever seen in fact, but I'm just more of a traditional zoo guy. Detroit suffers from a lot of the same issues as Brookfield and I'll admit that at its best Detroit is far superior. However, I didn't find it as satisfying as the other places I listed. The back portion of the zoo is very repetitive with about a dozen enclosures that look largely similar and cook-cutter, even if they are good for their inhabitants. Lots of the enclosures are oversized, understocked, or just spaced out weirdly so that you'll go long distances of time without seeing very many animals. Brookfield has that problem too in places, but it's more egregious at Detroit considering how elongated the zoo is.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
1. San Diego Zoo
2. Dallas Zoo
3. Fort Worth Zoo
4. Omaha Zoo
5. Denver Zoo
6. San Diego Safari Park
7. Honolulu Zoo
8. Woodland Park Zoo
9. Disney Animal Kingdom
10. Smithsonian National Zoo
Click to expand...
I'm surprised a so-called "Nile Hippo Expert" doesn't have DAK higher. While I think there are lots of areas to criticize it, the hippo exhibit is easily the best in the country.

My top ten I've visited would be:
1. Bronx Zoo
2. Detroit Zoo
3. Toledo Zoo
4. Toronto Zoo
5. New York Aquarium
6. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
7. Roger Williams Park Zoo
8. Disney's Animal Kingdom
9. Turtle Back Zoo
10. Rosamond Gifford Zoo
 
Pleistocene891 said:
Brookfield above Minnesota and Detroit? Any particular reasons why? I went to Detroit last September and found the place very underrated(at least based on all the negative opinions I've seen about it on ZooChat).
Click to expand...
I think Brookfield is drastically underrated, personally. The collection is huge and I love the wide variety of animals there, especially the focus on smaller animals. The exhibits certainly don't blow you away but they're decent enough. Easily higher than Detroit in my mind. Brookfield and Minnesota are about the same level for me, but I think I'd put Brookfield higher at the moment considering Minnesota's recent decline.
 
For me (keeping in mind my ranking would probably change depending on the day:

1. Shedd Aquarium (prior to recent changes, we'll see how it is when the renovations are done)
2. Omaha
3. Saint Louis
4. Cincinnati
5. Toledo
6. Columbus
7. Brookfield
8. Minnesota
9. Milwaukee
10. Detroit
 
Neil chace said:
I'm surprised a so-called "Nile Hippo Expert" doesn't have DAK higher. While I think there are lots of areas to criticize it, the hippo exhibit is easily the best in the country.

My top ten I've visited would be:
1. Bronx Zoo
2. Detroit Zoo
3. Toledo Zoo
4. Toronto Zoo
5. New York Aquarium
6. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
7. Roger Williams Park Zoo
8. Disney's Animal Kingdom
9. Turtle Back Zoo
10. Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Click to expand...
I haven't been since the mid-2000s so that is why it is that low. However, I am going back in March and the ranking will probably change then. Other zoos are higher because I personally just seemed to enjoy them more despite some of them not having Nile Hippos.
 
Lists like these are always difficult, but right now I have:

1. San Diego Zoo
2. Bronx
3. Omaha
4. Taronga
5. Woodland Park
6. Dallas (hard to rank because of the monorail closure)
7. San Diego Zoo Safari Park
8. Detroit
9. Living Desert
10. Cincinnati
 
Not too long after I first made my original ranking. Since then, I have already downgraded the Smithsonian National Zoo as my tenth favorite facility. With Zoo Atlanta taking over its original place for the time being; mostly because of how successful my first ever visit turned out when I went this past weekend:

Excellent
1. Zoo Miami
2. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium
3. North Carolina Zoo

Very Good
4. San Diego Zoo
5. Bronx Zoo
6. Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens > (personally biased)
7. ZooTampa at Lowry Park

Good
8. Houston Zoo*
9. Zoo Atlanta
10. Smithsonian National Zoo


(* current ranking subject to change)
 
ZooMania said:
What are your Top 10 Zoos, here are mine

1. Chester Zoo
2. Marwell Zoo
3. Knowsley Safari Park
4. West Midlands Safari Park
5. Colchetser Zoo
6. Dublin Zoo
7. Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
8. Bristol Zoo
9. Woburn Safari Park
10. London Zoo
Click to expand...
My list is
1) St Louis
2) San Diego
3)San Diego Animal Park
4) Cincinnati
5)Singapore
6) Singapore Night Safari
7) Brookfield
8) Fort Worth
9)Cleveland
10) Tampa
 
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