Zoo radius search - Do you know all collections around you?

Animal

Animal

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Hello everybody,

for a long time I was quite oblivious to some collections that were not that far from me. So years back we added the "Zoo radius search" at Zootierliste and sometimes it is surprising what institutions I missed. These days I use this search often when I am on holidays and want to see what collections are around. With "Show map" you can find easily where they are located.

What are the collections around where you live and have you visited them?

For the radius of 50 km I get the following:

Schwerin (Zoo) [Germany] 3.24 km - visited
Wismar (Tierpark) [Germany] 29.2 km - visited
Parchim (Wildgehege am Forstgarten Kiekindemark) [Germany] 35.83 km - visited
Dassow (Erlebnis- und Tigerpark) [Germany] 40.93 km - visited
Klütz (Schmetterlingswelt) [Germany] 41.23 km - not visited (but will this year)
Mölln (Wildpark Uhlenkolk) [Germany] 46.77 km - visited
Amt Neuhaus (Max Arche-Park) [Germany] 49.88 km - not visited (but will this year)
 
Hmmm…


Franklin Park Zoo - 5.38 km - visited (many times, I was literally there yesterday)
Blue Hills Trailside Museum - 7.28 km - visited
Museum of Science Boston - 11.51 km - visited
New England Aquarium - 11.84 km - visited
Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary - 20.73 km - visited
Stone Zoo - 20.76 km - visited
World War I Memorial Park and Zoo - 34.29 km - not visited
Animal Adventures Family Zoo & Rescue Center - 40.74 km - not visited (thankfully)
Southwick’s Zoo - 43.41 km - visited
The Butterfly Place - 46.91 km - not visited
Daggett Farm Petting Zoo - 48.69 km - not visited
Wolf Hollow - North American Wolf Foundation - 49.86 km - not visited

I’ve been to 7/12 of these facilities all within the 50 km radius. I should probably be glad I’ve never visited Animal Adventures, since it has a reputation as one of the worst zoos in America, if not the world.
 
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I love this function on ZTL. It´s really helpful.

For my radius of 50 km I get 42 different collections. Out of them, I´ve visited so far only 9. I might visit 3-4 more this summer - usually small places with just a few commonly kept species that I´ve never bothered about but it´s time so see them in person I guess (and update the ZTL).

The remaining "collections" are either dilapitated petting children zoos with an obligatory rhea/wallaby, ugly roadside zoos, or do some circus-like performances. Thus they are on my boycot list.
 
How accurate are the locations on zootierliste? I didn't know about the location search so tried it. I have noticed a couple of mistakes.

It thinks Watatunga Wildlife Reserve is located in Watlington Oxfordshire. It is about 140 miles (225Km) away in Norfolk. Its address is Watlington Road, King's Lynn, so maybe that is where the confusion came from.

It also said there was a Kingsley Falconary Centre about 30 Km from me. I had never heard of it before I looked it up It turns out it is actually about 200 miles (320Km) away.
 
NMM said:
How accurate are the locations on zootierliste? I didn't know about the location search so tried it. I have noticed a couple of mistakes.

It thinks Watatunga Wildlife Reserve is located in Watlington Oxfordshire. It is about 140 miles (225Km) away in Norfolk. Its address is Watlington Road, King's Lynn, so maybe that is where the confusion came from.

It also said there was a Kingsley Falconary Centre about 30 Km from me. I had never heard of it before I looked it up It turns out it is actually about 200 miles (320Km) away.
Click to expand...

Most of them are pretty accurate, because we added them by hand. Some of the ones that were put in using the algorithm of openstreetmap can in rare occasions be faulty. Please report if you spot mistakes.
 
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For Istanbul, where I used to be before I moved to Munich, I have visited to 5/7 listed facilities. One of the facilities is closed by the time I was at Istanbul, and the other is a dolphinarium which I just find uninteresting with just four species. There a few roadside collections within the 50 km radius that are still not listed on ZTL. I can list then later when I have time.

For Munich, I have only been to 2/17 of the listed facilities. Most of the ones I didn’t visit sound like small collections Jana described, with basic exotics like budgies and rheas. There’s also Zirkus Krone which I don’t even know if the holding list for that is accurate.
 
For the radius of 50 km I get the following:

The Reptile Guy - small, privately-run hodge-podge of rescued herps in a single room
Marine Life Center - tiny, one-room aquarium
Greater Vancouver Zoo - local zoo with maybe 60 total species

I'm jealous of those individuals who live near 40 or 50 different zoos. If I lived in Europe I would have easily visited 1,000 zoos by now. ;)
 
For me, the closest is Fota Wildlife Park (which I have visited around 6 times)15 km away. Then it's Leahy's Open Farm (I haven't visited this facility since form what I've seen it contains nothing particularly interesting) 25 km away and it's the same two collections till at least 50 km.
 
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Of the seven collections listed, I have been to four - the remaining three are all petting farms and suchlike, and I have a feeling that two have actually had their zoo licences stripped from them in recent years.
 
I have gone out of my way to visit all of the collections near me, so I have been to all of them within a 50 km radius of me.

Or at least, that's what I would said before checking! Here's the list I get:

-Butterfly Gardens of Wisconsin - visited several times
-Menominee Park Zoo - visited many times
-Ledge View Nature Center - visited a couple of times, I wouldn't consider it a zoo, though they do have a small animal collection
-Animal Haven Zoo - visited twice
-Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary - visited well over 100 times!
-Rustic Retreat Deer Park - literally never heard of this place. I can find barely any info online, and I'm not even confident that the location in ZTL and Google maps is accurate.
-Doc's Harley-Davidson - visited once and I should really get back there again
 
I get a total of 36 collections within a 50 kilometre radius, of which I have been to 12. Excluding domestics-only farms, deer parks and botanical gardens, we are left with 25 collections, of which I have been to 10. Of the 15 genuine zoos that I haven't been to, the only ones that are both realistic targets and places that I genuinely would like to visit are the British Wildlife Centre, and Cedars Nature Centre and / or Cassiobury Farm and Fishery, both solely for the sake of seeing a Zorilla (hence why they are interchangeable, although the presence of Sunda Porcupine and Plains Buffalo would make Cassiobury a preference). Hanwell Zoo isn't too much of a priority, but due to how close it is, and it being decently interesting, it is still one that I can see myself visiting in the near future.
 
Looked again and the mistakes I found earlier already seem to be fixed. Quick work from them.

I have 14 collections listed within 50 Km.

From that list.
4 - Animal collections that I have visited.
3 - Collections that I haven't including 1 falconry place that I didn't previously know about.
2 - Farm related collections.
3 - Attractions that aren't primarily animal focused but have some animals (1 only lists 1 species).
2 - Educational establishments that offer animal care or management related courses.
 
I get eleven zoos within fifty miles from me, of which I have visited six:

Call of the Wild Zoo (probably fewer than ten visits)
Colchester Zoo (lots of visits)
Southend on Sea Sea Life (maybe two visits)
Old McDonalds Farm (one visit, many years ago)
Jimmy's Farm (probably somewhere between five and ten visits)
Linton Zoo (again, probably between five and ten visits)

The five I have missed are:
Barleylands Farm Park
Fenn Bell Inn Zoo
Get to Know Animals
Hertfordshire Zoo
Cedars Nature Centre

Interestingly, I do know of another zoo that is closer to me than any other, which I am yet to visit and is not listed on Zootierliste. Hopefully, I should be able to get there at some point in the near future.
 
Naturzoo Rheine
Allwetterzoo Münster
Zoo Osnabrück
Tierpark Nordhorn
NaturaGart Aquarium Ibbenbüren
Stadtpark Emsdetten
Wildfreigehege Nöttler Berg Searbeck
 
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I get 14 collections within 50km.

One of them is Houghton Hall which is actually 110km away in Norfolk.

One is Hogshaw farm which is not very far away but have never been there. I think they have a lynx. Do keep driving past the signs though.

Of the others have been to 7 of them (including Whipsnade, Woburn, CWP etc) - the main one on the list I recognise but haven't been to would be Wicksteed and the others are farm parks.
 
I have exactly twenty collections within a 50km radius of my home. This comprises of the following:

Three aquariums
Two museums (with herps and fish respectively)
Nine farm parks
Three falconry centres
Three zoos

A few of these zoos and aquariums are clutching at straws with one of the aquariums being part of Alton Towers and the 'zoo' being domestics and the odd exotic bird species. Hardly exciting by any means.

Of the twenty, I have visited seven of them with me only perhaps planning to visit two others but the others are not worth my time given the heaviness in farm parks.

On the other hand if we are talking where I live most of the time throughout the week my closest zoo is a short 400 metre walk :D
 
Northbrook (River Trail Nature Center)
Chicago (Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum)
Chicago (Lincoln Park Zoo)
Chicago (Garfield Park Conservatory)
River Forest (Trailside Museum of Natural History)
Chicago (Shedd Aquarium)
Brookfield (Zoo)
Lincolnshire (Didier Farms)
Lake Forest (Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve)
Libertyville (Lambs Farm Farmyard)

Garfield Park Conservatory, River Trail Nature Center, Trailside Museum of Natural History, Didier Farms, Middlefork and Lambs Farm all register with no current species, so within 30km I'm set, as I have visited the Notebaert Museum (though not in several years) as well as the Shedd, Brookfield and Lincoln Park.

Glen Ellyn (Willowbrook Wildlife Center)
Wheaton (Cosley Zoo)
Elgin (Lords Park Zoo)
East Dundee (Santas Village Azoosment Park)
Round Lake (Prairie Grass Nature Museum)
West Dundee (Randall Oaks Zoo)

I have not visited any of these and all but Cosley register as having no species. I have not had a major interest in Cosley as they are known best here for domestic species, though I might still like to see a few of them, it's just not pressing. So that's my one big miss in 50km.

Lockport (Big Run Wolf Ranch)
Aurora (Phillips Park Zoo)

We're reaching 75m, and can add Aurora as another miss. Have had many discussions about going up there with friends.

One big jump further, to 120km...

Lake Geneva (Safari Lake Geneva)
Michigan City (Washington Park Zoo)
Racine (Zoo) [United States of America]
Delavan (The Dancing Horses Theatre - Animal Gardens & Petting Zoo)
Belvidere (Summerfield Zoo)
Sharon (Valley Of The Kings Sanctuary And Retreat)
Waterford (Bear Den Zoo & Petting Farm)
Lake Village (SOR Wildlife Adventure)
Milwaukee (Discovery World)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee Public Museum)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee County Zoo)

I have been to Racine and Milwaukee. Lake Geneva and Belvidere have been on the list to go. Washington Park and Dancing Horses are totally new for me, as is Discovery World which appears to be an aquarium. Valley of the Kings, Bear Den, and Wildlife Adventure have no collection. That's six misses at this distance.

The Saint Louis Zoo turned out to over 400km away... in terms of KM, closer zoos include (furthest to closest) Cincinnati, Detroit, DeYoung, Toledo, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Binder Park, and Madison.... and Saint Louis isn't much closer than Columbus, Evansville, Louisville or World Bird Sanctuary. The difference between Cincinnati and Columbus always feels insane to me when calculating these things.
 
JVM said:
Northbrook (River Trail Nature Center)
Chicago (Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum)
Chicago (Lincoln Park Zoo)
Chicago (Garfield Park Conservatory)
River Forest (Trailside Museum of Natural History)
Chicago (Shedd Aquarium)
Brookfield (Zoo)
Lincolnshire (Didier Farms)
Lake Forest (Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve)
Libertyville (Lambs Farm Farmyard)

Garfield Park Conservatory, River Trail Nature Center, Trailside Museum of Natural History, Didier Farms, Middlefork and Lambs Farm all register with no current species, so within 30km I'm set, as I have visited the Notebaert Museum (though not in several years) as well as the Shedd, Brookfield and Lincoln Park.

Glen Ellyn (Willowbrook Wildlife Center)
Wheaton (Cosley Zoo)
Elgin (Lords Park Zoo)
East Dundee (Santas Village Azoosment Park)
Round Lake (Prairie Grass Nature Museum)
West Dundee (Randall Oaks Zoo)

I have not visited any of these and all but Cosley register as having no species. I have not had a major interest in Cosley as they are known best here for domestic species, though I might still like to see a few of them, it's just not pressing. So that's my one big miss in 50km.

Lockport (Big Run Wolf Ranch)
Aurora (Phillips Park Zoo)

We're reaching 75m, and can add Aurora as another miss. Have had many discussions about going up there with friends.

One big jump further, to 120km...

Lake Geneva (Safari Lake Geneva)
Michigan City (Washington Park Zoo)
Racine (Zoo) [United States of America]
Delavan (The Dancing Horses Theatre - Animal Gardens & Petting Zoo)
Belvidere (Summerfield Zoo)
Sharon (Valley Of The Kings Sanctuary And Retreat)
Waterford (Bear Den Zoo & Petting Farm)
Lake Village (SOR Wildlife Adventure)
Milwaukee (Discovery World)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee Public Museum)
Milwaukee (Milwaukee County Zoo)

I have been to Racine and Milwaukee. Lake Geneva and Belvidere have been on the list to go. Washington Park and Dancing Horses are totally new for me, as is Discovery World which appears to be an aquarium. Valley of the Kings, Bear Den, and Wildlife Adventure have no collection. That's six misses at this distance.

The Saint Louis Zoo turned out to over 400km away... in terms of KM, closer zoos include (furthest to closest) Cincinnati, Detroit, DeYoung, Toledo, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Binder Park, and Madison.... and Saint Louis isn't much closer than Columbus, Evansville, Louisville or World Bird Sanctuary. The difference between Cincinnati and Columbus always feels insane to me when calculating these things.
Click to expand...
Most of those places that have "no collection" just don't have anything added to ZTL. This should be incentive for you to go and fill out their pages. ;)

You may be familiar with Discovery World by its other name, Reiman Aquarium?
 
50 km:
- Homer (Homer Lake Interpretive Center) [United States of America] 22.86 km
Never been inside. It has pretty limited open hours, so it has been closed whenever I'm at Homer Lake. Tiny building and probably only has a few herps and two or three raptors.

100 km:
- Arcola (Aikman Wildlife Adventure) [United States of America] 51.11 km
I've visited twice
- Decatur (Scovill Zoo) [United States of America] 65.76 km
I've visited three times
- Bloomington (Miller Park Zoo) [United States of America] 75.72 km
I've visited once
- Decatur (Illinois Raptor Center) [United States of America] 76.36 km
A rescue center that doesn't have public hours
- Rockville (Hobson Adventure Farm) [United States of America] 89.82 km
An Indiana collection I've never heard of. Doesn't seem to have anything interesting so I doubt I'll visit anytime soon

150 km:
Lafayette (Columbian Park Zoo) [United States of America] 121.19 km
-Want to visit this summer
Springfield (Henson Robinson Zoo) [United States of America] 122.36 km
-Want to visit this summer
Battle Ground (Wolf Park) [United States of America] 128.57 km
-Never heard of this nice looking, albeit limited native species park
Center Point (Exotic Feline Rescue Center) [United States of America] 128.84 km
-Feline rescue center in Indiana, I'll pass
Lake Village (SOR Wildlife Adventure) [United States of America] 130.17 km
-Seem's like Indiana's version of Aikman
Peoria (Peoria Riverfront Museum) [United States of America] 130.77 km
-Doesn't seem like any live animals atm
Peoria (Zoo) [United States of America] 131.12 km
-Want to visit this summer
Hanna City (Wildlife Prairie Park) [United States of America] 143.78 km
-Want to visit this summer
Frankfort (TPA Park) [United States of America] 149.05 km
-Another small IN collection

Closest major zoos are almost 200 km away with Indianapolis and Brookfield.

A lot of random little places but four actual zoos within 150 km I want to visit, compared to the three I've already visited. To those who have actual zoos within 50 km consider yourselves fortunate.
 
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