Best and worst local zoo exhibits

Zoo Planckendael (Muizen - Mechelen, Belgium):
- Best: South American aviary with Humboldt penguins, Chilean flamingos and other South American birds, Asian elephant facility, Kordofan giraffe savanna exhibit
- Worst: European area with raccoon, badger and rabbit exhibits and aviary with owls, waldrapp and beaver exhibit [The exhibits aren't substandard, the area is just old and ugly and really a shame on the park], Asiatic lion exhibit (too small), second giant anteater yard (very small)

Zoo Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium):
- Best: Savanna aviary with Cape buffalos and many birds, aquarium building, marabou, vulture and waldrapp aviary next to the hippo house, some parts of the reptile house (Komodo dragons, mixed terraria, caiman/turtle exhibit, amphibian/small reptile and venomous areas)
- Worst: Old bird-of-prey aviaries (fairly small and ugly), small monkey house (apart from the mandrills the exhibits are all indoors and some are pretty small), indoor ape holding exhibits in the ape house (ugly, luckily the apes now have large outdoor exhibits as well as their indoor exhibits in the "sunrooms" in the complex), old cat cages and former tiger exhibit now housing coatis, African spurred tortoise yard in the winter garden of the reptile house
 
Burger's Zoo

Best:
- Desert, a unique display in the Netherlands (and to my knowledge one of the very few, if not only. desert halls in Europe?) both visually and species-wise a treat for any zoofanatic.
- Ocean, the shark tank is truly incredible with how large it is and the large living coral reef as well is fantastic.

Worst:
- The lion and cheetah enclosures feel too old and extremely outdated. It's nothing more then a square fenced in with 5 meter tall chain link and a grassy lay-out.
- With some pain I gotta admit that the old pheasantry is getting indeed too old. It doesn't stand up to what the zoo currently is like with their ecodisplays.
 
"ZoOtAmPa At" Lowry Park (there was no need to rename it): Best would be the African Safari, specifically Ituri Forest in my opinion. It's pretty immersive and I love the species displayed. Worst is Primate World. By far. It's one of the older exhibits and it's a confusing mess that even I can't navigate after so many visits and volunteering gigs there.

Florida Aquarium: I adore the large freshwater aviary. Worst is probably the small saltwater exhibits, they just look like basic private aquariums.

Tarpon Springs Aquarium: Best is the main Caribbean tank. Worst is the clownfish tank at the end of some random hallway in the building. The moray eel tank is a very close second.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium: Best is Mavis' Hideaway. Worst is Dolphin Terrace, it's an old rehab pool currently holding one male bottlenose dolphin (Nicholas) in solitary confinement in a very small and barren tank. Clearwater hasn't done any dolphin rescues in a while because they ran out of room after rehabilitating Summer the Atlantic spotted dolphin and sending her to Dolphin Research Center.

SeaWorld Orlando: Best in my opinion would be Dolphin Cove (pre-renovation, the new pool is boring and barren, and there's like five dolphins in it now out of the capacity of about 14. The nursery is way too overcrowded). Worst is the alligator exhibit.

Busch Gardens Tampa: Best for me would be the hippo exhibit, worst is probably the bat aviary in Jungala.

EPCOT: Best is by far the main exhibit, I even did the SCUBA dive at one point. Worst is the manatee exhibit, it's kinda small for the two they have.
 
British Wildlife Centre.
Best: Barn and Hedgerow buildings, Red Squirrel Walkthrough.
Worst: Buzzard aviary.

Chester.
Best: Monsoon Forest, Tropical Realm (still magical despite its age), Bat Cave.
Worst: Aquarium (notwithstanding the quality of the aquascaping or the breeding work done there.)

Whipsnade.
Best: Brown Bear enclosure (again despite its age.)
Worst: Passage Through Asia (inbred herds of conservationally unimportant animals; a wasted opportunity.)
 
Taman Safari:
Best: Istana Panda (Panda Castle). The exhibit is spacious and providing lots of privacy for the pandas.
Worst: Baby Zoo animal photography area. I still can't believe such a cruel practice for the cubs still exist.
 
Cabarceno:
Best: Hard to decide! My favorite definitely is the Common hippopotamus exhibit, big lake, big grazing paddock, nice landscaping with the common zebra exhibit in front and good viewing opportunities. Honorable mentions to the elephant/water buffalo/lechwe exhibit.
Worst: Definitely the farm area. Small pens with cement floors, boring for the animals. Just bad.
 
Houston zoo...best:chimps and gorilla house,whole reptile house,elephants,bears,-worst-okapi(not that bad),horn bill.
Moody gardens rain forest -Best:giant river otter,and walk in jungle pyramid...it was awesome!!! -worst:i wasn't a fan of the komodo dragon exhibit...but it was pretty normal compared to most zoos.
Little Rock Zoo-Best:African building(naked mole rats,cheetahs,fire skink,etc.)farm yard petting zoo ,lions,tigers,gorilla......worst:small cats,bears,small mammal area....these were a little outdated and seemed small and empty for most of the species...like the grizzly bears,sloth bears, and sun bears. they had a beautiful baby sloth bear that made the whole trip worth it!!!
 
The Detroit Zoo doesn’t have many bad exhibits, but they usually don’t get a lot of viewers.
Best: Polk Penguin Conservation Center, Arctic Ring of Life, Great Apes of Harambee, National Amphibian Conservation Center, Grizzly Bear Exhibit.
Worst: Guanaco Exhibit (not enough visitors), Farm, Warthogs (mostly all dirt and way to large).
The Guanaco needs to be replaced by either a one species, or multiple exhibits to attract more visitors. The farm could fill the old horse exhibit with either a domestic species, or take down the fence for a new small exhibit. The Warthogs could use more grass and a tree, less tunnels, and maybe even a new species of antelope to keep them company.
 
Yi Qi said:
Doesn't their exhibit also have rheas, fallow deer, crested screamers, and vultures*, or did they get rid of them?

*And apparently the flamingos and white storks have access to it too.
Click to expand...
The Guanacos share their exhibit with rheas, pelicans, and an African Spurred Tortoise. There is an enclosure next to it with sandhill cranes, storks, and vultures. The Chilean flamingos were moved in with the Greater Flamingos in the African Grasslands. I don’t know about the screamers.
 
Copenhagen Zoo

Best: The African Savanna (White Rhinos, Hippos, Giraffes, Impala, Sabel Antelope, Guinea Fowl, Ostrich, Blesbok & Meerkats)

Tasmania area (Tasmanian devil area, Wombat and Roo’s)

Worst:
Chimpanzee (only indoor)
And small monkey house.. very old!

Brown bear exhibit is too small and sad. Really need an upgrade.

Odense Zoo

Aldabra house is the best i’ve see yet!
African birds aviary is quite nice.
Red panda and muntjac exhibit.

Worst:
Pigtail macaque exhibit! Its fairly new but really sad(in the old giraffe house)
Cali sealion.. oldest part in the park.
The macaws exhibit!


Ree safari Park

Best: Savanna area! Spacious and interesting mix of species.
Bongo exhibit is beautiful at the edge of a forest.

Worst:
Sandcat looked like a minimum effort of an exhibit! Poor standard!
Giant Anteater exhibit was small and weirdly placed in the lemur island area.
 
Blake Varga said:
The Detroit Zoo doesn’t have many bad exhibits, but they usually don’t get a lot of viewers.
Best: Polk Penguin Conservation Center, Arctic Ring of Life, Great Apes of Harambee, National Amphibian Conservation Center, Grizzly Bear Exhibit.
Worst: Guanaco Exhibit (not enough visitors), Farm, Warthogs (mostly all dirt and way to large).
The Guanaco needs to be replaced by either a one species, or multiple exhibits to attract more visitors. The farm could fill the old horse exhibit with either a domestic species, or take down the fence for a new small exhibit. The Warthogs could use more grass and a tree, less tunnels, and maybe even a new species of antelope to keep them company.
Click to expand...

Yi Qi said:
Doesn't their exhibit also have rheas, fallow deer, crested screamers, and vultures*, or did they get rid of them?

*And apparently the flamingos and white storks have access to it too.
Click to expand...

Blake Varga said:
The Guanacos share their exhibit with rheas, pelicans, and an African Spurred Tortoise. There is an enclosure next to it with sandhill cranes, storks, and vultures. The Chilean flamingos were moved in with the Greater Flamingos in the African Grasslands. I don’t know about the screamers.
Click to expand...
I visited Detriot last Friday and on that visit the Guanaco shared its exhibit with Fallow Deer, Pink-backed Pelicans, and a Greater Rhea.
 
Toronto Zoo:
Best: Either the baboon or polar bear exhibit (both well-designed in relation to the species they hold)
Worst: Orangutan exhibit (thankfully, an outdoor exhibit is in the works)

African Lion Safari:
Best: Drive-through portion (large areas to roam, aquedate shelter)
Worst: Black lemur enclosure (Barren, small cage)

Safari Niagara:
Best: Lions (an expanded enclosure in comparison to their former holding)
Worst: Most of the small cat exhibits (a bit too small for them)
 
Marwell Zoo:
Best: Tropical House, with good education facilities and different levels through the house. Huge variety of animals as well.
Worst: Almost all of the small primate enclosures, they are way too small and very old.
Longleat Safari Park:

Best: Half Mile Lake, except for the Gorillas who are very out of the way so barely visable.
Worst: Animal Adventure, where you can't walk through without being face to face with a parrot that never moves, also it is quite complicated to get around.

London Zoo:
Best: Into Africa. Into Africa offers all of the animals you would expect but with a lot better viewing experience. You can always see the animals wherever they are.
Worst: Nightlife. I jave been unable to see many animals in nightlife as the room is so dark. I understand that the animals need the dark but there must be another way to let people see them.

Although not local these zoos are some of my favourites relatively near me.

Whipsnade Zoo:
Best:Brown Bear Exhibit. The Bears are always running around and playing in their enclosure and south the elevated viewing you can see them do everything clearly.
Worst: Passage through Asia. You can only see it in a car which you then have to take around with you and constantly get out. The animals there are quite common in zoos so it isnt worth the effort. There is space on the walk past the elephants which would be a much more accessible location.

Exmoor Zoo:
Best: The deer exhibit, not because of the animals but because of how it's laid out. The viewing area is out of the way overlooking the deer with loads of space to sit, stand or just observe them.
Worst: The Marmoset House. It is very small with not many marmoset in it. The exhibit is quite old as well.
 
My local zoo: Los Angeles Zoo, someone else before me listed the same ones but I wanted to add on a couple more.

Best: The LAIR, Rainforest of the Americas, Elephants of Asia, Campo Gorilla Reserve, Francois Langur stilt house

Worst: Lion exhibit, Stellar’s Sea Eagle exhibit, Hippo exhibit, Mountain Bongo exhibit
 
So, my local zoo is Wrocław now. I would say that I love Pallas's cat, Clouded leopard and Eurasian lynx enclosures. I couldn't decide which is the best for me. Clouded leopard is perfect planted, spacious and well designed. I think it's ideal for the species which caused problems with pairing.

I really dislike a cage for Gibbons near Monkey House. And I think the new exhibit for Snow leopards also should be better designed for cats which loves jumping and are very active. I think it could also be bigger. When there were a conflict between a new pair, a male (dominated by a female) didn't have its own enclosure and space, so he was really stressed.
 
My local zoo is Henry Vilas Zoo. In my opinion, the Polar Bear and Grizzly Bear enclosures are the best in the zoo. The worst enclosure in the zoo is for the Bactrian Camel.
 
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