Best City for Zoos?

Which of the below is the best city for zoos?

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amur leopard

amur leopard

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
There's been a fair bit of discussion around which country is the best for zoos, but I was wondering if there is a particular city which is the best for zoos worldwide.

Singapore, NYC and Berlin are obvious choices, with other big ones being Chicago, San Diego, Atlanta, Paris, Valencia, Dallas and Madrid.
For this thread, only collections that are (relatively) easily accessible from the city in question count. For example, San Diego Zoo Safari park will count towards San Diego, Staten Island Zoo will count for NYC and Brookfield will count for Chicago.

Natural History Museums can count at your discretion :).
 
From a personal view, the most memorable ones for me would be Singapore and San Diego. Atlanta also was great, but it’s not the best city for zoos overall. I think a river safari, night safari, Jurong bird park and zoo all together though is pretty much impossible to beat. Only ones I’ve not visited is Berlin and Chicago, but I don’t think the latter is a better city for zoos. I don’t remember Tampa, Valencia or Madrid well. I was too young and didn’t visit every collection. If only London could compete...Singapore has my vote.
 
Apologies, I somehow forgot San Diego on the poll. Could a mod add it?

Azubaa said:
From a personal view, the most memorable ones for me would be Singapore and San Diego. Atlanta also was great, but it’s not the best city for zoos overall. I think a river safari, night safari, Jurong bird park and zoo all together though is pretty much impossible to beat. Only ones I’ve not visited is Berlin and Chicago, but I don’t think the latter is a better city for zoos. I don’t remember Tampa, Valencia or Madrid well. I was too young and didn’t visit every collection. If only London could compete...Singapore has my vote.
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Oh wow, you've been around! Fair enough - Singapore does seem quite unstoppable when you look at it on paper.

Shorts said:
Berlin for me, all day long.

Two great zoos (incorporating one great "aquarium") in a fantastic, historic, city with good, reasonably priced, public transport to put a number of other good zoos within easy reach.

Beat that! :D
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:D Fair enough. I remember Berlin (the city) more than the zoo (didn't go to the Tierpark) and I certainly agree that it is an amazing place with great public transport (one of the most important things for me given my family doesn't drive).
 
amur leopard said:
For this thread, only collections that are (relatively) easily accessible from the city in question count. For example, San Diego Zoo Safari park will count towards San Diego, Staten Island Zoo will count for NYC and Brookfield will count for Chicago.
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I think the difference here is that Staten Island is part of New York City and Brookfield is part of Chicago whereas SDZSP is in the city of Escondido which is within San Diego County but is not part of the city of San Diego :p ;)

New York and Berlin are the two big contenders as far as I'm concerned and it's pretty difficult to choose between them. I'm sure Singapore and Chicago are also heavy hitters but as I have not visited either (yet..) I won't be considering them. I'll have to think for a minute.

~Thylo
 
For me Singapore -> San Diego -> Berlin -> New York. Singapore just wins by five big zoological attractions: Zoo, Night Zoo, River Safari, Jurong Bird park, SEA Aquarium, and perhaps other ones. San Diego zoos are worse than Berlin, but the city wins due to the sea mammals and emperor penguins in the Sea World. New York gets honorary points due to the excellent AMNH, but its still behind.
 
Ok, well thanks to a lengthy discussion on Discord, the general consensus is that San Diego Zoo Safari Park is to be included within San Diego and Fort Worth Zoo is to be included within Dallas due to the heavy association between these two cities.
 
San Diego is beautiful city and a very strong candidate, but my vote will go to Berlin. Not only because of the fact, that has two of the best zoos in Europe.But also because of the close proximity of institutions, like Wildkatzenzentrum Felidae, Museum für Naturkunde, and even Magdeburg, Schoenebeck ,Halle or Leipzig. If you are prioritazing mammals (like me) feel like, this is the choice. If I am happy to reach Singapore in the future, this vote can change.
 
How could you not add Melbourne Australia with 3 world class collections.
 
I'd be curious to know how many of these cities have multiple "must visit" facilities in Zoochatters' opinions. The only glaringly obvious ones that fall in that category for me are Singapore, Berlin, and San Diego. Contrast that to cities with world-class aquaria and solid to very good but not "global top 10" zoos (Chicago, Atlanta, Valencia, even Dallas taking into account the uniqueness of the aquarium collection), or New York with one global top 10 zoo with limited (though nice) secondary zoos.
 
For me it’s a toss up between Dallas and New York (especially if we count Metro Areas and Natural History Museums)...Chicago would benefit there as well.

I think you’ve overlooked Seattle, Tokyo, and maybe Phoenix/Tucson? I know that last one is a stretch. I consider San Antonio as well maybe in the 2nd tier.
 
Pleistohorse said:
For me it’s a toss up between Dallas and New York (especially if we count Metro Areas and Natural History Museums)...Chicago would benefit there as well.

I think you’ve overlooked Seattle, Tokyo, and maybe Phoenix/Tucson? I know that last one is a stretch. I consider San Antonio as well maybe in the 2nd tier.
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Fair enough, Tokyo was mentioned before I set up this thread, and I get the impression that if Yokohama were to be included within the definition of Tokyo for this thread it would be a contender.

Seattle is an interesting one. I get the impression that it would be largely on par with a city like Tampa or Madrid although I may be wrong. Have I missed any or is there ‘just’ (:D) Woodland Park, Seattle Aquarium and potentially Cougar Mountain?

I agree that Tucson would be an interesting one to add, but I think making the link between the latter and Phoenix would be a bit of a stretch ;)
 
I just want to say not to overlook Chicago here. Shedd Aquarium is in a class of its own, and the Field Museum is one of the best natural history museums in North America, maybe even the world. Brookfield may have its shortcomings in exhibitry, but the zoo's collection is extremley impressive. Add in Lincoln Park and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and you have a real contender.

Chicago is also a great city for wildlife, if that counts toward this. How many other cities have a breeding population of species as endangered as Great Lakes Piping Plovers?
 
I agree that Chicago is a really great zoo city, but it falls behind some of the other places in my personal rankings as the two zoos can't compete with the San Diego's or even the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I would assume this would also be true for Berlin and Singapore. Shedd is definitely great, although I can't say I loved it as much as some; I loved the Field, it's a tremendous museum.

birdsandbats said:
Chicago is also a great city for wildlife, if that counts toward this. How many other cities have a breeding population of species as endangered as Great Lakes Piping Plovers?
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Singapore has wild Sunda Pangolins and Colugos:p.

Also worth pointing out that Great Lakes Piping Plovers aren't a species;), and Piping Plovers overall are only listed as NT.
 
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TZDugong said:
I agree that Chicago is a really great zoo city, but it falls behind some of the other places in my personal rankings as the two zoos can't compete with the San Diego's or even the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I would assume this would also be true for Berlin and Singapore. Shedd is definitely great, although I can't say I loved it as much as some; I loved the Field, it's a tremendous museum.


Singapore has wild Sunda Pangolins and Colugos:p.

Also worth pointing out that Great Lakes Piping Plovers aren't a species;), and Piping Plovers overall are only listed as NT.
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I know GL Piping Plovers are a subspecies. Piping Plovers over all might only be listed as Near Threatened, but if the Great Lakes subspecies was listed it would likely be CR.
 
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amur leopard said:
Fair enough, Tokyo was mentioned before I set up this thread, and I get the impression that if Yokohama were to be included within the definition of Tokyo for this thread it would be a contender.

Seattle is an interesting one. I get the impression that it would be largely on par with a city like Tampa or Madrid although I may be wrong. Have I missed any or is there ‘just’ :)D) Woodland Park, Seattle Aquarium and potentially Cougar Mountain?
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Well, if we look at “metro areas” of comparative size to greater Berlin, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, or even Singapore...I think that yes, Phoenix-Tucson is a stretch! Although if Escondido is being included with San Diego? No...I guess it’s still a stretch.

But Tokyo? Several aquariums and at least three zoos. Add Yokohama and you add more of each. Plus there is a natural history museum in Ueno Park.

Dallas-Fort Worth could reasonably include Fossil Rim in addition to the Metroplex Zoos, Museums, and Aquariums.

To Seattle I would add, Tacoma’s Point Defiance and Northwest Trek.

And the Field Museum’s collection is amazing...although I prefer the American Museum of Natural History.
 
Pleistohorse said:
Well, if we look at “metro areas” of comparative size to greater Berlin, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, or even Singapore...I think that yes, Phoenix-Tucson is a stretch! Although if Escondido is being included with San Diego? No...I guess it’s still a stretch.

But Tokyo? Several aquariums and at least three zoos. Add Yokohama and you add more of each. Plus there is a natural history museum in Ueno Park.

Dallas-Fort Worth could reasonably include Fossil Rim in addition to the Metroplex Zoos, Museums, and Aquariums.

To Seattle I would add, Tacoma’s Point Defiance and Northwest Trek.

And the Field Museum’s collection is amazing...although I prefer the American Museum of Natural History.
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Their taxidermy bird collection is incredible, as is their fossil collection. The holotype musk ox specimen is also pretty cool.
 
zooman said:
How could you not add Melbourne Australia with 3 world class collections.
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:eek: I hope your joking.

If we break down the collections within Melbourne they don’t even come close to any of the other places mentioned.

Melbourne Zoo- An ever shrinking collection with generally good exhibits.

Melbourne Aquarium- A great array of saltwater species but it’s freshwater section was overhauled and subsequently downgraded significantly in the Merlin rebuild.

Melbourne Museum- Considering that it’s a museum it has a good collection of live species in great exhibits. Although it’s taxidermy section is large some of the specimens don’t exactly look right (etc the marbled cat)

These are the only three facilities within an hours drive of the CBD, if you include the others this is what it looks like. These listed below aren’t part of Greater Melbourne or are on the outskirts of it. They are less than 3 hours drive.

Yarra Valley Nocturnal Zoo- I have no idea what this place looks like.

Werribee Zoo- Has some redeeming qualities such as decent exhibitry, but it’s confusing layout and small collection size hurt it. Closer to Geelong than Melbourne.

Gumbuya Park- is part of a theme park with a native animals section, I have never been here or seen pictures.

Healesville Sanctuary- Absolutely amazing place.

Maru Koala and Animal Park- Never been here but looks like it’s an ageing facility with a mediocre collection.

Phillip Island Wildlife Park- Awful enclosures that are overcrowded with unsuitable inhabitants.

Moonlit Sanctuary- Unarguably the best privately owned zoo in Melbourne although a little on the small side.

Ballarat Wildlife Park- Never been here, I want to go here, looks decent. Technically in Ballarat, not Melbourne area.


A few highlights but even those mostly pale in comparison to a single zoo in another country, not to mention that some of them are quite poor.
 
Pleistohorse said:
Well, if we look at “metro areas” of comparative size to greater Berlin, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, or even Singapore...I think that yes, Phoenix-Tucson is a stretch! Although if Escondido is being included with San Diego? No...I guess it’s still a stretch.

But Tokyo? Several aquariums and at least three zoos. Add Yokohama and you add more of each. Plus there is a natural history museum in Ueno Park.

Dallas-Fort Worth could reasonably include Fossil Rim in addition to the Metroplex Zoos, Museums, and Aquariums.

To Seattle I would add, Tacoma’s Point Defiance and Northwest Trek.

And the Field Museum’s collection is amazing...although I prefer the American Museum of Natural History.
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Oh thanks a lot for taking the time to do this. SDZSP was included into San Diego after a discussion before the thread was created, as was Dallas-Fort Worth. However, there was only a single mention of Tokyo so I didn’t really look into it, but now I’ll have a look. In all likelihood it’ll have more than enough quality to be in the top 5, let alone the top 10 given what you say :).

Thanks for the note on fossil rim. And as for Seattle, I think now that those other two collections are added, it might be sensible to add it onto the poll.

So thanks a lot!
 
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