How many zoos have you visited? (poll 2)

How many zoological parks have you visited?

  • 1-9

    Votes: 71 14.4%
  • 10-24

    Votes: 155 31.4%
  • 25-49

    Votes: 99 20.1%
  • 50-99

    Votes: 83 16.8%
  • 100-199

    Votes: 50 10.1%
  • 200-299

    Votes: 16 3.2%
  • 300 or more

    Votes: 19 3.9%

  • Total voters
    493
Great list @TeaLovingDave and I've visited 31 of those zoos. I happened to notice that you included both the Aquarium at Berlin Zoo and the Aquarium at Hagenbeck as separate attractions. I didn't do that, but it's totally understandable as both facilities require a separate entrance ticket and so each to their own! I have 'zoos' on my list that I sometimes look back and question. Haha.

What will be the 100th zoo in the UK? Some naff little place or a big one? And you have a similar choice for your 200th zoo. Go with an establishment that hardly anyone has heard of, or tour one of the big boys. Either way, congratulations are soon in order! :)
 
I happened to notice that you included both the Aquarium at Berlin Zoo and the Aquarium at Hagenbeck as separate attractions. I didn't do that, but it's totally understandable as both facilities require a separate entrance ticket and so each to their own!

My general rule with such things is that if it is possible to visit the one without visiting the other, it is countable - so for instance, the two aquariums in question don't require that you also have a ticket for the zoo within which they are located - whilst if you *have* to enter the "parent" collection in order to visit the secondary attraction, the latter wouldn't be counted. As such, if the Exotarium at Zoo Frankfurt still charged a separate admission fee I wouldn't count it as a distinct collection, as it's not possible to visit the Exotarium without having already paid to enter the zoo itself... and similarly if I ever get around to visiting Bronx Zoo I wouldn't count any of the exhibits or houses which require an additional entrance fee.

What will be the 100th zoo in the UK? Some naff little place or a big one? And you have a similar choice for your 200th zoo. Go with an establishment that hardly anyone has heard of, or tour one of the big boys. Either way, congratulations are soon in order!

I've no idea in either regard; considering the fact that two of the most recent UK additions were collections I didn't know existed until immediately before visiting them, my hundredth UK collection could well be anywhere, as indeed may be the case for my two-hundredth in total - I certainly won't be tactically planning anything to ensure a significant result.
 
sa
Here is a new (second) poll to replace the one from a few years ago. I will define "zoo" in the broadest term to include aquariums, safari parks, exotic animal sanctuaries, etc.

Edit - this time I am allowing the option to change your vote if you get to a higher number in the future.
sad to say I have only gone to 2 zoos
Detroit zoo and Memphis zoo.
 
My general rule with such things is that if it is possible to visit the one without visiting the other, it is countable - so for instance, the two aquariums in question don't require that you also have a ticket for the zoo within which they are located - whilst if you *have* to enter the "parent" collection in order to visit the secondary attraction, the latter wouldn't be counted. As such, if the Exotarium at Zoo Frankfurt still charged a separate admission fee I wouldn't count it as a distinct collection, as it's not possible to visit the Exotarium without having already paid to enter the zoo itself... and similarly if I ever get around to visiting Bronx Zoo I wouldn't count any of the exhibits or houses which require an additional entrance fee.



I've no idea in either regard; considering the fact that two of the most recent UK additions were collections I didn't know existed until immediately before visiting them, my hundredth UK collection could well be anywhere, as indeed may be the case for my two-hundredth in total - I certainly won't be tactically planning anything to ensure a significant result.

Well you don't knowingly include village duck ponds, because they have a couple of exotic species on them.
 
This is my zoo list that I visited, including closed collections and estimated number of visits
1...Amazon World Zoo Park, Isle of Wight. 2
2...Banham Zoo
3...Birdland Bourton on the water. 8
4...Birdwood Surrey. 2
5...Birmingham Nature Centre. 12
6...Chessington zoo. 2
7...Chester Zoo. 8
8...Colchester Zoo.
10...Combe Martin Wildlife Park. 8
11...Cotswold Wildlife Park. 9
12...Dartmoor Wildlife Park.
13...Drayton Manor zoo. 20
14...Dudley Zoo. Lost count, certainly over 50
15...Durrell Wildlife.
16...Edinburgh Zoo.
17...Exmoor Zoo. 8
18.. Isle of Wight Zoo. 2
19...Lake District Coast Aquarium
20 Linton Zoo
21...London Zoo. 4
22...Longleat Safari Park. 2
23...Marwell Zoo
24...Monkey World. 2
25...Seaside Centre Birmingham
26...National Seal Sanctuary
27... National Zoo of Wales, Welsh Mountain
28...Newquay Zoo. 4
29...Paignton Zoo. 8
30...Paradise Park Cornwall
31...Shaldon Wildlife Trust. 2
32...South Lakes.
33...Tropiquaria
34...Twycross Zoo. 7
35...West Midlands Safari. PARK. 4
36...Whipsnade. 4
37...Blenhaim Palace Butterfly House
38...Dublin Zoo
39...Fota Wildlife park

Closed Collections
40...Bridgemere WildlifePark
41...Original Birmingham zoo 2
...42...Bognor Regis Hotham Park
43...Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park
44...Delamere Bird Gardens Church Lench,Worcestershire 3
45...Mallaig Marine World
46...Margate Dolphinarium
47...Margate Dreamland Zoo
48...Southam Zoo
49...Exmoor Bird Garden
50...Weymouth Aquarium
51...Stapley The Palms 5
52...Smestow Wildlife Center. 4
53...Feckenham Bird Garden. 6
54...Suffolk Wildlife Park
55...Henley in Arden Bird Garden.
56... Bristol Zoo. 5
57...Norton Grange Zoo private zoo in Worcestershire 5
58...The Ark Evesham 2
So that's it until I get chance to sort out some more visits

.




.


.

.
 
The zoos and aquariums i visited.

France :
- Aquarium de Cherbourg
- Aquarium de Paris
- Nausicaa (Boulogne sur Mer)
- Aquarium de Montpellier
- La Maison de la mer (Courseulles sur mer, now closed)
- Zoo de Lyon
- Zoo du Jardin des Plantes
- Zoo de Beauval
- Zoo de Thoiry
- Zoo de la Flèche
- Zoo de la Palmyre
- Zoo African Safari
- Parc animalier des Pyrénnées
- Réserve africaine de Sigean

Ireland :
- Dublin's zoo
 
UPDATE 04/2024

Zoos:
ARTIS Amsterdam Zoo
AquaZoo Friesland
Barcelona Zoo
Battersea Park Children's Zoo
Beardsley Zoo
Belfast Zoo
Bergen County Zoological Park
Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park
Bioparc Valencia
Bronx Zoo
Buttonwood Park Zoo
Capron Park Zoo
Central Park Zoo
Chester Zoo
Cologne Zoo
Copenhagen Zoo
Elmwood Park Zoo
Franklin Park Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Lisbon Zoo
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
Metro Richmond Zoo
Pairi Daiza
Planckendael
Philadelphia Zoo
Roger Williams Park Zoo
Rotterdam Zoo (Blijdorp)
Seneca Park Zoo
Smithsonian National Zoo
Stone Zoo
Turtle Back Zoo
ZSL London Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
Zoo Antwerpen
Zoo Aquarium Madrid
Zoo/Tropiquarium De Servion
ZooAmerica
ZooTampa
Total: 38

Aquariums:
Alaska SeaLife Center
Atlantic Sea-Park
Aquatis Aquarium/Vivarium
Bergen Aquarium
Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Florida Aquarium
Lisbon Aquarium
National Aquarium (Baltimore)
National Aquarium (DC - closed)
National Aquarium of Denmark
New England Aquarium
New York Aquarium
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Seville Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
Total: 16

Theme Parks:
Busch Gardens Tampa
Discovery Cove
Disney's Animal Kingdom
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
SeaWorld Orlando
Total: 5

Museums:
Calvert Marine Museum
ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
Ecomuseum Zoo
EcoTarium
Manchester Museum
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Total: 6

Misc:
Animal Adventures
Biodome Montreal
Blue Hills Trailside Museum
British Wildlife Centre
Reykjavik Park & Zoo
WWT Slimbridge Wetlands Centre
Total: 6

Total: 71
 
Finally got round to organising my list into a format I can copy into here.

120 collections across 10 countries as follows;

1 ) UK - Africa Alive!
2 ) UK - All Things Wild, Honeybourne
3 ) UK - Amazon World Zoo Park
4 ) UK - Ark Wildlife Park
5 ) UK - Axe Valley Wildlife Park
6 ) UK - Banham Zoo
7 ) UK - Belfast Zoo
8 ) UK - Birmingham Nature Centre
9 ) UK - Birdland
10 ) UK - Blackpool Zoo
11 ) UK - Blair Drummond Safari Park
12 ) UK - Blue Reef Aquarium Portsmouth
13 ) UK - Bournemouth Oceanarium
14 ) UK - Bristol Zoo Gardens
15 ) UK - Camperdown Wildlife Centre
16 ) UK - Chessington World of Adventures
17 ) UK - Chester Zoo
18 ) UK - Chew Valley Wild Animal Park
19 ) UK - Colchester Zoo
20 ) UK - Combe Martin Wildlife & dinosaur Park
21 ) UK - Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens
22 ) UK - Crocodiles of the World (Brize Norton)
23 ) UK - Crocodiles of the World (Witney)
24 ) UK - Dartmoor Zoo
25 ) UK - Drayton Manor Resort
26 ) UK - Dudley Zoological Gardens
27 ) UK - Exmoor Zoo
28 ) UK - Fenn Bell Inn
29 ) UK - Five Sisters Zoo
30 ) UK - Hamerton Zoo Park
31 ) UK - Hemsley Conservation Centre
32 ) UK - Heythrop Zoological Gardens
33 ) UK - Highland Wildlife Park
34 ) UK - Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World
35 ) UK - Howletts Wild Animal Park
36 ) UK - Johnson's of Oldhurst
37 ) UK - Knowsley Safari
38 ) UK - Lincolnshire Wildlife Park
39 ) UK - Linton Zoo
40 ) UK - Living coasts
41 ) UK - Longleat Safari and Adventure Park
42 ) UK - Marwell Zoo
43 ) UK - Monkey World - Ape Rescue Centre
44 ) UK - National Marine Aquarium Plymouth
45 ) UK - New Forest Wildlife Park
46 ) UK - Newquay Zoo
47 ) UK - Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
48 ) UK - North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre
49 ) UK - Paignton Zoo Environmental Park
50 ) UK - Paradise Wildlife Park
51 ) UK - Plantasia Swansea
52 ) UK - Poole Serpentarium
53 ) UK - Port Lympne Safari Park
54 ) UK - Puxton Park
55 ) UK - Rare Species Conservation Centre
56 ) UK - RZSS Edinburgh Zoo
57 ) UK - SeaLife Birmingham
58 ) UK - SeaLife Chessington
59 ) UK - SeaLife London
60 ) UK - Shaldon Wildlife Trust
61 ) UK - Shepreth Wildlife Park
62 ) UK - Slimbridge Wetland Centre (WWT)
63 ) UK - Smarden Big Cat Sanctuary
64 ) UK - South Lakes Safari Zoo
65 ) UK - The Living Rainforest
66 ) UK - Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens
67 ) UK - Tropiquaria
68 ) UK - Twycross Zoo
69 ) UK - Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary
70 ) UK - West Midlands Safari Park
71 ) UK - Wild Place Project
72 ) UK - Wildwood Escot
73 ) UK - Wildwood Kent
74 ) UK - Wingham Wildlife Park
75 ) UK - Woburn Safari Park
76 ) UK - Wolds Wildlife Park
77 ) UK - Woodside Wildlife and Falconry Park
78 ) UK - Yorkshire Wildlife Park
79 ) UK - Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park
80 ) UK - ZSL London Zoo
81 ) UK - ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

82 ) USA - Aquatica
83 ) USA - Brevard Zoo
84 ) USA - Bronx Zoo
85 ) USA - Busch GardensTampa Bay
86 ) USA - Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens
87 ) USA - Central Park Zoo
88 ) USA - Dieney's Discovery Island
89 ) USA - Discover Cove
90 ) USA - Disney's Animal Kingdom
91 ) USA - Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
92 ) USA - Epcot
93 ) USA - Gatorland
94 ) USA - New York Aquarium
95 ) USA - Queens Zoo
96 ) USA - Sea World Orlando
97 ) USA - Staten Island Zoo
98 ) USA - Zoo Miami

99 ) Spain - Bioparc Fuengirola
100 ) Spain - Lanzarote Aquarium
101 ) Spain - Loro Parque
102 ) Spain - Oasis Park Fuerteventura
103 ) Spain - Palmitos Park
104 ) Spain - Rancho Texas

105 ) Netherlands - Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo
106 ) Netherlands - Burgers' Zoo
107 ) Netherlands - Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam Zoo)
108 ) Netherlands - Dolfinarium Harderwijk

109 ) Germany - Duisburg Zoo
110 ) Germany - Tierpark Berlin
111 ) Germany - Zoo Berlin
112 ) Germany - Zoo Krefeld

113 ) Mexico - Croco Cun Zoo
114 ) Mexico - Dolphin discovery Cozumel
115 ) Mexico - Xcaret

116 ) South Africa Cheetah Outreach Franschhoek
117 ) South Africa Ushaka Marine World

118 ) Italy - Giardino Zoologico di Pistoia

119 ) Ireland - Dublin Zoo

120 ) Belgium - Zoo Antwerpen
 
Interesting that I claimed to be in the 10-24 range when I voted in this poll (I can’t remember when), and I now stand at 34 zoos and aquariums.

UK
  1. Africa Alive
  2. Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park
  3. Blackpool Zoo
  4. Blue Reef Aquarium Hastings
  5. Bristol Zoo Gardens (closed)
  6. Chester Zoo
  7. Colchester Zoo
  8. Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park
  9. Cotswold Wildlife Park
  10. Drusillas Park
  11. Dudley Zoo and Castle
  12. Edinburgh Zoo
  13. Exmoor Zoo
  14. Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo
  15. Howletts Wild Animal Park
  16. Longleat Safari Park
  17. Monkey World
  18. National SeaLife Birmingham
  19. Natureland Seal Sanctuary
  20. New Forest Reptile Centre
  21. Paignton Zoo
  22. Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve
  23. SeaLife Brighton
  24. Twycross Zoo
  25. West Midlands Safari Park
  26. Woburn Safari Park
  27. ZSL London Zoo
France
  1. Aquarium La Rochelle
  2. Nausicaá
  3. Park Zoologique de Cerza
  4. Zoo de la Palmyre
USA
  1. Discovery Cove
  2. Disney’s Animal Kingdom
  3. SeaWorld Orlando
Not a particularly long list by any means, but one I’ll definitely be extending as time goes on. There are almost certainly omissions, places I have no memory of going to, such as Loro Parque, which I attended as a very small child and so have no memory whatsoever of ever having been. There are also places I am not counting on this list for various reasons, such as falconry centres or Disney’s Epcot.
 
I've never counted before how many zoos, Aquariums and similar facilities I've been to before this. I just always knew it was very little :p but it was fun counting them. I'm including anything with captive animals from big budget zoos to small museum collections

Houston zoo
Houston downtown aquarium
Houston museum of natural science
Bear Creek Pioneers park
Moody Gardens (both rainforest and ocean pyramids)
Texas state aquarium
Disney's Animal kingdom and Disney's Epcot
Bear Country USA

I could also include Albine zoological Gardens but I went there before I could even form memory and only was told I went there recently. So I'm only counting 9
 
32 for now, including all facilities with an entrance fee to see animals. Zoos, aquariums, reptile parks, sanctuaries, also vivariums in natural history museums (I've seen 2 !). In a week it will be 34 ! 1 in Germany, all others in France (North West of the country, around Paris and since 2022 some in the South West)
 
It's about time I updated my list as it's almost 3 years have passed since I last posted on this thread. My list is as follows:

United Kingdom:

1) Chester Zoo
2) London Zoo
3) Whipsnade Zoo
4) Knowsley Safari Park
5) Woburn Safari Park
6) Longleat Safari Park
7) Twycross Zoo
8) Welsh Mountain Zoo
9) Hamerton Zoo
10) Edinburgh Zoo
11) Folly Farm
12) South Lakes Zoo
13) Ponderosa Zoo
14) Newquay Zoo
15) Exmoor Zoo
16) Blackpool Zoo
17) Peak Wildlife Park
18) Yorkshire Wildlife Park
19) Cotswold Wildlife Park
20) Tropiquaria
21) Chestnut Centre
22) Monkey World
23) Bolton Museum
24) Manchester Museum
25) Paradise Park
26) WWT Martin Mere
27) WWT Slimbridge
28) Tropical Birdland
29) Reaseheath College Zoo
30) Lotherton Hall
31) Pensthorpe Natural Park
32) Wildwood Escot
33) Cheshire Falconry Centre
34) Gauntlet Birds of Prey
35) Welsh Owl Garden
36) Pili Palas
37) Bodafon Farm Park
38) Conwy Water Gardens
39) Rhyl Seaquarium
40) Blue Planet Aquarium
41) The Deep Aquarium
42) SeaLife Manchester
43) SeaLife Blackpool
44) Anglesey Sea Zoo
45) Northumberland College Zoo
46) International Centre for Birds of Prey

Ireland:
47) Fota Wildlife Park

Portugal:
48) Zoo Marine

I have 3 new collections booked in for definite this year being Berlin Zoo & Tierpark and SeaLife Birmingham. Ones I am hoping to get to but are not yet finalized are BugParc & Thrigby Hall.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top