Lisbon, other old city Zoos and Dolpinariums

S

SabreToothAche

Active Member
I went to Lisbon recently and had to go and see if this hideous place (the Zoo, not Lisbon) had improved.

On the whole it is quite a turnaround, with some fabulous enclosures, Gorillas and other primates imparticularly).

That said, some are still a little grim, but it looks like they have funding and that things are definitley heading in the right direction.

I still can't get my head around how zoos and animal parks make constant innovative efforts to improve the stimulation and "wild like" conditions of land animals (which is great), but Lisbon Zoo and every other parks i've visited (Bar The Mirage Hotel in Vegas for dolphins and sea lion cove in sea world) still have sea lions, Dolphins, Orca's etc swimming around in basicly swimming pools with no stimuli or, sand, coral etc etc.

If they can make lifelike, natural conditions in Dolphinariums, then surely that would make better and more educational viewing for the audience and be better for the animals than jumping up to hit a suspended ball etc etc

Your opinions on all counts gratefully received

Sabre Tooth Ache
 
I´m from Lisbon, and from your words, you liked the city. Thanks. :)

Second, the zoo. 7/8 years ago it was the worst one of the Big in Europe. But somehow they woke up. And money showed up. And now, i can say that i´m very proud that Lisbon is now also a great city for zoological fans. Zero Impressive Enclousure. Zero horrific enclosures. Some "ok" exhibits, Lots of good ones. The Lisbon Ocenarium is a bigger reason to be proud. And Aquario Vasco da Gama is one of the oldest aquariums in the world, and focuses in lots of small species and portuguese rarities. I like it now.

Third, about the dolphinariums, check Harderwijk. ;)
 
filipinos said:
Second, the zoo. 7/8 years ago it was the worst one of the Big in Europe. But somehow they woke up. And money showed up. And now, i can say that i´m very proud that Lisbon is now also a great city for zoological fans. Zero Impressive Enclousure. Zero horrific enclosures. Some "ok" exhibits, Lots of good ones. The Lisbon Ocenarium is a bigger reason to be proud. And Aquario Vasco da Gama is one of the oldest aquariums in the world, and focuses in lots of small species and portuguese rarities. I like it now.
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Just wanted to say I'd agree with all of this. Lisbon comes very highly recommended for anyone wanting a 'zoo-y' weekend city break. And the city is fantastic. VDG was a surprise - sea turtle and fur seal enclosures a little lacking but the native marine invertebrate display is the best I've seen anywhere I'd say.
 
Sorry for the late replie, but i see that people don´t even want to see the gallery because Lisbon Zoo was bad. But things change. I´m thankful to you to see that Germany, the UK or the Netherlands aren´t all there is about zoos in europe. Look at France too. Beauval, Mulhouse, Doué, Spain with Valencia, Barcelona, Cabarceno,Terra Natura, Madrid, Portugal with Lisbon, PB Gaia, Santo Inacio, Lagos and Badoca also might deserve a chance! What about Italy or Greece? Rome Bioparco seems to be doing a good work! I would love to see more people visiting zoos outside the traditional countries. :o

Sorry if it is off-topic.
Silva
 
filipinos said:
Sorry for the late replie, but i see that people don´t even want to see the gallery because Lisbon Zoo was bad. But things change. I´m thankful to you to see that Germany, the UK or the Netherlands aren´t all there is about zoos in europe. Look at France too. Beauval, Mulhouse, Doué, Spain with Valencia, Barcelona, Cabarceno,Terra Natura, Madrid, Portugal with Lisbon, PB Gaia, Santo Inacio, Lagos and Badoca also might deserve a chance! What about Italy or Greece? Rome Bioparco seems to be doing a good work! I would love to see more people visiting zoos outside the traditional countries. :o

Sorry if it is off-topic.
Silva
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@filipinos, I am always pleasantly surprised when our/any Mediterranean ZC posters bring us up to scratch. I myself frequently pose questions on f.i. some Italian zoos. I also frequently read the Spanish zoo enthusiast forum so keep in the know.

Generally, I agree that people do have a rather blinkered one-sided view of what goes on in the southern European zoo world, perhaps this is due to not having/being able to look at the history and perspective of any of the zoos concerned. To be fair allthough I have to admit there has been a lot of catching up to do to bring southern European zoos up to standard (which in some cases is made rather more difficult by a very ardent anti zoo movement in some respective countries). The examples of worthy zoos you cite are certainly among those!
 
Thanks so much Kifaru, i feel a need of spreading the word that these countries are worthy of a look, and that the 21ª Century is now arriving! I also like to visit a site called zoos del mundo, about spanish zoos and more. There´s also zoosdanslemonde, this one about french zoos. I´m always up to date there.

I might try to help with the portuguese zoos, creating some topics, but i don´t know if they are what´s needed the most here.
 
I also read both forums you mentioned (my Roman language tuition has helped here and there, but translation is sometimes a nightmare when you use all them digital translation programmes as the grammar comes out wrong and the sentence structure gets blighted to kingdom come. :)

I have had some queries in the recent past on Zoo de Lisboa posted here. So, it might be interesting to tell the wider audience a little more about Lisboa and the other zoos in Portugal you mentioned.
 
Thanks again for the replie. I´ll try to make a topic about the situation of the major zoos in Portugal.
 
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