A map of British (and Irish) zoos

I see that you have Living Coast down twice, I am assuming that 1 should be Paignton Zoo.
 
devilfish said:
Thank you all for the pointers, additions and updates. I'll update the map once I'm back with my laptop.

Maguari got there before me.

Does the donkey sanctuary house anything other than donkeys? Any exotics or wild animals?
I've not been keen to include collections which only house domestic animals, including many farm parks, children's zoos and sanctuaries.
It sounds like that map may have been useful - a shame I never came across it.
Click to expand...

Apologies on the collections that actually had animals. I couldn't see them on their websites, but it was a cursory look. And yes I realise that Monkey World etc are in Dorset! Slip of the keyboard.

Suspect the donkey sanctuary only has domestics (if not just equines), so if your list isn't including domestic-only then you could ignore it.

Wish I could have found the map again too as it was very interesting and didn't require replication. Not sure if there is a search function on FB that allows you to search a particular post. I think it was earlier this this year.
 
A noteworthy task,when i did my book on British zoos a few years ago what should and should not be included was quite a dilemma.And im bound to say that many on that map of tetrapods should not really qualify,for instance Farmer Parr`s in Fleetwood..its has wallabies,maybe a rhea(this was a while ago),and ive set foot on the premises(to have a breakfast)..but i dont include it on my lifetime list and i didnt consider it to be sufficient for my book.Perhaps some downgrading by colour would be useful.
And it would appear that the town of Todmorden(which had a grammar school boasting two Nobel Prize winners plus myself of course) is now known as "Great Britain"! Notwithstanding that point it has a small tropical house in its park..as does Halifax(Manor Heath),Leeds also has Pudsey Park which has an aquarium and an aviary.
And when youve finished that task old boy...how about one for places that USED to exist?
 
Tim Brown said:
A noteworthy task,when i did my book on British zoos a few years ago what should and should not be included was quite a dilemma.And im bound to say that many on that map of tetrapods should not really qualify,for instance Farmer Parr`s in Fleetwood..its has wallabies,maybe a rhea(this was a while ago),and ive set foot on the premises(to have a breakfast)..but i dont include it on my lifetime list and i didnt consider it to be sufficient for my book.Perhaps some downgrading by colour would be useful.
And it would appear that the town of Todmorden(which had a grammar school boasting two Nobel Prize winners plus myself of course) is now known as "Great Britain"! Notwithstanding that point it has a small tropical house in its park..as does Halifax(Manor Heath),Leeds also has Pudsey Park which has an aquarium and an aviary.
And when youve finished that task old boy...how about one for places that USED to exist?
Click to expand...

Thanks Tim.
Quite a few of those on that map don't have any exotic animals or are closed to the public.

There was a map on the Bartlett Society website for closed collections - I think it's no longer accessible after the Google Maps update, but it might be a simple matter of them re-uploading the data. (Closed collections - The Bartlett Society)
 
To personalise the map further I've got to categorise the listings.

I'm considering the following categories, but any advice or amendments would be appreciated:

Minor/incidental collection or aviary
Medium zoo
Major zoo
Vivarium/Reptile collection
Bird collection/rescue centre
Native wildlife collection/rescue centre
Primate collection/rescue centre
Farm park
Butterfly farm
Aquarium
Sea Life Aquarium
Falconry centre
Safari Park
 
devilfish said:
To personalise the map further I've got to categorise the listings.

I'm considering the following categories, but any advice or amendments would be appreciated:

Minor/incidental collection or aviary
Medium zoo
Major zoo
Vivarium/Reptile collection
Bird collection/rescue centre
Native wildlife collection/rescue centre
Primate collection/rescue centre
Farm park
Butterfly farm
Aquarium
Sea Life Aquarium
Falconry centre
Safari Park
Click to expand...

Although I can understand the need for it, I would be a bit concerned that your divisions are a little 'in the eye of the beholder'. How do you split medium and major zoos? Aquariums separate from Sea Life Centres? Some Safari Parks would get easily confused with run-of-the-mill zoo collections (is Whipsnade a safari or a zoo?). Some collections may be mostly falconry with some common zoo animals or other bird aviaries... Difficult decision.
 
tetrapod said:
Although I can understand the need for it, I would be a bit concerned that your divisions are a little 'in the eye of the beholder'. How do you split medium and major zoos? Aquariums separate from Sea Life Centres? Some Safari Parks would get easily confused with run-of-the-mill zoo collections (is Whipsnade a safari or a zoo?). Some collections may be mostly falconry with some common zoo animals or other bird aviaries... Difficult decision.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. There's going to be a lot of ambiguity and I've already cut down on several categories to try and minimise it. These will be referring to the main collection content; so a falconry centre with a couple of mammals is still a falconry centre, and a butterfly farm can still have an aviary or two and stay in that category.
I've not yet thought hard about it but a major zoo would probably be a large zoo (either in area or collection size) which could be considered among Europe's bigger players.
Any aquarium owned by Sea Life would come under Sea Life Centre, but I realise that this is apparent in the name so there's no real point in that category - thanks.
Safari parks would be those which have 'safari' in the name and are advertised as such; vehicle transport is a requirement to see most of the park (the majority involving drive-through enclosures) and pedestrians aren't allowed to walk around this area. I therefore wouldn't be counting places like Whipsnade or South Lakes Safari Zoo. Perhaps the 'Safari Park' label is also a little excessive, too?
 
devilfish said:
Absolutely. There's going to be a lot of ambiguity and I've already cut down on several categories to try and minimise it. These will be referring to the main collection content; so a falconry centre with a couple of mammals is still a falconry centre, and a butterfly farm can still have an aviary or two and stay in that category.
I've not yet thought hard about it but a major zoo would probably be a large zoo (either in area or collection size) which could be considered among Europe's bigger players.
Any aquarium owned by Sea Life would come under Sea Life Centre, but I realise that this is apparent in the name so there's no real point in that category - thanks.
Safari parks would be those which have 'safari' in the name and are advertised as such; vehicle transport is a requirement to see most of the park (the majority involving drive-through enclosures) and pedestrians aren't allowed to walk around this area. I therefore wouldn't be counting places like Whipsnade or South Lakes Safari Zoo. Perhaps the 'Safari Park' label is also a little excessive, too?
Click to expand...

Agree with most of the ideas. The only one I have a problem with is the major/minor zoo. There are plenty of smaller zoos that have very impressive collections despite not being one of the big players.
 
The map has been updated:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1ey3pgCd5MY.kM8cYgGmXbis&usp=sharing

I've decided on the following categories for now:
Zoo
Mini-zoo/aviary
Bird collection/rescue centre
Falconry centre
Deer park
Native wildlife collection/rescue centre
Aquarium
Farm Park


I was being very selective initially but decided to be a bit more open-minded about including more dubious attractions as the purpose of the map is to introduce people to nearby locations which may be of interest, rather than collections which would be acceptable in a list of zoos. The collections have been grouped according to their primary function (of interest), but this is often controversial. I've written brief explanations for some categories below:

Mini-zoo/aviary
Small zoos, ranging from single aviaries to very small collections. Typically these are not the main attraction (e.g. based in a theme park or the grounds of a stately home). I eventually decided to include tiny collections such as the pelicans in St James's Park or the Tower of London's ravens.

Deer park
I have only included those where deer have been introduced and are currently a feature aimed at visiting guests. I have also included any grounds with more than two deer species on site.

Farm Park
These are much more common than I thought, and I was very surprised at how frequently 'exotic' animals are kept. I decided that farm parks would be included if they had a reptile house, falconry centre or several exotic animals on-display. I haven’t included farm parks with just domestic animals (including domestic camelids) and pet rodents.

Native wildlife collection
I’ve included a few more dubious entries here, as many collections which focus on native wildlife include species from across Europe and temperate zones around the world.

Much of my information has come from websites, online photo galleries and social media, so it’s not as reliable as I’d like. Please feel free to suggest any alterations or additions. :)
 
devilfish said:
Deer park
I have only included those where deer have been introduced and are currently a feature aimed at visiting guests. I have also included any grounds with more than two deer species on site.
Click to expand...

In that case you may wish to include Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, as it has a deer park including Red, Fallow and Sika Deer.
 
I've just updated the map again.
I have submitted requests to various councils and governing bodies under the freedom of information act, but until I receive the desired information these are the discrete sources I've used:

- BIAZA members list
- zootierliste.de
- The map which tetrapod linked to: UK and Jersey Zoo Map - Navy: General Mixed; Lime Green: Farm Parks; Orange: Butterflies Only; Light Blue: Aquarium; Red: Birds of Prey; Grey: Birds Other; and, Pink: Other
- http://www.daysoutwithkids.co.uk/
- Google Maps (generic searches)
- A 2012 list of zoo licences in England

This last source has led to the addition of many farm parks which I had previously dismissed from the map which tetrapod found.

I think over 470 collections are now listed, but this seems pretty generous.

For most collections I've been able to work out whether they are open or closed to the public (albeit temporarily) but this has been surprisingly difficult for a cohort of [popular] tourist attractions.
One which surprised me, and which I'm not sure about, is 'Philip's Zoo' in Arundel Castle (http://www.arundelcastle.org/resour...ens Enhanced Animan Attraction - 08.05.13.pdf). There's not much else about it online - does anyone know if it's still open?
 
Thanks Chli! I had updated the map but forgot to comment.

I've just updated the map again - currently 478 collections are listed although some of these are yet to open to the public.

I was staggered to find that the map has been viewed almost 2,400 times!
I hope it's come in handy to those who've used it. :)
 
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