How Many Zoos Did You Visit In 2024?

How Many Zoos Did You Visit In 2024?

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This year, I visited 14 total facilities, which include 3 facilities entirely new to me. Now by no means was this one of my better years for visiting zoos and aquaria, but I’ll remain optimistic that 2025 will be slightly better in this regard:

Bolded - visited for the first time
Underline - visited for the first time in years

1. Zoo Atlanta
2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park
3. Georgia Aquarium
4. Zoo Miami
5. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
6. Discovery Cove (Orlando)
7. Chase Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservancy*
8. Epcot
9. Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
10. SeaWorld Orlando
11. Busch Gardens Tampa
12. Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens
13. Aquatica Orlando
14. Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes

*a non-accredited animal sanctuary in Webster, Florida
 
Zoos in bold are ones that I visited for the first time this year
  1. Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL)
  2. Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL)
  3. Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL)
  4. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC)
  5. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, AZ)
  6. Milwaukee County Zoo (Milwaukee, WI)
 
I visited thirteen different zoos in three countries in 2024.

Only Wildlands was a new zoo to visit for me (although I did visit the old Emmen Zoo in the past), and Blijdorp, Apenheul, Walsrode, Duisburg and Zoom Erlebniswelt were re-visits after many years.

Belgium

Zoo Planckendael (Home zoo, membership) 10 times
Zoo Antwerpen (Membership) 6 times
Pairi Daiza (1 time)

Netherlands (All 1 time):

Dierenpark Zie-Zoo
Safaripark Beekse Bergen
Faunapark Flakkee
GaiaZoo
Diergaarde Blijdorp/Rotterdam Zoo
Wildlands
Apenheul

Germany:

Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Visit over multiple days)
Zoo Duisburg 1 time
Zoom Erlebniswelt 1 time
 
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I have only visited one zoo in 2024 and it’s not really a zoo but it’s affiliated with a zoo and the place I went to was Lee G Simmons Conservation Park and wildlife safari and it’s affiliated with the Omaha zoo.
 
(Counting an AZA-accredited aquarium)
* = facility I visited for the first time this year
  1. Belle Isle Aquarium* (March)
  2. Smithsonian’s National Zoo* (April)
  3. Toledo Zoo and Aquarium (May, December)
  4. Potter Park Zoo (May)
  5. Saginaw Children’s Zoo* (June)
  6. Detroit Zoo (August, November)
  7. The Wilds* (September)
  8. Bronx Zoo (December)
 
Zoos, Aquariums, and Nature Centers Visited in 2024 (Asterisk indicates first visit):

1) Los Angeles Zoo
2) Aquarium of the Pacific *
3) Wildlife World (Arizona) *
4) Bronx Zoo
5) Central Park Zoo
6) Prospect Park Zoo
7) Queens Zoo
8) New York Aquarium
9) Bergen County Zoo
10) Turtle Back Zoo
11) Seattle Aquarium *
12) Woodland Park Zoo *
13) Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium *
14) Tacoma Nature Center *
15) Oregon Zoo *
16) Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay *
17) Flat Rock Brook Nature Center
18) Stamford Museum and Nature Center *
19) Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery and Aquarium *
20) Shell Factory (now closed) *
21) Iguanaland *
22) Peace River Wildlife Center *
23) Zoo Miami *
24) Frost Museum of Science *
25) Gumbo Limbo Nature Center *
26) Green Cay Nature Center *
27) McCarthy's Wildlife Sanctuary *
28) Busch Wildlife Sanctuary *
29) Taipei Zoo
30) Zhishan Cultural and Ecological Garden
31) Taiwan Insect Museum
32) Shoushan Zoo *
33) National Pingtung University of Science and Technology Animal Rescue Center *
34) Guandu Nature Park
35) Xpark *
 
Just 7 for me this year. Nothing more than a couple of hours travel.

Marwell Zoo
Beale Wildlife Park
Cotswold Wildlife Park
New Forest Wildlife Park
Crocodiles of the World
Bristol Zoo Project
London Zoo

Marwell and Beale were multiple visits each as I am a member. I don't recall how many. New Forest Wildlife Park was twice. Once for each of the others.
 
45 collections in total, my highest number of zoological collections in a year yet - despite a total of seven other collections which had to be cancelled at one point or another for various reasons.

New collections this year in bold:

  1. Potters Tropical Village and Owl Adventures
  2. Flamingo Land
  3. Askham Bryan Wildlife Park
  4. Paignton Zoo
  5. National Marine Aquarium
  6. Shaldon Zoo
  7. Tropiquaria
  8. Exmoor Zoo
  9. Newquay Zoo
  10. Paradise Park
  11. Bristol Aquarium
  12. The Deep
  13. Pickering Park Aviaries
  14. West Park Aviaries (Hull)
  15. Weltvogelpark Walsrode
  16. Tierpark Oberwald
  17. Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe
  18. Tierpark Lange Erlen
  19. Zoologischer Garten Basel
  20. Parc Zoologique & Botanique De Mulhouse
  21. Wilhelma
  22. Bärenpark Bern
  23. Tierpark Dählhölzli
  24. Voliere Zurich
  25. Zoo Zurich
  26. Vogelpark Olching
  27. Alpenzoo Innsbruck
  28. Welt der Gifte
  29. Zoo Praha
  30. Zoo Zagreb
  31. Zoo Olomouc
  32. Zoo Zlín-Lešná
  33. Tiergarten Schönbrunn
  34. Parc Zoologique de Paris
  35. Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes
  36. Twycross Zoo
  37. Chester Zoo
  38. Dublin Zoo
  39. Fota Wildlife Park
  40. Zoo Wroclaw
  41. Nowe Zoo Poznań
  42. Zoo Opole
  43. Zoo Warszawa
  44. Bolton Museum Aquarium
  45. Manchester Museum Vivarium
 
I'm at a fairly modest sixteen facilities for the year, plus a few that nature centers and other places with a handful of species on display, which I wasn't really counting. Seven new facilities this year

1.) Bird Kingdom
2.) Aquarium of Niagara
3.) Akron Zoo
4.) Little Rock Zoo
5.) Wonders of Wildlife
6.) Dickerson Park Zoo
7.) Zoologico UNSAAC (Cusco)

In addition, it was my first time to Memphis and Buffalo in more than 15 years, so it was interesting to see all the changes at those facilities.

Not my best year in terms of numbers, but I was able to add a decent number of new species to my life list (and that's not including the wild ones I got to add while in South America!)
 
Hello. This is not in chronological order. The names in bold were new facilities.

1. BioParque do Rio
2. Zoo VR
3. Aparecida aquarium
4. Parque Três Pescadores
5. São Paulo zoo
6. Animália Park

I am sure 2025 will be a better zoo year for me. I have at least one visit guaranteed to BioParque do Rio and another to Zoo VR. Maybe I will give AquaRio (my local aquarium) another shot too, since I haven't been there in over seven years.
 
I didn't visit anywhere completely new this year, I just re-visited places I've been to before, notable ones being Flamingo Land, Dudley Zoo, Edinburgh Zoo, Deep Sea World and the Vivarium at Manchester Museum. I think it'll mostly be the same next year, with London and Chester being the two main ones I have planned.
 
Not a very big year for me in terms of zoo visits. Eight total with three new:

1. Sedgwick County Zoo
2. Abilene Zoo
3, Hutchinson Zoo
4. Reptilandia Reptile Lagoon
5. Gladys Porter Zoo
6. Dallas World Aquarium
7. Fort Worth Zoo
8. Oklahoma City Zoo
 
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I visited the following in 2024:

1. Alaska Zoo - Anchorage, Alaska
2. Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center - Portage, Alaska
3. Alaska SeaLife Center - Seward, Alaska
4. Yukon Wildlife Park - Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
5. York’s Wild Kingdom - York, Maine
6. Bronx Zoo - Bronx, New York, New York
7. North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher - Kure Beach, North Carolina
 
2024 ended up being quite a good year for me. I expanded my zoo adventures across the pond for the first time since 2017 with my first visit to Europe, where I got to cross off quite a few major bucket list facilities. All in all, I visited a total of 29 facilities with live animal collections across four countries, and of those 29 facilities, 18 of them (marked in bold) were new for me! Here's to a half as successful 2025! :p

United States:
1. San Diego Zoo
2. San Diego Natural History Museum
3. San Diego Zoo Safari Park
4. Birch Aquarium at Scripps
5. Living Coast Discovery Center
6. SeaWorld San Diego
7. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
8. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
9. Orange County Zoo
10. Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park
11. Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium, & Safari
12. Phoenix Zoo
13. OdySea Aquarium
14. Big Bear Alpine Zoo
15. Los Angeles Zoo
16. Aquarium of the Pacific
17. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
18. The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

Austria:
19. Tiergarten & Wüstenhaus Schönbrunn
20. Haus des Meeres

Czechia:
21. Zoo Praha
22. Zoo Plzeň

Germany:
23. Zoo Dresden
24. Zoo Leipzig
25. Zoo & Aquarium Berlin
26. Tierpark Berlin
27. Tiergarten Nürnberg
28. Wilhelma
29. Zoo Frankfurt
 
After going through the year, I have deduced the following:
1. 5th February — Hemsley Conservation Centre
2. 13th February & 16th November — WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre*
3. 15th February — West-Midlands Safari Park
4. 16th February — Cotswolds Birdland Park & Gardens
5. 16th March, 2nd April, 28th April & 23rd June — WWT London Wetland Centre*
6. 29th March — ZSL Whipsnade
7. 11th & 12th April, 18th August — ZSL London
8. 27th May — Howletts Wild Animal Park
9. 16th June — Wildwood Kent
10. 24th July — The Big Cat Sanctuary
11. 24th August — Cotswold Wildlife Park
12. 28th August — Paignton Zoo
13. 30th October — Chester Zoo
14. 21st December — Longleat Safari Park

*The WWT (Wildfowl & Wetland Trust) is the UK's leading wetland conservation charity. Most of the wetland sites owned by the WWT have collections of non-native wildlife from wetlands around the world. Therefore I have counted them as effectively ‘zoos’.
 
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