Snowleopard's Mammals: A Lifetime List of Species Mammalian and Non-Mammalian

[snowleopard]

I totally agree @pachyderm pro when it comes to the putrid cesspool that was Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (USA). Here are the two young Giraffes looking over at a Lion and a Dog in the adjacent exhibit:

There was a very minor standoff barrier separating visitors from this ramshackle enclosure:

A solitary Chimpanzee was in this hellhole. What would that chimp do all day long?

There was a long row of baboon exhibits like this one:

Thanks for the confirmation @Maguari in regards to the Asiatic Lions in Europe. I'm also curious about the Audubon Zoo big cats; it would be nice to know if anyone knows the answer as to whether they were truly Asiatic Lions or not.

@Nile Hippo Expert Of my total of 551 zoos, exactly 115 are aquariums and so there's no Lions there. Maybe a few California Sea Lions. I've also visited a whole whack of pokey little places with no Lions. Of the major zoos that lacked Lions when I was there, I can give you a sample list: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (understandably), Central Park Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, Nashville Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Tanganyika Wildlife Park and ZooTampa at Lowry Park are all notable American zoos that did not have Lions during my visit(s).

 

[NNM.]

I'd like to take this moment to say that I remember not being very impressed by the exhibit at San Diego Zoo. It wasn't bad, but not especially large or naturalistic and fully netted over. It was odd to see at the "best zoo in the world."

 

[Lori Patton]

Another inadequate lion exhibit worth mentioning is this basic cage at America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College, CA, which I saw during my visit in 2017.


Although I haven't gone back to that zoo since then, I read that the lion moved into a new expanded enclosure at the end of 2020. It was really surprising (and disheartening) to see such a magnificent creature kept in such a barren cage. The only positive is that it provided extremely up-close viewing -- indeed, I have never been that close to a lion before. There was also an interesting animal feeding demonstration where I watched the lion rear up on its hind legs to eat meat out of a zookeeper's hand as she fed him through the cage. Hopefully, the lion has a more stimulating environment in its new enclosure.

 

[NNM.]

Of the major zoos that lacked Lions when I was there, I can give you a sample list: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (understandably), Central Park Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, Nashville Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo, Tanganyika Wildlife Park and ZooTampa at Lowry Park are all notable American zoos that did not have Lions during my visit(s).

I never really considered Roger Williams a "major" zoo. What criteria do you use to label a zoo as "major?"

 

[snowleopard]

Yes @Lori Patton that Lion exhibit at America's Teaching Zoo is diabolical and in fact almost all of the enclosures there left me feeling deeply disappointed when I visited in 2017.

@NNM Well, when the book America's Best Zoos came out in 2008, Roger Williams Park Zoo had an entry and there was a grand total of 60 zoos chosen. The book America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums was published in late 2019, with 80 zoos and 20 aquariums, and again Roger Williams Park Zoo made the cut.

I don't think that it's a great zoo by any stretch of the imagination, but if there's 800-1,000 zoos, aquariums, safari parks, bug zoos and other 'zoos' just in the United States, and Roger Williams Park Zoo cracks the top 60 and top 80 in a couple of books, then the zoo is notable. They are one of the very few zoos around that still have elephants, although I wouldn't be surprised to see them gone in the future, and Faces of the Rainforest cost $14 million when it opened in 2018. Hundreds of U.S. zoos would love to have that kind of money to spend on a new Tropical House.

Up next today...Tigers! Will I have seen more zoos with Lions or Tigers? Tough prediction!

 

[snowleopard]

I've seen Tigers at a staggering 195 zoos. Not only that, but I've seen huge quantities of Tigers, especially in southern zoos in the USA. For example, on my Snowleopard's 2015 Road Trip thread, there was a two-week period when I saw these Tigers:

Tiger Safari (Oklahoma) = 5 tigers
G W Exotic Animal Park (Oklahoma) = 175 tigers
C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (Texas) = 35 tigers
In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) = 28 tigers
Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (Arkansas) = 5 tigers
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) = 85 tigers
Alexandria Zoo (Louisiana) = 5 tigers
Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (Texas) = 30 tigers

TOTAL = 368 tigers at 8 zoos in 2 weeks!

Obviously, I didn't see each and every single one of those Tigers, but I saw hundreds in a fortnight and it was sort of depressing to stare at row after row of chain-link yards at some of those zoos...each one bursting with Tigers. There's so many Tigers in the USA that some of those places are actually "sanctuaries" for the excess Tigers with nowhere to go. It wasn't that long ago that rednecks in "Southern 'Merica" had Tigers in their backyards and basements and at gas stations, but that stereotype is gradually disappearing. Thankfully so!

The breakdown of which Tiger species I've seen has been determined by zoo signs, which might well be contentious when it comes to the 'Indochinese' Tigers at 4 zoos. Here's my list:

Amur Tiger – 87 zoos
Generic zoo ‘Tiger’ – 75 zoos (including loads of white Tigers)
Sumatran Tiger – 35 zoos
Malayan Tiger – 18 zoos
‘Indochinese’ Tiger – 4 zoos

Zoos with 2 types of Tiger (at the same time) = 16 zoos

Zoos with 3 types of Tiger = 2 zoos (DeYoung Family Zoo: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2014 & Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2015)

Zoos with 4 types of Tiger = 1 zoo (In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center: Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015)

There are FIVE summer road trips where I saw a heck of a lot of Tigers:

2008 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2010 = 31 new zoos with Tigers
2012 = 22 new zoos with Tigers
2015 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2019 = 26 new zoos with Tigers

If it simply says 'Tiger' in this thread, then that's a generic 'zoo' Tiger of no known origin:

1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
2- Alberta Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
3- Calgary Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1986
4- Perth Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 1987
5- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger (1994) & Malayan Tiger (2015)
6- Greater Vancouver Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1998
7- Edmonton Valley Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2001
8- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – Amur Tiger – 2003
9- Point Defiance Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2005
10- Oregon Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2005
11- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2006
12- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2006
13- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2006
14- Denver Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2006
15- Taronga Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
16- Crocodylus Park (Australia) – Tiger – 2007
17- Adelaide Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
18- Melbourne Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
19- Minnesota Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
20- Lincoln Park Zoo - Illinois (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
21- Brookfield Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
22- Toledo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
23- Detroit Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
24- Toronto Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2008
25- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
26- Smithsonian’s National Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
27- Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
28- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
29- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2008
30- Indianapolis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
31- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2008
32- Memphis Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
33- Knoxville Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
34- Zoo Atlanta (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
35- Fort Worth Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2008
36- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
37- Phoenix Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
38- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
39- Emperor Valley Zoo (Trinidad & Tobago) – Tiger – 2008
40- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2008
41- White Oak Conservation Center (USA) – Tiger – 2008
42- Zoo Miami (USA) – Tiger – 2008
43- Cougar Mountain Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2009
44- Wildlife Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
45- Zoo Montana (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
46- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
47- Sedgwick County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
48- Tulsa Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
49- Kansas City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
50- Saint Louis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
51- Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
52- Louisville Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
53- Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
54- Milwaukee County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
55- Akron Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
56- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
57- Buffalo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2010
58- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
59- Riverbanks Zoo & Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
60- Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (USA) – Tiger – 2010
61- Birmingham Zoo (USA) – Indochinese Tiger – 2010
62- Montgomery Zoo (USA) – Tiger– 2010
63- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
64- Audubon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
65- Houston Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
66- Caldwell Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
67- Dallas Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
68- Cameron Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
69- San Antonio Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
70- Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
71- El Paso Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
72- ABQ BioPark Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
73- Utah’s Hogle Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
74- Zoo Boise (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
75- Oakland Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2011
76- Charles Paddock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
77- Reid Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
78- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Tiger – 2011
79- Fresno Chaffee Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
80- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2011
81- Great Plains Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
82- Blank Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
83- Potawatomi Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
84- Potter Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
85- Erie Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
86- Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
87- Franklin Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2012
88- Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
89- Virginia Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
90- Palm Beach Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
91- Naples Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
92- ZooTampa at Lowry Park (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2012
93- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (USA) – Tiger – 2012
94- Hattiesburg Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
95- Jackson Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
96- Little Rock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
97- Dickerson Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
98- Topeka Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
99- Sunset Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
100- Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
101- Denver Downtown Aquarium (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
102- Tautphaus Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
103- Cat Tales Zoological Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
104- Bramble Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
105- Dakota Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
106- Roosevelt Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
107- Chahinkapa Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
108- Pine Grove Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
109- Lake Superior Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
110- Como Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
111- Irvine Park & Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
112- Wildwood Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
113- DeYoung Family Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2014
114- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
115- Henry Vilas Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
116- Racine Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
117- Peoria Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
118- Tanganyika Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
119- Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
120- Riverside Discovery Center (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
121- Tiger Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
122- Arbuckle Wilderness Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
123- G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
124- Amarillo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
125- C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (USA) – Tiger – 2015
126- In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
127- Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
128- Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Tiger – 2015
129- Alexandria Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2015
130- Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
131- Ellen Trout Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
132- Downtown Aquarium Houston (USA) – Tiger – 2015
133- The Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
134- Austin Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
135- Capital of Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
136- Abilene Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
137- Hillcrest Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
138- Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2015
139- Out of Africa (USA) – Tiger – 2015
140- Keepers of the Wild Nature Park (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
141- Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat (USA) – Tiger – 2015
142- Great Cats World Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
143- West Coast Game Park Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
144- Discovery Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2016
145- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2017
146- Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
147- Monterey Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2017
148- Project Survival’s Cat Haven (USA) – Tiger – 2017
149- Feline Conservation Center (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2017
150- Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
151- Assiniboine Park Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2018
152- Wilderness Walk Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
153- GarLyn Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
154- Roscommon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
155- Wilderness Trails Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
156- John Ball Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
157- Washington Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
158- Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue (USA) – Tiger – 2018
159- Jo-Don Farms (USA) – Tiger – 2018
160- Animal Haven Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
161- Special Memories Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
162- Landgoed Hoenderdaell (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
163- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
164- Maubeuge Zoo (France) – Tiger – 2019
165- Pakawi Park (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
166- Pairi Daiza (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
167- Mondo Verde (Netherlands) – Tiger – 2019
168- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
169- Zoo Neuwied (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
170- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
171- Wuppertal Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
172- ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
173- Duisburg Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
174- Krefeld Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
175- Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
176- Beekse Bergen (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
177- ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
178- Ouwehands Dierenpark (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
179- Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
180- Tierpark Hagenbeck (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
181- Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
182- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – Tiger – 2019
183- Tierpark Strohen (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
184- Osnabruck Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
185- Allwetterzoo Munster (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
186- NaturZoo Rheine (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
187- Dierenpark Amersfoort (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
188- Aalborg Zoo (Denmark) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
189- Odense Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022
190- Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
191- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
192- Boras Zoo (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
193- Nordens Ark (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
194- Kristiansand Zoo (Norway) – Amur Tiger – 2022
195- Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022

Some of the very best Tiger exhibits that I've ever come across have been in Scandinavian countries on my 2022 road trip. Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) has Tiger World, where I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in an expansive habitat.

Nordens Ark (Sweden) had Amur Tigers roaming a natural woodland:

I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in this forested habitat at Kristiansand Zoo (Norway). It's kind of amazing to see this photo and imagine that I saw anything here, but I really did see 5 Amur Tigers moving about in the undergrowth. Kristiansand also has a long underground concrete tunnel, like something out of WWII, for visitors to peer through gaps at the big cats.

There is almost 120 photos of Tigers and the spectacular Amur Tiger exhibit at Minnesota Zoo (USA) in the ZooChat gallery. There's two exhibits there and one has a high boardwalk cutting through a meadow in a forested environment, while the other has a series of different vantage points to see the Tigers.

@pachyderm pro

There's also around 120 photos of Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo (USA), a stunning achievement in terms of landscape design. The only catch with the much lauded Bronx Zoo setup is that anyone who has seen the TV series knows that at times the zoo has had 8 or 9 Tigers and so lots of Tigers are off-show in small chain-link yards for much of their lives. They are rotated into the on-show exhibits, which is great, but nevertheless it always seems to me that the zoo takes on too many Tigers.

@Baldur

San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) spent $20 million on a trio of superb Sumatran Tiger exhibits, heavily themed enough to make Pairi Daiza raise an eyebrow.

All three photos courtesy of @Julio C Castro

But, of course, there are many Tiger 'hellholes' that I've seen over my years of visiting roadside zoos in the USA. Forever Wild Animal Sanctuary (USA) in southern California had 9 Tigers when I was there, all 9 in small cages like this one. Is that a sanctuary?

Joe Exotic's now-closed G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) had 175 Tigers during my visit, a total that was displayed on signs and boards and discussed by keepers. They bred Tigers like rabbits and would pull the cubs for handling. I saw rows of Tiger cages like the one in this photo, which shows almost the entire space for two of the big cats. You can see a white Tiger in the background in a separate cage on the right. There was also not much of a standoff barrier, as I could lean over the low fence, stretch out my hand and touch the wire on the cages. It's no surprise that all visitors had to sign a waiver when they paid for zoo admission. "Please don't sue us if you lose a finger".

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) had 85 Tigers when I was there, but some were off-show and almost all of the big cats had large grassy yards as this place rescued Tigers from junky American zoos.

In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) 'only' had 28 Tigers when I was there, many in enclosures that were basic yet functional. The epidemic of regular citizens owning baby Tigers has been a blemish in America, with that nation's idiotic animal laws resulting in many sanctuaries and educational centers popping up in order to save Tigers from horrible conditions in people's backyards. There's been several documentaries that show how in the past (and perhaps even today!!) it's been easy in many U.S. states to buy a baby Tiger for $500, or a Lion for $300 or a Chimpanzee for $10,000. Thankfully, some states now have stricter laws, but it's still not good enough. Make America Great Again...stupid.

I can't forget about everyone's favourite, Tiger Safari (USA) in Oklahoma, the zoo I toured with @BlackRhino

They had a bunch of Tiger exhibits that all looked as sketchy as this one. Zero hotwire anywhere on the Lion and Tiger enclosures. How has there not been a tragedy there?

Tigers have been quite the contrast for me. I feel like I've seen something like 1,000 individual Tigers in my lifetime and there's some god-awful cages out there but also a long list of exemplary exhibits. Tigers generally do very well in notable, accredited zoos, with places like Cheyenne Mountain, Utah's Hogle, Columbus, Sedgwick County, Nashville, Dallas and many other American zoos having terrific Tiger habitats. On my European travels, I have seen loads of really nice Tiger exhibits, especially the Scandinavian ones I highlighted.

Anything is better than this Tiger exhibit at Roscommon Zoo (USA) in Michigan, where I watched the Tiger use its paw in the bottom left corner to dig out a hole underneath the wood. You can even see in this photo that a gap has emerged and I told the owners and I'm guessing that they got around to filling in that hole...

Felidae:

Tigers - 195 zoos
Lions - 179 zoos

 

[toastrgophr]

I've seen Tigers at a staggering 195 zoos. Not only that, but I've seen huge quantities of Tigers, especially in southern zoos in the USA. For example, on my Snowleopard's 2015 Road Trip thread, there was a two-week period when I saw these Tigers:

Tiger Safari (Oklahoma) = 5 tigers
G W Exotic Animal Park (Oklahoma) = 175 tigers
C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (Texas) = 35 tigers
In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) = 28 tigers
Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (Arkansas) = 5 tigers
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) = 85 tigers
Alexandria Zoo (Louisiana) = 5 tigers
Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (Texas) = 30 tigers

TOTAL = 368 tigers at 8 zoos in 2 weeks!

Obviously, I didn't see each and every single one of those Tigers, but I saw hundreds in a fortnight and it was sort of depressing to stare at row after row of chain-link yards at some of those zoos...each one bursting with Tigers. There's so many Tigers in the USA that some of those places are actually "sanctuaries" for the excess Tigers with nowhere to go. It wasn't that long ago that rednecks in "Southern 'Merica" had Tigers in their backyards and basements and at gas stations, but that stereotype is gradually disappearing. Thankfully so!

The breakdown of which Tiger species I've seen has been determined by zoo signs, which might well be contentious when it comes to the 'Indochinese' Tigers at 4 zoos. Here's my list:

Amur Tiger – 87 zoos
Generic zoo ‘Tiger’ – 75 zoos (including loads of white Tigers)
Sumatran Tiger – 35 zoos
Malayan Tiger – 18 zoos
‘Indochinese’ Tiger – 4 zoos

Zoos with 2 types of Tiger (at the same time) = 16 zoos

Zoos with 3 types of Tiger = 2 zoos (DeYoung Family Zoo: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2014 & Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2015)

Zoos with 4 types of Tiger = 1 zoo (In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center: Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015)

There are FIVE summer road trips where I saw a heck of a lot of Tigers:

2008 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2010 = 31 new zoos with Tigers
2012 = 22 new zoos with Tigers
2015 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2019 = 26 new zoos with Tigers

If it simply says 'Tiger' in this thread, then that's a generic 'zoo' Tiger of no known origin:

1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
2- Alberta Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
3- Calgary Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1986
4- Perth Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 1987
5- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger (1994) & Malayan Tiger (2015)
6- Greater Vancouver Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1998
7- Edmonton Valley Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2001
8- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – Amur Tiger – 2003
9- Point Defiance Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2005
10- Oregon Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2005
11- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2006
12- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2006
13- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2006
14- Denver Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2006
15- Taronga Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
16- Crocodylus Park (Australia) – Tiger – 2007
17- Adelaide Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
18- Melbourne Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
19- Minnesota Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
20- Lincoln Park Zoo - Illinois (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
21- Brookfield Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
22- Toledo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
23- Detroit Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
24- Toronto Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2008
25- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
26- Smithsonian’s National Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
27- Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
28- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
29- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2008
30- Indianapolis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
31- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2008
32- Memphis Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
33- Knoxville Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
34- Zoo Atlanta (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
35- Fort Worth Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2008
36- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
37- Phoenix Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
38- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
39- Emperor Valley Zoo (Trinidad & Tobago) – Tiger – 2008
40- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2008
41- White Oak Conservation Center (USA) – Tiger – 2008
42- Zoo Miami (USA) – Tiger – 2008
43- Cougar Mountain Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2009
44- Wildlife Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
45- Zoo Montana (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
46- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
47- Sedgwick County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
48- Tulsa Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
49- Kansas City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
50- Saint Louis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
51- Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
52- Louisville Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
53- Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
54- Milwaukee County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
55- Akron Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
56- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
57- Buffalo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2010
58- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
59- Riverbanks Zoo & Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
60- Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (USA) – Tiger – 2010
61- Birmingham Zoo (USA) – Indochinese Tiger – 2010
62- Montgomery Zoo (USA) – Tiger– 2010
63- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
64- Audubon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
65- Houston Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
66- Caldwell Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
67- Dallas Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
68- Cameron Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
69- San Antonio Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
70- Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
71- El Paso Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
72- ABQ BioPark Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
73- Utah’s Hogle Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
74- Zoo Boise (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
75- Oakland Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2011
76- Charles Paddock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
77- Reid Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
78- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Tiger – 2011
79- Fresno Chaffee Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
80- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2011
81- Great Plains Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
82- Blank Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
83- Potawatomi Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
84- Potter Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
85- Erie Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
86- Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
87- Franklin Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2012
88- Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
89- Virginia Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
90- Palm Beach Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
91- Naples Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
92- ZooTampa at Lowry Park (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2012
93- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (USA) – Tiger – 2012
94- Hattiesburg Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
95- Jackson Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
96- Little Rock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
97- Dickerson Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
98- Topeka Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
99- Sunset Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
100- Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
101- Denver Downtown Aquarium (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
102- Tautphaus Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
103- Cat Tales Zoological Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
104- Bramble Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
105- Dakota Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
106- Roosevelt Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
107- Chahinkapa Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
108- Pine Grove Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
109- Lake Superior Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
110- Como Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
111- Irvine Park & Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
112- Wildwood Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
113- DeYoung Family Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2014
114- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
115- Henry Vilas Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
116- Racine Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
117- Peoria Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
118- Tanganyika Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
119- Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
120- Riverside Discovery Center (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
121- Tiger Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
122- Arbuckle Wilderness Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
123- G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
124- Amarillo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
125- C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (USA) – Tiger – 2015
126- In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
127- Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
128- Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Tiger – 2015
129- Alexandria Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2015
130- Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
131- Ellen Trout Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
132- Downtown Aquarium Houston (USA) – Tiger – 2015
133- The Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
134- Austin Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
135- Capital of Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
136- Abilene Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
137- Hillcrest Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
138- Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2015
139- Out of Africa (USA) – Tiger – 2015
140- Keepers of the Wild Nature Park (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
141- Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat (USA) – Tiger – 2015
142- Great Cats World Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
143- West Coast Game Park Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
144- Discovery Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2016
145- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2017
146- Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
147- Monterey Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2017
148- Project Survival’s Cat Haven (USA) – Tiger – 2017
149- Feline Conservation Center (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2017
150- Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
151- Assiniboine Park Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2018
152- Wilderness Walk Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
153- GarLyn Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
154- Roscommon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
155- Wilderness Trails Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
156- John Ball Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
157- Washington Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
158- Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue (USA) – Tiger – 2018
159- Jo-Don Farms (USA) – Tiger – 2018
160- Animal Haven Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
161- Special Memories Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
162- Landgoed Hoenderdaell (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
163- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
164- Maubeuge Zoo (France) – Tiger – 2019
165- Pakawi Park (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
166- Pairi Daiza (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
167- Mondo Verde (Netherlands) – Tiger – 2019
168- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
169- Zoo Neuwied (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
170- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
171- Wuppertal Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
172- ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
173- Duisburg Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
174- Krefeld Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
175- Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
176- Beekse Bergen (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
177- ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
178- Ouwehands Dierenpark (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
179- Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
180- Tierpark Hagenbeck (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
181- Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
182- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – Tiger – 2019
183- Tierpark Strohen (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
184- Osnabruck Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
185- Allwetterzoo Munster (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
186- NaturZoo Rheine (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
187- Dierenpark Amersfoort (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
188- Aalborg Zoo (Denmark) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
189- Odense Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022
190- Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
191- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
192- Boras Zoo (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
193- Nordens Ark (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
194- Kristiansand Zoo (Norway) – Amur Tiger – 2022
195- Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022

Some of the very best Tiger exhibits that I've ever come across have been in Scandinavian countries on my 2022 road trip. Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) has Tiger World, where I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in an expansive habitat.

Nordens Ark (Sweden) had Amur Tigers roaming a natural woodland:

I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in this forested habitat at Kristiansand Zoo (Norway). It's kind of amazing to see this photo and imagine that I saw anything here, but I really did see 5 Amur Tigers moving about in the undergrowth. Kristiansand also has a long underground concrete tunnel, like something out of WWII, for visitors to peer through gaps at the big cats.

There is almost 120 photos of Tigers and the spectacular Amur Tiger exhibit at Minnesota Zoo (USA) in the ZooChat gallery. There's two exhibits there and one has a high boardwalk cutting through a meadow in a forested environment, while the other has a series of different vantage points to see the Tigers.

@pachyderm pro

There's also around 120 photos of Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo (USA), a stunning achievement in terms of landscape design. The only catch with the much lauded Bronx Zoo setup is that anyone who has seen the TV series knows that at times the zoo has had 8 or 9 Tigers and so lots of Tigers are off-show in small chain-link yards for much of their lives. They are rotated into the on-show exhibits, which is great, but nevertheless it always seems to me that the zoo takes on too many Tigers.

@Baldur

San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) spent $20 million on a trio of superb Sumatran Tiger exhibits, heavily themed enough to make Pairi Daiza raise an eyebrow.

All three photos courtesy of @Julio C Castro

But, of course, there are many Tiger 'hellholes' that I've seen over my years of visiting roadside zoos in the USA. Forever Wild Animal Sanctuary (USA) in southern California had 9 Tigers when I was there, all 9 in small cages like this one. Is that a sanctuary?

Joe Exotic's now-closed G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) had 175 Tigers during my visit, a total that was displayed on signs and boards and discussed by keepers. They bred Tigers like rabbits and would pull the cubs for handling. I saw rows of Tiger cages like the one in this photo, which shows almost the entire space for two of the big cats. You can see a white Tiger in the background in a separate cage on the right. There was also not much of a standoff barrier, as I could lean over the low fence, stretch out my hand and touch the wire on the cages. It's no surprise that all visitors had to sign a waiver when they paid for zoo admission. "Please don't sue us if you lose a finger".

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) had 85 Tigers when I was there, but some were off-show and almost all of the big cats had large grassy yards as this place rescued Tigers from junky American zoos.

In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) 'only' had 28 Tigers when I was there, many in enclosures that were basic yet functional. The epidemic of regular citizens owning baby Tigers has been a blemish in America, with that nation's idiotic animal laws resulting in many sanctuaries and educational centers popping up in order to save Tigers from horrible conditions in people's backyards. There's been several documentaries that show how in the past (and perhaps even today!!) it's been easy in many U.S. states to buy a baby Tiger for $500, or a Lion for $300 or a Chimpanzee for $10,000. Thankfully, some states now have stricter laws, but it's still not good enough. Make America Great Again...stupid.

I can't forget about everyone's favourite, Tiger Safari (USA) in Oklahoma, the zoo I toured with @BlackRhino

They had a bunch of Tiger exhibits that all looked as sketchy as this one. Zero hotwire anywhere on the Lion and Tiger enclosures. How has there not been a tragedy there?

Tigers have been quite the contrast for me. I feel like I've seen something like 1,000 individual Tigers in my lifetime and there's some god-awful cages out there but also a long list of exemplary exhibits. Tigers generally do very well in notable, accredited zoos, with places like Cheyenne Mountain, Utah's Hogle, Columbus, Sedgwick County, Nashville, Dallas and many other American zoos having terrific Tiger habitats. On my European travels, I have seen loads of really nice Tiger exhibits, especially the Scandinavian ones I highlighted.

Anything is better than this Tiger exhibit at Roscommon Zoo (USA) in Michigan, where I watched the Tiger use its paw in the bottom left corner to dig out a hole underneath the wood. You can even see in this photo that a gap has emerged and I told the owners and I'm guessing that they got around to filling in that hole...

Felidae:

Tigers - 195 zoos
Lions - 179 zoos

I remember reading somewhere that there are more tigers in captivity in the USA than there are wild tigers in all of Asia

 

[Komodo Dragon]

I remember reading somewhere that there are more tigers in captivity in the USA than there are wild tigers in all of Asia

I’m not surprised considering they breed easily in captivity, even in horrible enclosures.

 

[birdsandbats]

I've seen Tigers at a staggering 195 zoos. Not only that, but I've seen huge quantities of Tigers, especially in southern zoos in the USA. For example, on my Snowleopard's 2015 Road Trip thread, there was a two-week period when I saw these Tigers:

Tiger Safari (Oklahoma) = 5 tigers
G W Exotic Animal Park (Oklahoma) = 175 tigers
C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (Texas) = 35 tigers
In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) = 28 tigers
Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (Arkansas) = 5 tigers
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) = 85 tigers
Alexandria Zoo (Louisiana) = 5 tigers
Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (Texas) = 30 tigers

TOTAL = 368 tigers at 8 zoos in 2 weeks!

Obviously, I didn't see each and every single one of those Tigers, but I saw hundreds in a fortnight and it was sort of depressing to stare at row after row of chain-link yards at some of those zoos...each one bursting with Tigers. There's so many Tigers in the USA that some of those places are actually "sanctuaries" for the excess Tigers with nowhere to go. It wasn't that long ago that rednecks in "Southern 'Merica" had Tigers in their backyards and basements and at gas stations, but that stereotype is gradually disappearing. Thankfully so!

The breakdown of which Tiger species I've seen has been determined by zoo signs, which might well be contentious when it comes to the 'Indochinese' Tigers at 4 zoos. Here's my list:

Amur Tiger – 87 zoos
Generic zoo ‘Tiger’ – 75 zoos (including loads of white Tigers)
Sumatran Tiger – 35 zoos
Malayan Tiger – 18 zoos
‘Indochinese’ Tiger – 4 zoos

Zoos with 2 types of Tiger (at the same time) = 16 zoos

Zoos with 3 types of Tiger = 2 zoos (DeYoung Family Zoo: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2014 & Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge: Amur, ‘Indochinese’, Tiger – 2015)

Zoos with 4 types of Tiger = 1 zoo (In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center: Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015)

There are FIVE summer road trips where I saw a heck of a lot of Tigers:

2008 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2010 = 31 new zoos with Tigers
2012 = 22 new zoos with Tigers
2015 = 24 new zoos with Tigers
2019 = 26 new zoos with Tigers

If it simply says 'Tiger' in this thread, then that's a generic 'zoo' Tiger of no known origin:

1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
2- Alberta Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1975
3- Calgary Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1986
4- Perth Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 1987
5- Woodland Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger (1994) & Malayan Tiger (2015)
6- Greater Vancouver Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 1998
7- Edmonton Valley Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2001
8- Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) – Amur Tiger – 2003
9- Point Defiance Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2005
10- Oregon Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2005
11- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2006
12- San Diego Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2006
13- San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2006
14- Denver Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2006
15- Taronga Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
16- Crocodylus Park (Australia) – Tiger – 2007
17- Adelaide Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
18- Melbourne Zoo (Australia) – Sumatran Tiger – 2007
19- Minnesota Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
20- Lincoln Park Zoo - Illinois (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
21- Brookfield Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
22- Toledo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
23- Detroit Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
24- Toronto Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2008
25- Bronx Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
26- Smithsonian’s National Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
27- Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
28- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
29- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2008
30- Indianapolis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2008
31- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2008
32- Memphis Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
33- Knoxville Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2008
34- Zoo Atlanta (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
35- Fort Worth Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2008
36- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
37- Phoenix Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
38- Los Angeles Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2008
39- Emperor Valley Zoo (Trinidad & Tobago) – Tiger – 2008
40- Disney’s Animal Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2008
41- White Oak Conservation Center (USA) – Tiger – 2008
42- Zoo Miami (USA) – Tiger – 2008
43- Cougar Mountain Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2009
44- Wildlife Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
45- Zoo Montana (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
46- Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
47- Sedgwick County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
48- Tulsa Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
49- Kansas City Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
50- Saint Louis Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
51- Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
52- Louisville Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
53- Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
54- Milwaukee County Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
55- Akron Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
56- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
57- Buffalo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2010
58- Philadelphia Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
59- Riverbanks Zoo & Garden (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
60- Nashville Zoo at Grassmere (USA) – Tiger – 2010
61- Birmingham Zoo (USA) – Indochinese Tiger – 2010
62- Montgomery Zoo (USA) – Tiger– 2010
63- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Sumatran Tiger – 2010
64- Audubon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
65- Houston Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
66- Caldwell Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
67- Dallas Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
68- Cameron Park Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
69- San Antonio Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2010
70- Gladys Porter Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
71- El Paso Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2010
72- ABQ BioPark Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2010
73- Utah’s Hogle Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
74- Zoo Boise (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2010
75- Oakland Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2011
76- Charles Paddock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
77- Reid Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
78- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Tiger – 2011
79- Fresno Chaffee Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2011
80- Sacramento Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2011
81- Great Plains Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
82- Blank Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
83- Potawatomi Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
84- Potter Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
85- Erie Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
86- Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
87- Franklin Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2012
88- Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
89- Virginia Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
90- Palm Beach Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
91- Naples Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
92- ZooTampa at Lowry Park (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2012
93- Busch Gardens Tampa Bay (USA) – Tiger – 2012
94- Hattiesburg Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
95- Jackson Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
96- Little Rock Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
97- Dickerson Park Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2012
98- Topeka Zoo (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
99- Sunset Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
100- Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2012
101- Denver Downtown Aquarium (USA) – Sumatran Tiger – 2012
102- Tautphaus Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2012
103- Cat Tales Zoological Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
104- Bramble Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
105- Dakota Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
106- Roosevelt Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
107- Chahinkapa Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
108- Pine Grove Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
109- Lake Superior Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
110- Como Park Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
111- Irvine Park & Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
112- Wildwood Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
113- DeYoung Family Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2014
114- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
115- Henry Vilas Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
116- Racine Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
117- Peoria Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2014
118- Tanganyika Wildlife Park (USA) – Tiger – 2014
119- Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2014
120- Riverside Discovery Center (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
121- Tiger Safari (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
122- Arbuckle Wilderness Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
123- G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
124- Amarillo Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
125- C.A.R.E. Center for Animal Research & Education (USA) – Tiger – 2015
126- In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (USA) – Amur Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
127- Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
128- Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Tiger – 2015
129- Alexandria Zoo (USA) – Malayan Tiger, Tiger – 2015
130- Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Amur Tiger, ‘Indochinese’ Tiger, Tiger – 2015
131- Ellen Trout Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2015
132- Downtown Aquarium Houston (USA) – Tiger – 2015
133- The Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
134- Austin Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
135- Capital of Texas Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
136- Abilene Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
137- Hillcrest Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2015
138- Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2015
139- Out of Africa (USA) – Tiger – 2015
140- Keepers of the Wild Nature Park (USA) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2015
141- Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat (USA) – Tiger – 2015
142- Great Cats World Park (USA) – Tiger – 2015
143- West Coast Game Park Safari (USA) – Tiger – 2015
144- Discovery Wildlife Park (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2016
145- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (USA) – Tiger – 2017
146- Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
147- Monterey Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2017
148- Project Survival’s Cat Haven (USA) – Tiger – 2017
149- Feline Conservation Center (USA) – Malayan Tiger – 2017
150- Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA) – Tiger – 2017
151- Assiniboine Park Zoo (Canada) – Amur Tiger – 2018
152- Wilderness Walk Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
153- GarLyn Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
154- Roscommon Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
155- Wilderness Trails Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
156- John Ball Zoo (USA) – Amur Tiger – 2018
157- Washington Park Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
158- Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue (USA) – Tiger – 2018
159- Jo-Don Farms (USA) – Tiger – 2018
160- Animal Haven Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
161- Special Memories Zoo (USA) – Tiger – 2018
162- Landgoed Hoenderdaell (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
163- Diergaarde Blijdorp (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
164- Maubeuge Zoo (France) – Tiger – 2019
165- Pakawi Park (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
166- Pairi Daiza (Belgium) – Tiger – 2019
167- Mondo Verde (Netherlands) – Tiger – 2019
168- Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
169- Zoo Neuwied (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
170- Cologne Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
171- Wuppertal Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
172- ZOOM Erlebniswelt (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
173- Duisburg Zoo (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
174- Krefeld Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
175- Dierenrijk (Animal Kingdom) (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
176- Beekse Bergen (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
177- ZooParc Overloon (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
178- Ouwehands Dierenpark (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger – 2019
179- Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
180- Tierpark Hagenbeck (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
181- Erlebnis Zoo Hannover (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
182- Serengeti-Park (Germany) – Tiger – 2019
183- Tierpark Strohen (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
184- Osnabruck Zoo (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
185- Allwetterzoo Munster (Germany) – Amur Tiger – 2019
186- NaturZoo Rheine (Germany) – Sumatran Tiger – 2019
187- Dierenpark Amersfoort (Netherlands) – Amur Tiger, Tiger – 2019
188- Aalborg Zoo (Denmark) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
189- Odense Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022
190- Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
191- Parken Zoo (Sweden) – Sumatran Tiger – 2022
192- Boras Zoo (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
193- Nordens Ark (Sweden) – Amur Tiger – 2022
194- Kristiansand Zoo (Norway) – Amur Tiger – 2022
195- Copenhagen Zoo (Denmark) – Amur Tiger – 2022

Some of the very best Tiger exhibits that I've ever come across have been in Scandinavian countries on my 2022 road trip. Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden) has Tiger World, where I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in an expansive habitat.

Nordens Ark (Sweden) had Amur Tigers roaming a natural woodland:

I saw 5 Amur Tigers all together in this forested habitat at Kristiansand Zoo (Norway). It's kind of amazing to see this photo and imagine that I saw anything here, but I really did see 5 Amur Tigers moving about in the undergrowth. Kristiansand also has a long underground concrete tunnel, like something out of WWII, for visitors to peer through gaps at the big cats.

There is almost 120 photos of Tigers and the spectacular Amur Tiger exhibit at Minnesota Zoo (USA) in the ZooChat gallery. There's two exhibits there and one has a high boardwalk cutting through a meadow in a forested environment, while the other has a series of different vantage points to see the Tigers.

@pachyderm pro

There's also around 120 photos of Tiger Mountain at the Bronx Zoo (USA), a stunning achievement in terms of landscape design. The only catch with the much lauded Bronx Zoo setup is that anyone who has seen the TV series knows that at times the zoo has had 8 or 9 Tigers and so lots of Tigers are off-show in small chain-link yards for much of their lives. They are rotated into the on-show exhibits, which is great, but nevertheless it always seems to me that the zoo takes on too many Tigers.

@Baldur

San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) spent $20 million on a trio of superb Sumatran Tiger exhibits, heavily themed enough to make Pairi Daiza raise an eyebrow.

All three photos courtesy of @Julio C Castro

But, of course, there are many Tiger 'hellholes' that I've seen over my years of visiting roadside zoos in the USA. Forever Wild Animal Sanctuary (USA) in southern California had 9 Tigers when I was there, all 9 in small cages like this one. Is that a sanctuary?

Joe Exotic's now-closed G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) had 175 Tigers during my visit, a total that was displayed on signs and boards and discussed by keepers. They bred Tigers like rabbits and would pull the cubs for handling. I saw rows of Tiger cages like the one in this photo, which shows almost the entire space for two of the big cats. You can see a white Tiger in the background in a separate cage on the right. There was also not much of a standoff barrier, as I could lean over the low fence, stretch out my hand and touch the wire on the cages. It's no surprise that all visitors had to sign a waiver when they paid for zoo admission. "Please don't sue us if you lose a finger".

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (Arkansas) had 85 Tigers when I was there, but some were off-show and almost all of the big cats had large grassy yards as this place rescued Tigers from junky American zoos.

In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (Texas) 'only' had 28 Tigers when I was there, many in enclosures that were basic yet functional. The epidemic of regular citizens owning baby Tigers has been a blemish in America, with that nation's idiotic animal laws resulting in many sanctuaries and educational centers popping up in order to save Tigers from horrible conditions in people's backyards. There's been several documentaries that show how in the past (and perhaps even today!!) it's been easy in many U.S. states to buy a baby Tiger for $500, or a Lion for $300 or a Chimpanzee for $10,000. Thankfully, some states now have stricter laws, but it's still not good enough. Make America Great Again...stupid.

I can't forget about everyone's favourite, Tiger Safari (USA) in Oklahoma, the zoo I toured with @BlackRhino

They had a bunch of Tiger exhibits that all looked as sketchy as this one. Zero hotwire anywhere on the Lion and Tiger enclosures. How has there not been a tragedy there?

Tigers have been quite the contrast for me. I feel like I've seen something like 1,000 individual Tigers in my lifetime and there's some god-awful cages out there but also a long list of exemplary exhibits. Tigers generally do very well in notable, accredited zoos, with places like Cheyenne Mountain, Utah's Hogle, Columbus, Sedgwick County, Nashville, Dallas and many other American zoos having terrific Tiger habitats. On my European travels, I have seen loads of really nice Tiger exhibits, especially the Scandinavian ones I highlighted.

Anything is better than this Tiger exhibit at Roscommon Zoo (USA) in Michigan, where I watched the Tiger use its paw in the bottom left corner to dig out a hole underneath the wood. You can even see in this photo that a gap has emerged and I told the owners and I'm guessing that they got around to filling in that hole...

Felidae:

Tigers - 195 zoos
Lions - 179 zoos

I've been told in the past that all of the "Indochinese Tigers" out there are misidentified Malayans.

 

[Philipine eagle]

Yes @Lori Patton that Lion exhibit at America's Teaching Zoo is diabolical and in fact almost all of the enclosures there left me feeling deeply disappointed when I visited in 2017.

@NNM Well, when the book America's Best Zoos came out in 2008, Roger Williams Park Zoo had an entry and there was a grand total of 60 zoos chosen. The book America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums was published in late 2019, with 80 zoos and 20 aquariums, and again Roger Williams Park Zoo made the cut.

I don't think that it's a great zoo by any stretch of the imagination, but if there's 800-1,000 zoos, aquariums, safari parks, bug zoos and other 'zoos' just in the United States, and Roger Williams Park Zoo cracks the top 60 and top 80 in a couple of books, then the zoo is notable. They are one of the very few zoos around that still have elephants, although I wouldn't be surprised to see them gone in the future, and Faces of the Rainforest cost $14 million when it opened in 2018. Hundreds of U.S. zoos would love to have that kind of money to spend on a new Tropical House.

Up next today...Tigers! Will I have seen more zoos with Lions or Tigers? Tough prediction!

As a European, I watch your view with interest but from afar regarding the importance of the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

I have a few books on American zoos and some mention this zoo.

Zoo. Profiles of 102 Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife Parks in the United States (1994, by Anthony D. Marshall) includes the RWPZ, and the description reads as follows: 'best for: polar bears, Cattail Marsh and African Plains'. And further notes, among other things "The New England Marsh is to the Roger Williams Zoo what the Louisiana Swamp is to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Both exhibits exemplify a regional native habitat, and provide a few moments with captive nature"

The Zoo Book. A guide to America's best (1957. Edition 1994, by Allen W. Nyhuis) gives detailed descriptions of the top 53 US zoos. The RWPZ is not listed in that 53, but each regional chapter has a 'Best of the rest' section, which include this zoo and notes "Many exciting new exhibits can be found in New England's oldest and most complete zoo" and briefly describes the Tropical America Rainforest Building, the Plains of Africa & African Fishing Village and the Wetlands Trail.

It's not mentioned in 'American Zoos (1992, by Steve Dale and Alan Briere) but that book only list 18 (top) zoos. And not in Zoo. The Modern Ark (1990, by Jake Page) which list 21 American zoos.

 

[15399]

I never really considered Roger Williams a "major" zoo. What criteria do you use to label a zoo as "major?"

There was actually a whole thread about this a little while ago: What Makes a Zoo "Major"?

Long story short, there are no agreed upon criteria to call a zoo "major", so it's neither correct nor incorrect to claim Roger Williams Park Zoo is a major zoo. If your only criteria is size, then yeah it probably isn't major, but once you start throwing other criteria in there (e.g., reputation, attendance, conservation impact, impact on other zoos, budget, inclusion in books, etc.) the picture starts to become muddier. It's certainly the closest any non-aquarium zoo in New England gets to being deemed "major", at the very least.

 

[15399]

As a European, I watch your view with interest but from afar regarding the importance of the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

I have a few books on American zoos and some mention this zoo.

Zoo. Profiles of 102 Zoos, Aquariums and Wildlife Parks in the United States (1994, by Anthony D. Marshall) includes the RWPZ, and the description reads as follows: 'best for: polar bears, Cattail Marsh and African Plains'. And further notes, among other things "The New England Marsh is to the Roger Williams Zoo what the Louisiana Swamp is to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Both exhibits exemplify a regional native habitat, and provide a few moments with captive nature"

The Zoo Book. A guide to America's best (1957. Edition 1994, by Allen W. Nyhuis) gives detailed descriptions of the top 53 US zoos. The RWPZ is not listed in that 53, but each regional chapter has a 'Best of the rest' section, which include this zoo and notes "Many exciting new exhibits can be found in New England's oldest and most complete zoo" and briefly describes the Tropical America Rainforest Building, the Plains of Africa & African Fishing Village and the Wetlands Trail.

It's not mentioned in 'American Zoos (1992, by Steve Dale and Alan Briere) but that book only list 18 (top) zoos. And not in Zoo. The Modern Ark (1990, by Jake Page) which list 21 American zoos.

It's worth noting most zoos have changed a lot since 1994, when the newest of those books was published. Actually, two years after that Roger Williams Park Zoo opened its "Marco Polo Adventure Trek", considered by many to be the strongest section of the zoo. A number of other changes have occurred since then too (at all zoos nationwide), so I'd imagine if those books were re-printed today then the list of zoos included would include some differences.

 

[NNM.]

It's certainly the closest any non-aquarium zoo in New England gets to being deemed "major", at the very least.

Yeah, that’s honestly kind of sad…

I like Roger Williams, of course, and I’ve basically made Franklin Park my entire ZooChat identity, but the only other zoos in New England I’ve been to are Stone and Southwick’s, neither of which I particularly like very much. And despite how much unmitigated nostalgia I have for Franklin Park, it is not a “major zoo” by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[snowleopard]

After Tigers (195 zoos) and Lions (179 zoos), what feline could possibly be next? I've seen Bobcats at 128 zoos. This is almost exclusively a North American species in terms of what zoos have Bobcats in their collections, with only 3 European zoos (in 3 different countries) the outliers.

I saw quite a few Bobcats in big, AZA-accredited zoos on my early trips, but when I began to visit roadside zoos then my viewings of this species shot up dramatically. Literally 74 of the zoos I saw with Bobcats occurred in the space of 3 summers, when I visited a LOT of non-accredited zoos in the USA. The year of 2015 was when I spent weeks in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and other southern states, where it seems I was seeing Bobcats everywhere I looked!

There are THREE summer road trips where I saw a heck of a lot of Bobcats:

2014 = 22 new zoos with Bobcats
2015 = 31 new zoos with Bobcats
2018 = 21 new zoos with Bobcats

1- Alberta Game Farm/Polar Park (Canada) – Bobcat – 1975
2- Northwest Trek Wildlife Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2005
3- San Francisco Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2006
4- B.C. Wildlife Park (Canada) – Bobcat – 2006
5- Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
6- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
7- Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
8- Knoxville Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
9- Fort Worth Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
10- Oklahoma City Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
11- Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
12- Phoenix Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
13- Oregon Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
14- Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (USA) – Bobcat – 2008
15- Wildlife Safari (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
16- Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
17- North Carolina Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
18- Chattanooga Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
19- Birmingham Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
20- Baton Rouge Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
21- Audubon Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
22- Caldwell Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
23- ABQ BioPark Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
24- Utah’s Hogle Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
25- Zoo Boise (USA) – Bobcat – 2010
26- CuriOdyssey (USA) – Bobcat – 2011
27- The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (USA) – Bobcat – 2011
28- CALM (California Living Museum) (USA) – Bobcat – 2011
29- Potawatomi Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
30- John Ball Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
31- Brevard Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
32- Busch Wildlife Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
33- Little Rock Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
34- Dickerson Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
35- Topeka Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
36- Sunset Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
37- Pocatello Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2012
38- Cat Tales Zoological Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
39- Bear Country U.S.A. (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
40- Dakota Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
41- Roosevelt Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
42- Chahinkapa Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
43- Pine Grove Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
44- Wildwood Wildlife Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
45- DeYoung Family Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
46- Northeastern Wisconsin (NEW) Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
47- Ochsner Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
48- Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
49- Cosley Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
50- Niabi Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
51- Wildlife Prairie Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
52- Henson Robinson Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
53- Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
54- Lincoln Children’s Zoo - Nebraska (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
55- Clay Center Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
56- Hutchinson Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
57- Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
58- Lee Richardson Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2014
59- Willow Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat– 2014
60- Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
61- Riverside Discovery Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
62- Tiger Safari (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
63- G W Exotic Animal Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
64- Amarillo Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
65- San Angelo Nature Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
66- Frank Buck Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
67- Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
68- In Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue & Educational Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
69- Dallas Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
70- Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
71- Alexandria Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
72- Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
73- Ellen Trout Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
74- Houston Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
75- The Texas Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
76- Austin Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
77- Austin Nature & Science Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
78- Capital of Texas Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
79- Abilene Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
80- Hillcrest Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
81- Spring River Park & Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
82- Living Desert Zoo – New Mexico (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
83- Wildlife West Nature Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
84- Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
85- Bearizona (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
86- Keepers of the Wild Nature Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
87- Sierra Safari Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
88- Turtle Bay Exploration Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
89- West Coast Game Park Safari (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
90- High Desert Museum (USA) – Bobcat – 2015
91- Olympic Game Farm (USA) – Bobcat – 2016
92- Micke Grove Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
93- Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
94- Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
95- Applegate Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
96- Project Survival’s Cat Haven (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
97- Feline Conservation Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
98- Orange County Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
99- Wildlife Learning Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
100- Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2017
101- Border City Petting Zoo (Canada) – Bobcat – 2018
102- Wilderness Walk Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
103- GarLyn Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
104- Wilderness Trails Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
105- Indian Creek Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
106- Howell Nature Center: Wild Wonders Wildlife Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
107- Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
108- Blandford Nature Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
109- Washington Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
110- Willowbrook Wildlife Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
111- Summerfield Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
112- Animal Gardens Petting Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
113- Bear Den Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
114- Shalom Wildlife Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
115- Menominee Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
116- Animal Haven Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
117- Bruemmer Park Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
118- Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
119- Special Memories Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
120- Wildwood Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
121- Zollman Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2018
122- Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) – Bobcat – 2019
123- Berlin Tierpark (Germany) – Bobcat – 2019
124- Skaerup Zoo (Denmark) – Bobcat – 2022
125- Wildlife Images Rehabilitation and Education Center (USA) – Bobcat – 2023
126- Monterey Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2023
127- Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (USA) – Bobcat – 2023
128- Big Bear Alpine Zoo (USA) – Bobcat – 2023

The sad thing about Bobcats in captivity is that so many of the zoo exhibits are very poor. Quite often, American zoos will keep Bobcats in corn-crib cages like this one at Spring River Park & Zoo (USA), one of a few crappy zoos in New Mexico. What could this Bobcat possibly do all day, every single year, for the rest of its life? It's so bleak.

Merced's Applegate Park Zoo (USA) in California also has a tiny cage for Bobcats, complete with a cement floor and a bowling pin!. I mean, it's laughable.

This one, at Animal Haven Zoo (USA) in Wisconsin, might be the worst I've seen. A Bobcat is sleeping away and wondering what the hell it did wrong to be stuck in this awful cage. There's probably no zoo in Southeast Asia that keeps its felines in a contraption this small. The metal floor adds insult to injury.

Another corn crib Bobcat cage, this time all rusty and old at Special Memories Zoo (USA) in Wisconsin.

Occasionally, I would come across a Bobcat exhibit that was actually half decent, such as this one at Zollman Zoo (USA) in Minnesota.

But far too many are simply too small, even with an American flag for a decoration at Bear Den Zoo (USA) in Wisconsin:

This one, at Indian Creek Zoo (USA), in Michigan, would be considered above average for roadside collections, but it's still far too small as Bobcats can get to be a decent size and they need space to roam.

Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA), in California, has an absolutely puny Bobcat cage. This 'sanctuary' is garbage. How does this enclosure even meet legal requirements for housing carnivores?

Sierra Safari Zoo (USA) in Las Vegas:

I saw two Bobcats in this skinny cage at Keepers of the Wild Nature Park (USA) in Arizona:

Frank Buck Zoo (USA) in Texas:

You can see a Bobcat in this useless enclosure at Timbavati Wildlife Park (USA) in Wisconsin.

Clay Center Zoo (USA) in Kansas was a horrible place back in 2014. The enclosure on the right is for Raccoons, but the skinny little cement cage on the left had a Bobcat when I was there. The enclosure was maybe 5 feet wide.

There's a whole whack of more examples I could post of very disappointing Bobcat exhibits that often verge on the grotesque in terms of keeping a wild cat in captivity. I used some photos from zoos that have since been closed down (thank goodness!), but all of them I visited in the last decade and it's astonishing at how awful the exhibits were. On my 2018 road trip, only 6 short years ago, I saw some horrible enclosures for all types of mammals just in the state of Wisconsin. I always credit those zoos for forcing me to look farther afield and since then I've had two European trips. Thank you Wisconsin!

There's got to be some excellent Bobcat exhibits in American zoos, right? Here's one at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park (USA) in the state of Washington.

And, for a small facility, this one at Cosley Zoo (USA) in Illinois, is decent. I think that Bobcats are gone now, replaced by Canadian Lynx.

California Living Museum (USA) has a nice Bobcat exhibit:

Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) had the species when I was there in 2019, but now I think that Bobcats are gone from that zoo. Nevertheless, Zootierliste does have a surprising number of zoos with Bobcats in Europe at the moment (more than 30) and perhaps this thread would be one that would interest Zootierliste moderators in terms of updating former holdings of various species.

@KevinB

It's not the best photo, but here's an image from 2020 of a Bobcat on top of a shed in my backyard. I live in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

Felidae:

Tigers - 195 zoos
Lions - 179 zoos
Bobcats - 128 zoos

 

[Philipine eagle]

Bobcats are idd no longer present in Burgers' zoo (Netherlands), the last animal died in January this year.

 

[PossumRoach]

Forever Wild Exotic Animal Sanctuary (USA), in California, has an absolutely puny Bobcat cage. This 'sanctuary' is garbage. How does this enclosure even meet legal requirements for housing carnivores?

I may have asked this before in this same thread but I don’t remember so I will ask it once more: So private ownership of animals becomes acceptable when a keeper slaps on a rescue label and rallies against other individuals that are keeping animals just as they are?

 

[Dassie rat]

San Diego Zoo Safari Park (USA) spent $20 million on a trio of superb Sumatran Tiger exhibits, heavily themed enough to make Pairi Daiza raise an eyebrow.

One of the reasons I joined the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was because it had bought land in Sumatra to protect the Sumatran tiger and other wildlife. Surely, if the San Diego Wild Animal Park really wanted to save tigers in the wild, it could have spent $20 million on protecting wild habitat, rather than spending it on exhibits for a species that occurs in many zoos, while there is lttle effort by zoos into developing reintroduction projects.

 

[birdsandbats]

One of the reasons I joined the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was because it had bought land in Sumatra to protect the Sumatran tiger and other wildlife. Surely, if the San Diego Wild Animal Park really wanted to save tigers in the wild, it could have spent $20 million on protecting wild habitat, rather than spending it on exhibits for a species that occurs in many zoos, while there is lttle effort by zoos into developing reintroduction projects.

San Diego also has some of the highest in-situ conservation spending of any zoo. You are criticizing them for not doing something they already do.

 

[Dassie rat]

San Diego also has some of the highest in-situ conservation spending of any zoo. You are criticizing them for not doing something they already do.

There are several zoos that spend a lot of money on in-situ conservation, but this doesn't negate the opinion that spending lots of money on a zoo exhibit for animals that are common in captivity is not true conservation

 

[Dassie rat]

According to ZTL
294 collections have tigers of no specific subspecies status
268 have Amur tigers
108 have Sumatran tigers
35 have Malayan tigers
9 have 'Bengal' tigers
3 have South China tigers
2 have Indochinese tigers

There are far more tigers in captiviy than in the wild