Also I can think of at least four other popular members on this forum on the spectrum, so if you ever feel isolated based on that know there’s more of us here than you think 
Any Zoos you plan on visiting next year?
- Thread starter Yi Qi
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- new year's
It was tentatively announced as Rostock at Zoohistorica 2019 but I've heard nothing to firm this up since.
Nothing on the website either.......
Congratulations!Getting married in March - no zoos -
I unfortunately don't have any wise words of wisdom so I'll just agree with everyone else in that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes. Plus if nothing else, we’ll all miss your amazing photography.
Luke da Zoo nerd
Well-Known Member
Indeed. Your photography should be on the front of a National Geographic magazine!
Also I can think of at least four other popular members on this forum on the spectrum, so if you ever feel isolated based on that know there’s more of us here than you think
I’m not sure I’d count as a popular member but I’m on the spectrum too as I’ve mentioned in specific threads. I have found that working through things with a good therapist really, really helped. There are still struggles and there always will be and I hope @KevinB won’t be too discouraged, we are all struggling with different aspects of things and there can be strategies and processes to help, I promise. Zoos can bring us so much pleasure but also stress, anxiety, sensory overload and more. But please don’t lose sight of the positives.
During January 2020 my wife and I will be taking a Caribbean Cruise with stops in Colombia and Dominican Republic. At Cartagena, Columbia we will visit the small Oasis Nature Park at the cruise ship docks and visit the nearby National Aviary. At Santa Marta we will visit the Aquario Marino. In the Dominican Republic we stop at Santo Domingo and will visit both Domzoo and the National Aquarium.
On the subject of zoos I got Artis membership for Christmas and I’ll be in the Netherlands a lot so I’ll be going to more Dutch zoos and some Belgian ones too. On the other hand I might be actually living in northern Sweden so my non-Dutch zoo visiting will probably be limited.
A odd little story, this morning I woke up with the tragic news of the fire at Krefeld Zoo, which is located just across the boarder of the Netherlands. My dad also picked up on this news and got interested in what the zoo was about and stuff and decided we may give it a visit this weekend.
So possibly my first zoo visit of the year will be to Zoo Krefeld. A first time visit for me, however not one with all bright thoughts due to the fire that occured.
So possibly my first zoo visit of the year will be to Zoo Krefeld. A first time visit for me, however not one with all bright thoughts due to the fire that occured.
Well, since 2020 plans are being talked about, here’s mine:
- a second edition of the Holland tour myself, @Nisha, @MagpieGoose and our friend not on the forum did in April, this time in June. Zoos on the docket are Planckendael, a revisit to Zie-ZOO, a possible revisit to Best (if their building works are done by then) and if not Overloon, GaiaZOO, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Dierenrijk, Amersfoort, Wildlands, Avifauna, Stichting Schildpaddencentrum, and a revisit to Pairi Daiza.
- a short trip to Denmark: Copenhagen, Den Bla Planet and Krokodille Zoo
- a possible stint in Germany with MagpieGoose again: Hagenbeck, Walsrode, Hannover, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Frankfurt and Wilhelma
- a possible revisit to Czechia with said friend not on Zoochat - doing Prague, Plzen and maybe Jihlava
- a trip to Scotland to do Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh Butterfly House, Highland Wildlife Park, Scottish Owl Centre, and Lakeland Wildlife Oasis and Lake District Wildlife Park on the way up there. With a bunch of different people on and off this forum.
- a potential trip to Ireland with workmates; Dublin, Fota and Belfast are definitely on the list, but we’re considering adding Tayto and Wild Ireland.
As far as local travel is concerned, I’m being dragged to Monkey World at some point in the year, and I have a friend from the Netherlands visiting the UK for the first time so we will be doing London, Bristol, Howletts, Twycross and Chester together
A lot of the above are tentative - only the Dutch friend visiting and the second Dutch zoo tour are confirmed, with Denmark being almost finished with booking and planning.
In addition to the above plans, some plans for various other UK spots are coming to light - Crocodiles of the World and Twycross are both being done over the next week. I received a WWT membership this Christmas so I am hoping to visit each of the WWT centres across the UK this year!
Luke da Zoo nerd
Well-Known Member
Indeed. It's not anything to make a fuss about.
As a fellow person on the spectrum (I don’t have full blown autism, I have Asperger’s) I can completely understand why you would want to be careful not to upset people with your behaviour, but here’s something even more crucial. Whilst having self-awareness is great (especially if you’re on the spectrum!) we are well known for having our “special interest”. And if zoos, and particularly zoo photography, are that to you then don’t, by any means, stop it. All it does is lead to further issues emotionally down the line!
Just take a break for a month or so, maybe visit Antwerp and or Planckendael a couple times during that period, and get back into visiting other zoos further afield when you’re ready!
Also, if these people you visit zoos with regularly know you at all, they should be willing to help you get through these bumps in the road! Talking to your therapist sounds like a great idea; work out some strategies to get over these mood swings or at least to minimise them
I am happy to hear that I am not alone. I'm trying to not be discouraged and to think of the positive experiences I've had at zoos (even at Antwerp, even last Monday) and about why I love animals, zoos and photography. Right now I'm still feeling tired and a little down about what happened, but I am also beginning to think of ways to move on from this and to deal better with the things I struggle with. There's not fixing what is wrong with me, but I can hopefully learn to manage things better. For the moment I'm trying to regain some energy and once I do I am going to try and work on some recent zoo pictures as well as on some solutions.
I'm not going to ban myself from zoos, although it seems likely at this point I probably won't be going again for a while. I need to work on some things and need to learn to not get upset as easily over disrespectful people, as I will meet them again.
Right now I am not going to make any zoo plans for 2020 as I don't know how things will develop from here, and if the opportunity were to present itself for the first visit of the new year, I am not sure whether I should or would take it. However I will at some point be going to a zoo again, hopefully somewhere in the coming months.
All I want to say right now is that zoos that are on my wish list are, besides Antwerp and Planckendael, Burgers' Zoo, Avifauna, Blijdorp, Duisburg and Zie-Zoo. Gelsenkirchen, Wüppertal and Pairi Daiza are others that I am willing to visit again sometime. But we will have to see what will work out this year and at the moment that is all very uncertain.
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I don't know yet if I will travel this year and where but if I can one of the places I have been looking forward to go for a long time is Berlin so in that case Berlin Zoo and Tierpark are on my list
I also would like to travel to the UK, I went a few months ago to visit London Zoo and I also was in Liverpool but didn't have time to visit Chester Zoo so I feel like I must go back just for that
Of course there are plenty of zoos in my list but not that much money in my pocket haha
I also would like to travel to the UK, I went a few months ago to visit London Zoo and I also was in Liverpool but didn't have time to visit Chester Zoo so I feel like I must go back just for that
Of course there are plenty of zoos in my list but not that much money in my pocket haha
Apart from my usual, numerous visits to London Zoo, now I have Twycross membership I hope to visit some of the reciprocal zoos in the coming year, especially Paignton, Living Coasts, Bristol and maybe, finally, even a first ever visit to Chester!
And my plans have already changed, I shall be heading to Exmoor sooner rather than later...
My plans for 2020
I will no doubt visit at least 30 UK zoos I have visited before. I have almost run out of zoos within a 3 hour radius so very few can be done in a day trip now.
Definitely planned
Axe Valley (plus Monkeyworld for my girlfriend)
Prague plus another with my daughter (possibly Vienna if we go for long enough, otherwise Plsen)
Parc de Felins with friends ( plus the monkey place nearby)
Hopefully a few days either in Lake District or Scotland to go to New collections (only been to Edinburgh)
Other new places - West Midlands Safari Park, Hoo Farm, Jimmy's Farm, Noah's Ark, All things wild
I will no doubt visit at least 30 UK zoos I have visited before. I have almost run out of zoos within a 3 hour radius so very few can be done in a day trip now.
Definitely planned
Axe Valley (plus Monkeyworld for my girlfriend)
Prague plus another with my daughter (possibly Vienna if we go for long enough, otherwise Plsen)
Parc de Felins with friends ( plus the monkey place nearby)
Hopefully a few days either in Lake District or Scotland to go to New collections (only been to Edinburgh)
Other new places - West Midlands Safari Park, Hoo Farm, Jimmy's Farm, Noah's Ark, All things wild
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No ambitious plans for me. I'm hoping I'll get a decent job soon, then I can pay off my debts and take a trip to Dallas. I want to see the Dallas Zoo, the Fort Worth Zoo, and the Dallas World Aquarium. If I don't make it to that, well, I'll at least be able to get to Houston and finally see the new Texas wetlands exhibit, and the revamped Moody Garden aquarium pyramid in Galveston. (every time I try to go something comes up!) I wish I knew when the Pantanal exhibit at the Houston Zoo opens so I could wait until then to make my visit.
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
I probably won't do much traveling for zoos specifically because I have students loans to pay off and Masters programs :') I'll at least be visiting the Dallas World Aquarium, and I'm planning on visiting Memphis while I'm there for work in March. Toronto, Woodland Park, Bronx, Sacramento, and San Antonio are all possibilities while I'm visiting potential Masters programs, though I don't count on most of them happening. And a friend wants to visit Henry Doorly, Potawatomi, Indianapolis, and Henry Vilas this year but again most of those probably won't happen.