Following on from Devilfish's recent mapping exploits, I've spent a very enjoyable couple of evenings plotting the locations of all the collections that I've visited.
300+ Different Zoos Visited
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
Very impressive indeed! It amuses me to note that despite the vast number of collections you have visited - even including a small, run-down and pokey aviary in my hometown - I have nonetheless managed to visit at least eight collections you have yet to reach, one of which is now closed.
There will always be somewhere else to visit - at least I hope so: imagine if there were no new zoos to visit!
Out of interest, which are the seven collections?
Thought of two more I had missed, so the total appears to be 10: Vogelpark Olching, Krokodýlí Zoo Praha, Wildgehege Klovensteen, Klimahaus Bremerhaven 8°, Kirkleatham Owl Centre, Wild Animal Adventures (Stockton), Butterfly World Preston Park, Thirsk Birds Of Prey Centre, Thorp Perrow Arboretum and Skye Serpentarium.
Moscow for me too - it seems to be the standard photo opportunity for visiting zoo obsessives.
As of today I have been to 1371 zoological institutions during 2058 different zoo visits.
A full list can be seen online at this link: Les Zoos dans le Monde
It is regurlaly updated.
You can play around with the database and see the different visited institutions on a map and/or by categories: zoos, safaris, aquaria, etc.
I do include indeed many institutions that others may not include as, for example, shopping malls with aquarium tanks, educational farm with large collection of domestic animals, natural history museums with live displays, and so on but all these remain a minority on the total count.
The full count of "real" zoos is 486 institutions
+ 141 aquaria
+ 116 mini-zoos
+ 84 parks exhibiting local fauna (it doesn't only include typical german Wilpark but also American or Asian zoos with local fauna; California Living Museum (CALM) in Bakersfield made it to this category for example),
+ 66 birdparks
+ 45 reptiles zoos
+ 42 rescue centres opened for visitors
+ 40 natural history museums with live displays
+ 35 safari parks
+ 35 mini-aquaria
+ 281 additional institutions in 29 categories (butterfly house, bison park, dolphinarium, crocodile park, wolf park, otter park, elephant park and so on and so on)
;-)
What qualifies as a mini-zoo or mini aquaria?
It has to do with the scale of the animal collection on show and/or the volume of water as well as the number of tanks. I do not have fixed definitions... Check these lists to have a feeling about what I categorize as such: mini-zoos and mini-aquaria.
Now that several of us have had zoo trips around the globe in 2018, I know that the original list from 10 months ago is a little outdated.
Tim Brown has inched very close to 800 zoos
@robmv must be very close to 500 zoos
I've jumped up to exactly 421 zoos
@devilfish is probably only a few behind me at around 415 zoos
@sooty mangabey has hit the 390 mark
@ANyhuis is at around 330 zoos (and he doesn't tour the tiny ones like I do)
There must certainly be a number of others who have seen their totals move upwards. For me personally, I visited approximately 45 new zoos in 2017, another 45 new zoos in 2018 and there will hopefully be at least 50 new zoos in 2019. At that point I'll be around 475 zoos and I will relax for at least a couple of years before I either run out of finances or my wife runs out of patience. Ha! I married a saint!
Tim Brown has inched very close to 800 zoos
@robmv must be very close to 500 zoos
I've jumped up to exactly 421 zoos
@devilfish is probably only a few behind me at around 415 zoos
@sooty mangabey has hit the 390 mark
@ANyhuis is at around 330 zoos (and he doesn't tour the tiny ones like I do)
There must certainly be a number of others who have seen their totals move upwards. For me personally, I visited approximately 45 new zoos in 2017, another 45 new zoos in 2018 and there will hopefully be at least 50 new zoos in 2019. At that point I'll be around 475 zoos and I will relax for at least a couple of years before I either run out of finances or my wife runs out of patience. Ha! I married a saint!
devilfish
Well-Known Member
I'm now around 442
I love it! You give me someone to aim for and I hope that you consistently remain ahead of me so that you'll be like a carrot leading me on. Plus, the zoos that you visit are considerably more exciting than the Wisconsin hellholes that I've been to.
Too bad this isn't the 200 zoo club, which I'm knocking on the door of. Will have to wait a bit to hit 300. Although I usually don't visit zoos unless there's a lifer mammal present for me to see. For instance I've never even been to the Staten Island Zoo which is less than 1 hour away from where I live.
And because I can't resist I'll post a link for my zoos/national parks visited map:
Alexander Meyer's Zoo & National Park Map - Google My Maps
A great exercise that I'd truly recommend for anyone interested.
And because I can't resist I'll post a link for my zoos/national parks visited map:
Alexander Meyer's Zoo & National Park Map - Google My Maps
A great exercise that I'd truly recommend for anyone interested.
You guys need to get more creative with your maps 
I do different markers for aquarium or zoo and what type (IE basic aquarium is a fish, one with marine mammals is a dolphin), color code for size, you can color or marker code for # of visits or how much you liked it or if it's closed... you can also make different categories on the left to sort things, IE animal institutions vs national parks, so you can look at them combined or uncheck one to only look at parks or zoos...
@Giant Eland do you do the passport stamps at parks too?
I do different markers for aquarium or zoo and what type (IE basic aquarium is a fish, one with marine mammals is a dolphin), color code for size, you can color or marker code for # of visits or how much you liked it or if it's closed... you can also make different categories on the left to sort things, IE animal institutions vs national parks, so you can look at them combined or uncheck one to only look at parks or zoos...@Giant Eland do you do the passport stamps at parks too?
You guys need to get more creative with your maps
@Giant Eland do you do the passport stamps at parks too?
Haha I know, my map is very bland visually.
And no I never even thought to do passport stamps at the parks- only at the airports (except Australia who totally skips the whole stamp thing).
Dave looks like you only did Europe, when will you make the rest of your map?
I recently passed the 500 mark with Réserve Zoologique de la Haute Touche. It was nice to have such a fascinating place (if you like ungulates) for this milestone. The rest of the French trip, plus a couple of small places in the UK, have put me on 505 collections.
An updated list (for now!):
Jonas Livet - 1,400+ different zoos/aquariums
Tim Brown - 800
Harry Schram - 720 (sadly deceased in 2017)
MJB - 635
Talli - 550
Rob MV - 505
Wally War Eagle - 450
Devilfish - 442
Snow Leopard - 421 (Scott Richardson)
Tim May - 400
Alex Kantorovich - 396
Sooty Mangabey - 390
Maguari - 373 (Ben Gilbert)
Zoogiraffe - 365
Bernhard Blaszkiewiz - 350? (ex-Berlin Zoo director)
Allen Nyhuis - 330
Steve Taylor - 310? (ex-Cleveland Zoo director)
Mark Reed - 310? (ex-Sedgwick County Zoo director)
Jonas Livet - 1,400+ different zoos/aquariums
Tim Brown - 800
Harry Schram - 720 (sadly deceased in 2017)
MJB - 635
Talli - 550
Rob MV - 505
Wally War Eagle - 450
Devilfish - 442
Snow Leopard - 421 (Scott Richardson)
Tim May - 400
Alex Kantorovich - 396
Sooty Mangabey - 390
Maguari - 373 (Ben Gilbert)
Zoogiraffe - 365
Bernhard Blaszkiewiz - 350? (ex-Berlin Zoo director)
Allen Nyhuis - 330
Steve Taylor - 310? (ex-Cleveland Zoo director)
Mark Reed - 310? (ex-Sedgwick County Zoo director)
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