Since there has been a lot of good-natured debate on the thread "Best Countries for Wildlife", I thought that I'd begin one in terms of continents and zoos. Which continent is the best in terms of captive wildlife?
Process of Elimination:
7- Antarctica: zero zoos, and so naturally in last place.
6- South America: quite a few small zoos, but not many noteworthy, large ones. Has anyone here at ZooBeat ever visited a zoo on this continent? A quick google search revealed that there are a number of wildlife parks and zoos, particularly in Brazil, Argentina and Venezeula, but surely none of them are world renowned or else we would be discussing them here on this forum.
5- Asia: many zoos, but often they are famous for being of poor quality. On the polar bear exhibit thread I posted a 200 page report on the conditions of polar bears in Japanese zoos and there were some shocking photos. China, Vietnam, Japan, Laos, India, etc have all been famous for how NOT to exhibit animals. As always there are exceptions to the rule...just look at Singapore! The Singapore Zoo is regarded as possibly one of the top ten zoos on the planet, the Jurong Bird Park is arguably the greatest display of captive birds in the world, and the Night Safari is a unique zoo that is only open at night. A wonderful trilogy of great Singapore parks, and many other Asian zoos are still improving.
4- Australia: the smallest continent, this island is the world's 6th largest nation and yet only has a population of 20 million. There are 4 main zoos (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth) and possibly 5 if one counts "Australia Zoo" up near Brisbane. Taronga Zoo in Sydney is magnificent and definitely one of the better zoos in the world, while Melbourne is also a top-notch establishment. Also, due to the gorgeous weather there are innumerable smaller wildlife parks all over the country.
3- Africa: there are many, many zoos and wildlife parks here. Some are world-renowned (the Johannesburg/Pretoria Zoos being two of them) but they are constantly overshadowed by the incredible diversity of life found all over Africa. Sure, at times 15 of the around 55 nations are at civil war with themselves, but the tourist hotspots don't ever seem to be affected for long. I've never visited the world's 2nd largest continent, but to spend a month in Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, South Africa, etc would be a dream come true. Are there zoos in Africa that deserve to be among the world's greatest? Perhaps the renowned national parks take away from any captive collections.
2- North America: only one of these 3 nations has many great zoos. There are many deplorable zoos in Mexico, with a handful of half-decent ones. Canada has 25 members of CAZA, but only two truly excellent zoos (Toronto and Calgary) that warrant much attention. But the United States has a bounty of glorious, world-class zoological gardens. There are about 220 members of AZA, and that isn't even counting a few hundred smaller, "roadside" zoos. Looking through the 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" one is spellbound by the number of amazing exhibits that seem to be built every other month. A tourist could spend months seeing many of the best zoos on the continent (see the "Summer Road Trip" thread) and then two years later every single one of those zoos will have constructed a new exhibit that makes the zoo worth seeing all over again. It never ends!
1- Europe: the #1 continent for zoos. It's that simple, and I'm sure that some European members of ZooBeat will wholeheartedly agree. The close proximity of many countries packed into the second smallest continent means that a tourist can hop on a train, bus or car and take off on a trek to see many outstanding zoo collections. England alone has at least a couple of hundred zoos and wildlife parks, as does Germany, as do many other nations across the continent. I'm not even sure how many world-class zoos there are, but I'm sure that someone will respond with an answer. As amazing as North America is for top-class zoos, I feel that Europe is still the #1 continent in terms of overall breadth and depth of the collections.
Do you agree or disagree with my rankings???
Process of Elimination:
7- Antarctica: zero zoos, and so naturally in last place.
6- South America: quite a few small zoos, but not many noteworthy, large ones. Has anyone here at ZooBeat ever visited a zoo on this continent? A quick google search revealed that there are a number of wildlife parks and zoos, particularly in Brazil, Argentina and Venezeula, but surely none of them are world renowned or else we would be discussing them here on this forum.
5- Asia: many zoos, but often they are famous for being of poor quality. On the polar bear exhibit thread I posted a 200 page report on the conditions of polar bears in Japanese zoos and there were some shocking photos. China, Vietnam, Japan, Laos, India, etc have all been famous for how NOT to exhibit animals. As always there are exceptions to the rule...just look at Singapore! The Singapore Zoo is regarded as possibly one of the top ten zoos on the planet, the Jurong Bird Park is arguably the greatest display of captive birds in the world, and the Night Safari is a unique zoo that is only open at night. A wonderful trilogy of great Singapore parks, and many other Asian zoos are still improving.
4- Australia: the smallest continent, this island is the world's 6th largest nation and yet only has a population of 20 million. There are 4 main zoos (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth) and possibly 5 if one counts "Australia Zoo" up near Brisbane. Taronga Zoo in Sydney is magnificent and definitely one of the better zoos in the world, while Melbourne is also a top-notch establishment. Also, due to the gorgeous weather there are innumerable smaller wildlife parks all over the country.
3- Africa: there are many, many zoos and wildlife parks here. Some are world-renowned (the Johannesburg/Pretoria Zoos being two of them) but they are constantly overshadowed by the incredible diversity of life found all over Africa. Sure, at times 15 of the around 55 nations are at civil war with themselves, but the tourist hotspots don't ever seem to be affected for long. I've never visited the world's 2nd largest continent, but to spend a month in Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, South Africa, etc would be a dream come true. Are there zoos in Africa that deserve to be among the world's greatest? Perhaps the renowned national parks take away from any captive collections.
2- North America: only one of these 3 nations has many great zoos. There are many deplorable zoos in Mexico, with a handful of half-decent ones. Canada has 25 members of CAZA, but only two truly excellent zoos (Toronto and Calgary) that warrant much attention. But the United States has a bounty of glorious, world-class zoological gardens. There are about 220 members of AZA, and that isn't even counting a few hundred smaller, "roadside" zoos. Looking through the 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" one is spellbound by the number of amazing exhibits that seem to be built every other month. A tourist could spend months seeing many of the best zoos on the continent (see the "Summer Road Trip" thread) and then two years later every single one of those zoos will have constructed a new exhibit that makes the zoo worth seeing all over again. It never ends!
1- Europe: the #1 continent for zoos. It's that simple, and I'm sure that some European members of ZooBeat will wholeheartedly agree. The close proximity of many countries packed into the second smallest continent means that a tourist can hop on a train, bus or car and take off on a trek to see many outstanding zoo collections. England alone has at least a couple of hundred zoos and wildlife parks, as does Germany, as do many other nations across the continent. I'm not even sure how many world-class zoos there are, but I'm sure that someone will respond with an answer. As amazing as North America is for top-class zoos, I feel that Europe is still the #1 continent in terms of overall breadth and depth of the collections.
Do you agree or disagree with my rankings???
