Zooming in on Europe's Zoos - Anthony Sheridan

Nisha

Nisha

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Anthony Sheridan has produced an updated version of his book, "What Zoos can do" (first published 2011) this time titled, "Zooming in on Europe's Zoos" and covering a 15 year period from 2010 to 2025:

Description quoted from the publishers website

Sheridan's Guide to Europe's zoos 2010-2025

Again Anthony Sheridan gives us an extensive overview over the leading European zoos, Which he is rating in updated versions of his ranking lists Concerning visitor factors, education and conservation, management and organization.

In 2016 his survey contains around 120 zoos in 28 countries.
Besides Numerous information about landscape design, ex-situ and in situ conservation, finance and marketing strategies, the author deals with the role of the zoo director and special examples, friends of the zoos and national zoo associations.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zooming-Eu...5&sr=8-1&keywords=zooming+in+on+europe's+zoos

Schüling Buchkurier - Zooming in on Europe's Zoos
 
Anthony Sheridan is becoming a prolific author as this is his 3rd book in a timeframe of essentially 5 years. I purchased the first major book and the small, supplemental second book and I'm torn about whether to spend big dollars on his 3rd zoo book. I see that it is an impressive 466 pages...does anyone have the inside scoop on this edition and what new zoos are now included in his statistical analysis?
 
I will probably buy this next summer when I'm back in the UK.
The faults of the original are well publicised, but as a collection of stats, facts, summaries and pictures it is still worth the money.
If the updated version delivers the same experience, updated five years, I will be satisfied.
Of course if it delivers maps that you can actually use and a ranking system that has transparency that would be even better!
 
I too am interested to learn which additional zoos make the cut, but I don't know that I got enough satisfaction out of the first edition to justify purchasing a third.

Does anybody know what zoos were included in the supplement published a couple of years ago?
 
Anthony Sheridan's first book, while heavily criticized by some zoo nerds, is still essential owning by any zoo enthusiast for the overwhelming amount of data that is provided. I've used it as a research tool on many an occasion, as items such as attendance figures, acreage, opening date, etc., are all found in that thick, shiny book. If anyone wanted to tour the 80 best zoos across Europe then they need look no further than that publication.

The supplement (book #2) was published in 2013 and Sheridan changed his two main groupings of zoos into three main groups (based on attendance) and instead of 80 zoos there was a total of 92 zoos. The 12 additional zoos: Aalborg, Blackpool, Gdansk, Krakow, Olomouc, Opole, Ostrava, Poznan, Salzburg, Sofia, Szeged and Zagreb. Instead of the 3-page profile of each zoo in the original book, the supplement contains 1-page profiles of those dozen new zoos and to be honest the book is not essential to purchase.

Now it seems as if Sheridan has broadened his horizon to include 120 zoos across the continent and I'm as curious as anyone to find out what the new zoos are in the book. I'll definitely order the 466-page update as since it has been 5 years all of his various charts will be significantly altered. Whether he gives a meerkat exhibit a "6" rating or a "2" rating is of course always going to be a contentious and highly subjective undertaking.
 
snowleopard said:
Anthony Sheridan's first book, while heavily criticized by some zoo nerds, is still essential owning by any zoo enthusiast for the overwhelming amount of data that is provided. I've used it as a research tool on many an occasion, as items such as attendance figures, acreage, opening date, etc., are all found in that thick, shiny book. If anyone wanted to tour the 80 best zoos across Europe then they need look no further than that publication.

The supplement (book #2) was published in 2013 and Sheridan changed his two main groupings of zoos into three main groups (based on attendance) and instead of 80 zoos there was a total of 92 zoos. The 12 additional zoos: Aalborg, Blackpool, Gdansk, Krakow, Olomouc, Opole, Ostrava, Poznan, Salzburg, Sofia, Szeged and Zagreb. Instead of the 3-page profile of each zoo in the original book, the supplement contains 1-page profiles of those dozen new zoos and to be honest the book is not essential to purchase.

Now it seems as if Sheridan has broadened his horizon to include 120 zoos across the continent and I'm as curious as anyone to find out what the new zoos are in the book. I'll definitely order the 466-page update as since it has been 5 years all of his various charts will be significantly altered. Whether he gives a meerkat exhibit a "6" rating or a "2" rating is of course always going to be a contentious and highly subjective undertaking.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I may post the entire list from the first edition when I get home. I might also try to guess what the remaining 28 are and see how close I get once somebody obtains the book. :)
 
As a counterbalance to snowleopard's post, I thought the first edition was more a caution against self-publishing than a serious attempt to objectively rank zoos. Given that this opinion is largely shared by European enthusiasts, I can't see an updated version (bad pun now included) selling particularly well. Perhaps that'll put the whole silly exercise to rest.

The long and short: if you have £30 to spend on a zoo book, there are many superior alternatives.
 
Giant Panda said:
As a counterbalance to snowleopard's post, I thought the first edition was more a caution against self-publishing than a serious attempt to objectively rank zoos. Given that this opinion is largely shared by European enthusiasts, I can't see an updated version (bad pun now included) selling particularly well. Perhaps that'll put the whole silly exercise to rest.

The long and short: if you have £30 to spend on a zoo book, there are many superior alternatives.
Click to expand...

Ah, but are there any alternatives that attempt the same thing?
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Ah, but are there any alternatives that attempt the same thing?
Click to expand...

Good point, but that doesn't mean the attempt was worthwhile. It was also a failed attempt, given that the ranking is not objective. In fact, the author clearly doesn't know what statistics are, let alone how to use them. The chapters on how zoos operate are silly (and certainly bettered elsewhere), and I question the need for lists of facts that will always be more comprehensive and up-to-date online or in the IZY.

EDIT: I think CGSwans hits the nail on the head.
 
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Giant Panda said:
As a counterbalance to snowleopard's post, I thought the first edition was more a caution against self-publishing than a serious attempt to objectively rank zoos. Given that this opinion is largely shared by European enthusiasts, I can't see an updated version (bad pun now included) selling particularly well. Perhaps that'll put the whole silly exercise to rest.

The long and short: if you have £30 to spend on a zoo book, there are many superior alternatives.
Click to expand...

Yes, I rather think that any enthusiasm for the book is actually misplaced enthusiasm for a European zoo book itself. I refer to it a bit but only for lack of an alternative.

I also suspect it's not quite right to say it lists Europe's "best" 80 zoos, since the author's criteria was based on attendance, except where it suited better to base it on something else.
 
Just to say that if UK buyers want to purchase this book then the IZES will be one of only two authorised sellers in the UK(though no-one here has copies yet).Obviously the cost of mailing books these days makes it much more economical to buy from your own country.We will notify this thread when we have copies.
 
CGSwans said:
Yes, I rather think that any enthusiasm for the book is actually misplaced enthusiasm for a European zoo book itself. I refer to it a bit but only for lack of an alternative.
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Even though I sometimes appear to love the original Sheridan book if one looks at my ZooChat posts, it is due to the fact that there is simply not an alternative European zoo book that comprehensively lists the major zoological facilities across the continent. Time for someone to write one!
 
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snowleopard said:
If anyone wanted to tour the 80 best zoos across Europe then they need look no further than that publication.
Click to expand...

Given the list of which collections were to be covered was decided upon on the grounds of attendance numbers, rather than quality, I would certainly contest this; even in my rather limited experience of continental collections, I would say that Zoo Magdeburg and Alpenzoo Innsbruck (collections omitted from the first two books, and almost certainly omitted from this new volume) are both better collections than Tiergarten Nuremberg in my opinion!

His ranking system is rather disputable, too :p I will never accept that ZSL London is a better collection than Tierpark Berlin, nor that Leipzig is the second-best collection in Europe.

snowleopard said:
Even though I sometimes appear to love the original Sheridan book if one looks at my ZooChat posts, it is due to the fact that there is simply not an alternative European zoo book that comprehensively lists the major zoological facilities across the continent. Time for someone to write one!
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Thing is, it isn't comprehensive given the fact that - to the best of my knowledge - Sheridan hasn't actually visited any collections which don't fit the attendance numbers he wants to write about! Given the press release pertaining to his 2015 ranking update noted that Sheridan has visited a total of 120 zoological collections, it may be more accurate to say he ONLY visits the collections whose attendance numbers are high enough for him to deem them worthy. This may allow his list to give a decent impression of the most popular collections in Europe, but by no means the *best* collections. Specialist collections like Alpenzoo and Living Coasts will never be discussed or visited by Sheridan - much to his loss - despite the fact that they are just as laudable as the impressive big-hitters.

I definitely agree with you that a comprehensive zoo book for Europe is sorely needed, however - perhaps we need to assemble a wonder-team of Zoochatters to write such a tome ;)
 
snowleopard said:
...does anyone have the inside scoop on this edition and what new zoos are now included in his statistical analysis?
Click to expand...

The ranking lists in the new book include twenty-three additional zoos that did not feature in the previous lists.

Group A

• Loro Parque
• Paris

Group B

• Beekse Bergen
• Kristiansand

Group C

• Athens
• Boras
• Cerza Lisieux
• Fauna Madrid
• Kerkrade
• Liberec
• Torino
• Veszprem

Group D (this is a new category)

• Brasov
• Bucharest
• Kaunas
• Kosice
• Palic
• Tirgu-Mures

Group E (this is a new category)

• Aachen
• Landau
• Neuwied
• Nordhorn
• Rheine
 
TeaLovingDave said:
he ONLY visits the collections whose attendance numbers are high enough for him to deem them worthy.
(...)
Specialist collections like Alpenzoo and Living Coasts will never be discussed or visited by Sheridan
Click to expand...

You found a hole in the market. :) There is now lots of information about big zoos in big cities. However, I am still finding overlooked little collections with unusual good exhibits or rare species. It does not mean that every single small zoo needs to be covered or visited, of course.

Besides, there is a book about all zoos in German-speaking countries, but a bit strange that nobody published a book about all British zoos?.
 
Tim May said:
The ranking lists in the new book include twenty-three additional zoos that did not feature in the previous lists.

Group A

• Loro Parque
• Paris

Group B

• Beekse Bergen
• Kristiansand

Group C

• Athens
• Boras
• Cerza Lisieux
• Fauna Madrid
• Kerkrade
• Liberec
• Torino
• Veszprem

Group D (this is a new category)

• Brasov
• Bucharest
• Kaunas
• Kosice
• Palic
• Tirgu-Mures

Group E (this is a new category)

• Aachen
• Landau
• Neuwied
• Nordhorn
• Rheine
Click to expand...

Thanks. There's some in that list that are, as far as I'm aware, completely off Zoochat's radar. I suspect that most, though not all, of the additions are based on where Sheridan has recently travelled, hence the strong representation this time around from Eastern Europe.

Has the overall quality of the zoo reviews improved at all?
 
what are the groups (A to E) representing? I'm sure I've been told on another thread before, but I can't remember (although I do have the word "arbitrary" floating around in my head). Further, how are there two new groups since the last book and what are they for?
 
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