Top 10 and top 25 European zoos

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Mania of quantifying everything comes. ;) Which are top 10 and top 25 zoos in Europe, you think?

Top 10 zoos in Europe:
Berlin Zoo
Berlin Tierpark
Munich
Rotterdam
Arnhem
Plackendael
Vienna
Chester
Praha
Beauval

Top 25 zoos in Europe:
Zurich
Dvur Kralove
Apenheul
Cologne
Wuppertal
Walsrode
Marwell
Howletts/Port Lympne
...?

I originally wanted to ask top 10 zoos in the world, but too few people have experience over different continents.
 
My experience is limited but I'm surprised by the omission of Plzen (and maybe Leipzig/Nurnberg, though I haven't been to either).

I'm also surprised that Howletts and Marwell make it onto the list.
 
I'm wondering what both Berlin Zoos, Munich and Planckendaell are doing in the top 10. And would place e.g. Leipzig over there. Also Frankfurt could make it to the top 25.
 
Planckendaell is in my view not even top 25, Pairi Daiza is currently the best Belgian Zoo in my view. I do miss Oceanario although you could debate if it is a zoo or not.
 
My guess would be:

1. Leipzig
2. Rotterdam
3. Berlin Zoo
4. Arnhem
5. Vienna
6. Munich
7. Prague
8. Plzen
9. Cologne
10. Beuval
11. Berlin Tierpark
12. Loro Parque
13. Chester
 
Norwegian moose said:
12. Loro Parque
13. Chester
Click to expand...

I have far too limited an experience of European Zoos to make a top ten or twenty-five, however I would swap these around, because whilst Loro Parque wins on style, I think the variety at Chester and the overall customer experience is significantly better (Loro Parque is prone to being extremely cramped and loud).
 
Thanks for the opinions so far!

Leipzig, Plzen, Pairi Daiza, Oceanario Lisboa, Loro Parque are definitely good candidates to the top 25 - and there are some spaces left.

Any more collections in Spain, France and Britain (Edinburgh?) which could make it into the top 25? Anybody visited the Blue Planet in Denmark?
 
Hi, thanks for all the comments. I revised the list:

Top 10 zoos in Europe:

Rotterdam
Arnhem
Vienna
Berlin Tierpark
Praha

Chester
Leipzig
Berlin Zoo
Pairi Daiza
Beauval

Top 25 zoos in Europe:

Plzen
Zurich
Apenheul
Walsrode
Munich

Cologne
Dvur Kralove
Wuppertal
Loro Parque
Oceanario Lisboa

Amneville
Plackendael
Edinburgh
Madrid
Hamburg

Explanations:

I don't rank inside the groups. I may have missed some French, British and Mediterranean zoos.

I purposefully ignored zoo history and purely amusement attractions. Many famous old zoos like Frankfurt, London, Antwerp lost their status in 2013. Amusement zoos can be very popular, but many animal enthusiasts find crowds and the noise excessive.

This list can change. Wroclaw with Afrykarium, due to open 2015, will be on the list, alas, not yet. Parc des Felines, Whipsnade, late John Aspinall's zoos, Slimbridge, Basel are other near misses.
 
And I reckon Wroclaw is significantly better than Madrid, and maybe even Edinburgh, even without the Afrykarium.
 
I don't think I would put Madrid even in my top 25. And Budapest is a nice zoo, which I love to visit, but in my view it is just outside the top 25.
 
Believe it or not, this is actually one of the threads I have found particularly useful on ZooChat, especially for planning my European summer trip.
What changes would people make to this list in light of the past two years?
 
I would change the last list to this, partly based on personal preference and on what I think is the general opinion:

Top 10 zoos in Europe:

Rotterdam
Arnhem
Vienna
Zurich
Praha

Chester
Leipzig
Berlin Zoo
Pairi Daiza
Beauval

Top 25 zoos in Europe:

Plzen
Basel
Apenheul
Walsrode
Nuremberg

Cologne
Dvur Kralove
Wilhelma Stuttgart
Loro Parque
Oceanario Lisboa / Oceanographic Valencia??

Amneville
Berlin TP
Wroclaw
Zlin Lesna /Budapest??
Hamburg


It would also be interesting to compile a list of the smaller zoos that are top-notch (at least for zoo-nerds), but are not really able to compete with the big canons. Such a list could include zoos like:

Naturzoo Rheine
Zoo Magdeburg
Tierpark Dahlholzli Bern
Alpenzoo Innsbruck

suggestions?
 
lintworm said:
It would also be interesting to compile a list of the smaller zoos that are top-notch (at least for zoo-nerds), but are not really able to compete with the big canons. Such a list could include zoos like:

Naturzoo Rheine
Zoo Magdeburg
Tierpark Dahlholzli Bern
Alpenzoo Innsbruck
Click to expand...

Indeed; whenever we try to list the "top European zoos" the issue of collections such as these is always a thorny one.

In terms of quality and how much we enjoy visiting them, they could easily merit inclusion within the list, beating many larger collections; however, the small size and often specialised focus means that it is not "fair" to try to include such collections within the scope of such a discussion.

For instance, my favorite ten collections are as follows:

1) Tierpark Berlin / Zoo Berlin
2) -------
3) Wilhelma
4) Alpenzoo / Chester Zoo
5) -------
6) Tierpark Hellabrunn
7) Bristol Zoo / Cotswold Wildlife Park
8) -------
9) Zoo Magdeburg
10) ZSL Whipsnade

Of these, two are smaller collections which you already highlighted - however despite where I have ranked them, I would not say that Alpenzoo is the equal of Chester Zoo and the superior of Tierpark Hellabrunn; if it were the same size as these collections whilst retaining the same level of quality, it could well be..... but it is not.

Another example of a world-class European zoo which is too small and too focused to be suited for a list such as this is Living Coasts.
 
top 10
Leipzig
Rotterdam
Berlin Zoo
Burgers'
Prague

Vienna
Tierpark Berlin
Cologne
Wroclaw
Hellabrunn

top 25
Antwerp
Beauval
Pairi Daiza
Zlin
Budapest

London
Chester
Frankfurt
Dvúr Králove
Artis

Nuremberg
Sosto
Ostrava
Alpenzoo
Warsaw
 
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