How many zoos did you visit 2022?

How many zoos did you visit in 2022?

  • 0

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • 1-2

    Votes: 19 15.4%

  • 3-5

    Votes: 19 15.4%

  • 6-10

    Votes: 23 18.7%

  • 11-20

    Votes: 35 28.5%

  • 20+

    Votes: 26 21.1%
  • Total voters
    123
  • Poll closed .
iluvwhales said:
Do you count the Insect Zoo at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. as one, or not?
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At it’s broadest the definition of a zoo is an institution at a fixed location that permanently exhibits one or more species of wild (ie not domesticated) animal, and is open to the public on a regular basis. Beyond that where you draw the line is entirely up to you.
 
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Traditional zoos and aquariums would probably be 34 or so. Counting nature centers, rehab sanctuaries, museums and gardens w/ a few live animals, etc.... around 70.

The past year or so was a time of major change. I finally decided it was time to pursue my passion of zoos and travel more than I have ever done. After moving, I switched from many years of regular employment to working short job contracts that opened up more time for travel, although on the downside I can go weeks (even months) without a paying opportunity, so not something I can do long-term. Being in south Florida we have the most zoological facilities than probably anywhere else in the country, around 50 within only 2-3 hours of where I live, many of them free nature centers and sanctuaries, so its been fairly easy to obtain a high number without eating into my savings.

I doubt I'll reach such a high number ever again, even for traditional zoos, but the travel/zoo bug definitely is still here and I've honestly felt emotionally more happy than I ever have in my life. I do plan on taking one more small nearby trip in late January 2023 before I return to full-time employment. And more distantly, I hope to travel to Europe and maybe even add a zoo or two to my itinerary there.
 
13 visits, 8 zoos. Not bad numbers, but I am quite hopeful that I will be improving on these next year, with a second ever Chester Zoo visit planned, and for a handful of zoos making a first ever visit is seeming quite likely. As used regularly in this thread, bold=first visit to the zoo, and these are all in order I made my first visit.
1. Colchester Zoo (6)
2. Hamerton Zoo Park (1)
3. Banham Zoo (1)
4. Le Domaine des Fauves (1)
5. Linton Zoo (1)
6. Bristol Zoo (1)
7. Jimmy's Farm and Wildife Park (1)
8. Whipsnade Zoo (1)
 
51 zoos, 6 very small places with only a few species, 4 nature museums/species info centers, and one museum that has a few species but they were all off exhibit. Only 11 / 1 were revisits, and one of those I hadn't been to in 25+ years.
 
iluvwhales said:
There's an "Insect Zoo" with a bunch of beetles, spiders, and other arthropods as well as a (closed when I was there) butterfly exhibit and some saltwater coral tanks. I couldn't tell you how many individual live animal exhibits there are between these areas in the museum, but those are the only spots there with live animals while everything else in the building is your typical natural history museum fare. I'm going to go ahead and say it's just shy of your "zoo" definition until I the day I go back and make an effort to count.
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MRJ said:
At it’s broadest the definition of a zoo is an institution at a fixed location that permanently exhibits one or more species of wild (ie not domesticated) animal, and is open to the public on a regular basis. Beyond that where you draw the line is entirely up to you.
Click to expand...

Exactly what MRJ is saying. It is up to you what you determine to be a zoo. I was just giving an example of my personal criteria, but feel free to use whatever (Reasonable) metric you feel is right for the purposes of this thread.
 
Cleveland Metroparks (my home zoo), Akron, Toledo, Columbus, Wagon Trails Animal Park (Vienna, Ohio- closed permanently in September), Keystone Safari (Grove City, Pennsylvania), Detroit and North Chagrin Nature Center (Mayfield Village, Ohio)- so, 7 or 8 depending on whether North Chagrin Nature Center (which has some herps, inverts, fish and owls...) counts.
 
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MRJ said:
At it’s broadest the definition of a zoo is an institution at a fixed location that permanently exhibits one or more species of wild (ie not domesticated) animal, and is open to the public on a regular basis. Beyond that where you draw the line is entirely up to you.
Click to expand...

My amendment to this is that displaying wildlife must be the - or at least 'a' - core function of the facility. This deals with the Royal Children's Hospital problem - it has the meerkat exhibit and a saltwater aquarium, but in my view listing a hospital as a zoo is self-evidently preposterous.
 
CGSwans said:
My amendment to this is that displaying wildlife must be the - or at least 'a' - core function of the facility. This deals with the Royal Children's Hospital problem - it has the meerkat exhibit and a saltwater aquarium, but in my view listing a hospital as a zoo is self-evidently preposterous.
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Agreed. And a primary reason the public attend is for recreation. That cuts out animal displays in places like hospitals, hotels, shopping centres etc. The primary reason for the public attending those places is of course medical care, accomodation, and shopping, not to look at animals.
 
Nothing crazy, but not a bad year by any means. A total of nine collections, six revisits and three first-timers.

Reviststs/Local Collections
1. Brookfield Zoo
2. Lincoln Park Zoo
3. Milwaukee County Zoo
4. Racine Zoo
5. Henry Vilas Zoo
6. Shedd Aquarium

New Collections
7. Saint Louis Zoo
8. Detroit Zoo
9. Miller Park Zoo
 
2022 was a Good year and my personal best with 50 (37 new) zoos in total. I managed to visit places that I postponed almost 2 years and saw dream spieces, like Fanaloka and Zorilla. Nevertheless, the most memorable experience was meeting other ZooChaters and Zoo entusiasts around Europe.


Austria
Vienna zoo

Bulgaria
Sofia zoo (4)

Czech Republic
Aquarium Morsky svet Praha
Dvur Kralove
Jihlava zoo
Zlin zoo
Brno zoo
Plzen Akvatera
Plzen zoo
Prague zoo (2)

Croatia
Zagreb zoo

Denmark
Den Blå Planet Aquarium
Krokodille zoo
Copenhagen zoo
Zoological Museum

Germany
Tierpark Berlin (2)
Berlin Zoo (2)
Braunschweig Arche Noah zoo
Sea Life Munich
Tierpark Hellabrunn
Tierpark Hagenbeck
Hannover zoo

Norway
Oslo Reptile Park

Poland
Poznan Nowe zoo
Poznan Stare zoo
Lodz zoo
Wroclaw zoo

Spain
Barcelona aquarium
Barcelona zoo
Cosmocaixa Museum

Sweden
Skansen Zoo & Akvariet
Universeum Göteborg
Nordens Ark (3)
Borås zoo (2)
Parken zoo
Kolmården zoo
Kolmården tropicarium
Orsa Rovdjurspark

United Kingdom
Hamerton zoo (2)
ARK Wildlife Park
Howletts Wildlife Park
Port Lympne Safari Park
British Wildlife Centre
London zoo
Cedars Nature Center
Axe Valley zoo
Shaldon Wildlife Trust
Exmoor zoo
Crocodiles of the World
Cotswold Wildlife Park
Whipsnade zoo
 
Last edited:
This was a bad year in terms of zoo visits for me, or at least compared to other years. I made only 12 zoo visits to 10 different zoos this year, compared to 17 visits to 9 zoos in 2021. However, I am very happy that I was able to add 5 new zoos to my list of visited zoos, which are bolded in the list below, and was able to add some of my pictures of these zoos in the Media category of this site. Below is a list of zoos I visited this year by country:

Belgium:
- Zoo Antwerpen
- Planckendael
- Pairi Daiza
- Pakawi Park
- Familiepark Harry Malter
- Forestia
- Le Petit Parc

(The) Netherlands:
- Dierenrijk
- Mondo Verde
- Wildlands
 
It was my best year so far!!
Belgium
  • Antwerp Zoo (+10x)
  • Plankandaell Zoo
Switerland
  • Zurich Zoo
Netherlands
  • Amersfoort Zoo
  • Rotterdam Zoo
  • Burger's Zoo (2x)
Germany
  • Cologne Zoo
  • Berlin Zoo
  • Berlin Tierpark
  • Leipzig Zoo
Czechia
  • Prague Zoo (2x)
Portugal
  • Lisbon Zoo
  • Lisbon Oceanarium
  • Aquario Vasco da Gama
Spain
  • Bioparc Valencia
  • Oceanografic
 
1. Zooworld Panama City Beach
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
3. SeaWorld Orlando
4. The Florida Aquarium
5.Zoo Atlanta
6. Georgia Aquarium
7. Zoo Tampa
8. Busch Gardens
9. Clearwater Marine Aquarium
10. Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
11. Rainforest Adventures Zoo (Pigeon Forge)
12. The Seas with Nemo and Friends (Epcot)
13. GulfWorld Panama City Beach
 
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Didn't get around to visiting many zoos last year (can't believe it's 2023 already) hopefully this year will be different!

-Greensboro Science Center
-North Carolina Zoo
-NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
 
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My list is also very, very humble compared to others :p

New Facilities
- Smithsonian National Zoo

Repeats
- Saint Louis Zoo
- St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station

Hopefully 2023 will be different for me, I have high ambitions and high hopes.
 
Always a fun exercise, thanks for the thread!

I managed to visit 21 zoos in 2022, 13 of which for the first time (in bold) across 4 different countries. I added over 30 mammal lifers from these visits- a feat that's getting harder and harder. I also brought my zoo total to 291, only 9 away from finally breaking 300!

1. The Bat Jungle, Costa Rica
2. Queens Zoo, USA
3. Trailside Museums & Zoo, USA
4. Pennsylvania Bat Rescue, USA
5. Lehigh Valley Zoo, USA
6. Batu Secret Zoo, Indonesia
7. Taman Safari Prigen, Indonesia
8. Faunaland, Indonesia
9. Private Collection, Indonesia
10. Ragunan Zoo, Indonesia
11. Staten Island Zoo, USA
12. Jenkinson's Aquarium, USA
13. Oakland Zoo, USA
14. Lindsay Wildlife Experience, USA
15. California Living Museum, USA
16. The Living Desert, USA
17. San Diego Zoo Safari Park, USA
18. Meier Segals Garden for Zoological Research, Israel
19. Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
20. The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens, Israel
21. Hai-Bar Biblical Wildlife Preserve & Safari, Israel
 
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