One last time, thanks again for all of the accolades everyone! It means more than you will ever know.
I personally think that one could perhaps add Jacksonville, arguably the "best" of the big zoos to miss out on a spot. I would have swapped in Jacksonville for either Tampa or even White Oak.
Jacksonville was a viable contender for the list, but quite frankly it looks a bit bland. A very good zoo with some standout exhibits like the South American and African Forest areas, but it lacks character and significant rarities being rather ABC focused. Perhaps in a few years when they finish that cool looking manatee tank I'd have a change of heart.
With that said, in between the start of this thread and now Tampa opened its new panther complex which looks so genuinely awful it's enough to make me question if I should have put it on this thread to begin with. Perhaps that seems overly harsh, but it's definitely one of the more interchangeable selections.
It is interesting that there was no slot for a diverse reptile zoo of any kind, although some of the big zoos (Omaha, Dallas, Fort Worth, Saint Louis, San Diego, etc.) already have massive collections of cold-blooded critters. St. Augustine would obviously count, but it is very heavy on crocodilians. A little-known establishment that could have sneaked into the list would be Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, South Dakota. I made a detailed species list during my 2014 visit and ended up with around 130 on-show reptiles and amphibians, with a rumored 90+ more behind the scenes. Also, that zoo's 'Sky Dome' opened in 1965 and it is arguably the very first walk-through rainforest building in an American zoo.
I forgot that Reptile Gardens existed! That would be another great pick for a reptile zoo, possibly a better pick than MToxins.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm made the list to represent crocodilians., other good candidates in the herp space would be the new Iguanaland in Punta Gorda and The Reptarium in Utica MI. maybe Gatorland in Orlando.
Also for reptile zoos, isn’t there Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland? I heard some fine things about it.
I never seriously considered any reptile parks minus St. Augustine. The enclosure quality at Reptile Gardens and Reptileland looks questionable to say the least and downright abysmal to say the most. The collections are definitely very large, but as
@snowleopard said there are several major zoos that have collections of a similar magnitude, often in much better exhibits. I have heard good things about Iguanaland, but being so recent it has yet to really cement itself in the American zoo landscape. I will add that I do think MToxins look really intriguing and I encourage everyone to read the profile put together by
@birdsandbats on his zoos of Wisconsin thread
here.
I truly do not understand why white oak was included and fossil rim wasn't.
There's definitely an argument to be made here, as it's easy to compare these two facilities. As I mentioned, The Wilds and Northwest Trek both have extensive drive-through portions, and what makes White Oak a bit more unique is that you aren't driving through hundred acre pastures, rather stopping at many points to really interact with many of its residents. I recall a big critique of White Oak when I first included it was that you could see most of its species elsewhere, but it doesn't appear like any of the species on display at Fossil Rim are entirely unique either. It looks like a great place though, and in total honesty if White Oak didn't recently bring in the ringling elephants I don't think I would have put it on the list to begin with, so maybe it would have had a chance.
Thinking about what's not represented, or represented only sparingly, the biggest thing is major bird collections. You've got two specialist collections (I know Sylvan Heights has more than just waterfowl, but it's definitely what it's known for), and a couple of general zoos with notable bird collections. But I'm tempted to give a spot to Tracy Aviary, or even perhaps San Antonio to even that up a little.
The National Aviary was dismissed quickly as none of its exhibits look very innovative or even all that good to begin with. The Tracy Aviary on the other hand looks much nicer and I definitely think you could make a case for its inclusion. I do think Sylvan Heights is the overall strongest bird park that the United States has to offer, which imo made it a no brainer for this top 50.
With five Texas zoos already on the list, three already being large traditional zoos, San Antonio was always a tad lower on the totem pole than the other major collections in the state. By comparison, it's a bit scruffy with less impressive exhibitry, but the bird and herp collections are admittedly really good. I do think it has a very bright future a head of itself and the various smaller upgrades it has done have been excellent (
@nczoofan uploaded some great pictures showing how much the zoo has improved with minimal resources), so maybe in a few more years it would be more likely to crack the list.
He says, having given the final slot to a collection with only 15 species
even if it is a rather nice collection and some VERY nice species!
Yes, but the International Crane Foundation already holds every possible species that fits its core purpose. The Alaska SeaLife Center's collection still has room to grow and has yet to reach its full potential. I'm not suggesting anything crazy like belugas, but if there was an opportunity to add sea otters and the like that would be very good.
a certain Thread of the Year finalist - you might have to recuse yourself!
I see
@lintworm is already sending his undercover operatives in an attempt to guarantee the win this year. Nice try! If people insist on voting for my thread, then who am I to get in their way?
In all seriousness, as flattering as it is that this is a possibility, I have a gut feeling that
@lintworm will likely reign victorious for a third time. A) His thread is an entirely unique idea while mine is a variation of his initial concept (and I'm already planning to do the same to his current project
), and B) European based threats have proven to be dominant every year. Who knows though, there is still a long ways to go until we get to the competition. Let's see what everyone can do!
