Major cities WITHOUT zoos

Den Haag and Brussels

Elly said:
The zoo of The Hague closed down just after the war. About Brussels, I have been looking on the web but can't find anything fast. I remember that it had a similar history as The Hague (closed down very early on because of "mismanagement").

Utrecht never had a zoo.
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To my best knwoledge Den Haag zoo opened: 1863 / closed: 1943 and Jardin Zoologique Brussels opened 1851 / closed 1879.
 
The city I live near, London (not england, its in ontario) doesn't have a zoo but its a fairly large, well known city in Canada. All it has had was the atrocious, family owned Lickety Split Ranch and "Zoo"
 
As stated already, the only MAJOR city in the U.S. without a real zoo is Las Vegas, Nevada. There is an atrocious little roadside zoo called Southern Nevada Zoo, but it's only 3 or 4 acres of small cages, not a real zoo at all. Also some animal exhibits at the casinos, but the families who live there certainly need something. (There are also no major museums or large parks - really an awful place to live unless you are a professional gambler).
 
snowleopard said:
There is clearly no definitive reason why or why not a zoo appears in a city, and as has previously been pointed out there are many large cities with a massive populace and yet lack a zoo. In the U.S. every single major city with a million people or more has a major zoo, and yet cities like Milan and Glasgow no longer have zoos.

One thing for sure is that there is definitely more of a "zoo culture" in specific European nations, as for example the Netherlands has 15 EAZA zoos and half of them have an attendance of more than a million visitors per year. Germany has some crazy number of around 250 zoos, and for a Canadian like me I perceive that country as being puny in size. Canada is the world's second largest nation, and could accommadate countless Netherlands and Germanys inside of it...and yet has only 2 major zoos and many small wildlife parks. There simply isn't a "zoo culture" in Canada, and the climate doesn't make things any easier.
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Germany & the Netherlands have three times the population of Canada and all packed into their puny size. Also if i did holiday to Canada a visit to the zoo wouldnt be top of my list of things to do. Unless it was something special seem bit of a waste of day when you ve got the worlds 2nd largest nation to see.
And this from someone who has made day trips to holland just to visit a zoo. Ive had my car fully searched at Dover from disbelieving customs officals on each occasion.
 
zelda said:
European city of culture is Liverpool. No city centre zoo. Cardiff was also on the shortlist, with no zoo. Neither are young either.

Is Dudley really all that cultural?
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Cardiff Zoo at Barry became the welsh hawking centre in the early 80s? see gallery for evidence.

Knowsley Safari park is right next to Liverpool. In my book UK safari parks are zoos.
 
I live in Lexington, KY and I always thought we'd be a decent candidate for a zoo. There are surely smaller US cities with zoos. We're the second biggest city in the state, have major University, large and diverse population, several major companies (Toyota being the biggest), and a large urban area with lots of outlying rural areas to build on. The closest zoo is Louisville, which is about 1.25 hours away.

We'd be a nice place for equids and other hoostock. The limestone bedrock here is believed by many to be the reason that the best thoroughbred horses come from this region. Something about mineral content in the grass.......
 
Bendigo is the third biggest city in Victoria and has a resonible population and recieves a lot of tourists and if Ballarat can sustain a wildlife park I think we could do better.
 
Jurek7 said:
Plackendael is stone throw from Brussels. Really good zoo, I must say.

Did Geneve or Lausanne ever have a (real) zoo?
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In Belgium everything is close to Brussels... Plankendael is owned by the same zoo society as Antwerp zoo (which is an old zoo).
 
Elly said:
The zoo of The Hague closed down just after the war. About Brussels, I have been looking on the web but can't find anything fast. I remember that it had a similar history as The Hague (closed down very early on because of "mismanagement").
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Not quite true. The Hague Zoo (Royal Zoological & Botanical Society) had some financial problems but so were Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Tilburg those days (just before the Second World War). The final cut came when the Germans decided to make a tank wall through the zoo! The zoo had to close by order of the Germans, the animals were sold to other zoos. The last day the zoo was open for public was on September 5, 1942. Altough the society tried to reopen after the war on another location it never happened. The zoo was almost completely destroyed during the war, and only the mainbuilding was left. This building was pulled down in 1968. The society was closed down some years after the war.


Another major city of The Netherlands, Nijmegen, tried to establish a zoo in the mid twenties of the 20th century. But the plans never made it because of Burgers' Zoo in the nearby city of Arnhem.

Today a 'minor' major city: Assen. It also had a zoo; from 1879 til 1888, when it had to close because of lack of income.

Just after Mr Oosting published his plans for a zoo in Emmen, some citizens of the city of Groningen tried to open a zoo in their town. But fortunately for Emmen, it never happened.

In the sixties there were also some plans for a zoo in the city of Leeuwarden.
 
Oxford

Cat-Man said:
Oxford, swindon, gloster, aberdeen
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OXFORD used to have a zoo. I am not quite sure where it was (I don't mean Ipsden) but it was well known. I have three postcards which I am told are quite valuable which I will upload later this evening.
 
Oxford zoological gardens

reptile1517 said:
OXFORD used to have a zoo. I am not quite sure where it was (I don't mean Ipsden) but it was well known. I have three postcards which I am told are quite valuable which I will upload later this evening.
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Oxford Zoo operated in the early 1930's although I do not have exact dates. It certainly closed before the war. It was in Kidlington, Oxford. The last owner was William Cooper.

I am uploading three old photos, the first is a picture of the Sacred or Hamadryas Baboons, the second is their magnificent Lion and lastly Rosie the Elephant. When the Zoo closed, Rosie was sent to Bristol where she remained until her death in the 60's. I did see her once before she died.

I hope these images are of interest to those like me who love Zoological History.
 

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Cat-Man said:
Oxford, swindon, gloster, aberdeen
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As has been mentioned, Oxford did have a zoo. Many of the animals were transferred to Dudley zoo for its opening.

Aberdeen also had a zoo of course in Hazelhead Park.

Neither Gloucester nor Swindon seem to have had zoos but Cheltenham certainly did and Liverpool had three at different times.
 
Oxford & dudley zoos

Yes, it is well known most of the animals from Oxford went to Dudley. I have always wondered however, why Rosie went to Bristol. Perhaps it was a matter of money or Dudley may not have had facilities for her at that time. Certainly they have had elephants since, I think the remaining two went to France.
 
reptile1517 said:
Yes, it is well known most of the animals from Oxford went to Dudley. I have always wondered however, why Rosie went to Bristol. Perhaps it was a matter of money or Dudley may not have had facilities for her at that time. Certainly they have had elephants since, I think the remaining two went to France.
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very interesting, why and when didi it close, enclosures look good for its time
 
Cities that Need a Zoo

What cities need a zoo?
I believe that Las Vegas, Dayton, Anaheim, Charlotte, Harrisburg, and Yuma do.
Las Vegas- Ever since the LV zoo closed, LV has been left without a zoo. There is the Phoenix Zoo south of LV on I-10/US 93. Southwest on I-15 is California, with San Diego and LA zoos.
Dayton- Dayton, Ohio is 1 hour south of Columbus zoo and 1 hour north of Cincinnati. It is 2 hours from Dayton to the Indianapolis zoo, but Dayton does not have its own zoo.
Anaheim- Anaheim is between the LA and San Diego zoos as well as the smaller zoos of Santa Ana and Orange (the OC Zoo).
Charlotte- North Carolina Zoo is in Asheboro
Harrisburg- ZooAmerica is located in Hershey as well as Pitt and Philly's zoos.
Yuma- Yuma has San Diego west on I-8 and Phoenix and Tucson
(ASDM and Reid Park)
 
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