Most Underrated Zoos

SusScrofa said:
Not sure if there's already a thread, but what are some of the zoos you feel are underrated?

Here in the US, the mainstream media always lists San Diego and Bronx as the two greatest zoos, and while they're both phenomenal, I do feel Miami ranks right up there with both of them: Both elephant species, the 3 major great apes, black rhinoceros (and off-exhibit Indian rhino soon to be shown), a great bovid selection, and a very nice native species exhibit are just some highlights. As a bonus, the zoo is so affordable, only $22 to enter and they take 50% off on AZA reciprocity.
LA zoo is another great facility that gets overlooked by San Diego. While LA does need to fix up some of its enclosures and is going overboard at the moment with some of its COVID social distance protocols (forget about getting a good view of most primates and small cats), the species selection is very extensive and there are a few mammal species you can only see here, at least in America.
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Houstan too..they have an amazing collection and some outstanding, worldclass exhibits. Definitely a top 5 Zoo in the US for me.
 
Jambo said:
Houstan too..they have an amazing collection and some outstanding, worldclass exhibits. Definitely a top 5 Zoo in the US for me.
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Is Houston better than Dallas zoo? I've never been to either, but thinking about taking a trip to Texas this spring and may need to add one zoo to my plans :)
 
SusScrofa said:
Is Houston better than Dallas zoo? I've never been to either, but thinking about taking a trip to Texas this spring and may need to add one zoo to my plans :)
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In my opinion I’d probably lean towards Dallas slightly, but if you can get to Houston too it’s definitely a must see as well!
 
Obviously I’m pretty biased because it is my home zoo but I think Beardsley Zoo is underrated. Their focus is on North and South American species as well as cold weather asia species. Some of their standout species are Amur tigers, Amur leopards, Red Wolves and Andean bears are coming in the spring. They have a great staff who are very friendly with the visitors and are happy to answer most questions
 
I'd have to say the Kansas City Zoo. I think its improved a lot through the 2010s. When I visited in 2011 (I was 11 years old, so take this with a grain of salt), I remember thinking the front plaza and Africa sections were amazing and I absolutely loved them. Then there were parts that were horribly dated. The tiger and especially the orangutan really stuck out to me as horrible, hardly better than a sketchy roadside zoo. However, through the last decade, both habitats were fixed, and they made awesome new additions like the penguin building (I forget the name of it). As per my last visit in 2018, I think it holds its ground pretty well against my local zoo, the St. Louis Zoo. I just don't see it mentioned often on this site which is strange because I'm quite impressed by it.
 
I have been to very few zoos compared to others here, but the Denver Zoo seems quite overlooked on here. I suspect some of it is because some notoriously poor holdings survived into the last few years - the closed feline building has many images in the gallery - but as it stands now, there are no bad complexes, no awful exhibits, and Elephant Passage, Primate Panorama and Tropical Discovery all blow the better discussed Chicago and Milwaukee's facilities out of the water.
 
Why is Memphis Zoo barely mentioned much? They have good exhibits, habitats, areas, and more. It also has a great collection of animal that most zoos don't have (Red slender loris, cuscus, and more???)
 
Evirapo said:
Why is Memphis Zoo barely mentioned much? They have good exhibits, habitats, areas, and more. It also has a great collection of animal that most zoos don't have (Red slender loris, cuscus, and more???)
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I think it merits a lot of passing mention for collection, but since it lacks many 'best in the country' habitats for megafauna it garners less overall discussion. A shame - it's definitely one of the collections I'm most interested in.
 
JVM said:
I think it merits a lot of passing mention for collection, but since it lacks many 'best in the country' habitats for megafauna it garners less overall discussion. A shame - it's definitely one of the collections I'm most interest it.
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Probably that's why. Two of the areas with a native American or Canadian theme had me enjoying there. It's honestly one of the cleanest-view habitats I've seen for some megafaunas unlike most of my local zoos
 
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Drayton Manor zoo in my opinion is the one I would choose. It's always been strong on Reptiles and more recently on Birds.Infact there used to be two Reptile houses. There was no service corridor in one which meant that you had to go through one exhibit to get to another one, nearly lost a shoe to a Tegu once..Anyway, the current Reptile House was designed by the late John Foden (Reptile legend).Most of the current improvements were down to Robin Roberts. The zoo particularly in the last 25 years has made massive strides in keeping new species, Scottish Wildcats and Fishing Cats and the Reptile collection has always been topnotch, for example. Fortunately it's never been overshadowed by the rides
 
Strathmorezoo said:
Drayton Manor zoo in my opinion is the one I would choose. It's always been strong on Reptiles and more recently on Birds.Infact there used to be two Reptile houses. There was no service corridor in one which meant that you had to go through one exhibit to get to another one, nearly lost a shoe to a Tegu once..Anyway, the current Reptile House was designed by the late John Foden (Reptile legend).Most of the current improvements were down to Robin Roberts. The zoo particularly in the last 25 years has made massive strides in keeping new species, Scottish Wildcats and Fishing Cats and the Reptile collection has always been topnotch, for example. Fortunately it's never been overshadowed by the rides
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I agree Drayton manor is an under rated zoo, but as someone who first visited when it was run by John Foden who was a true zoo man with a passion for his herps, we however disagree about Robin's time in charge when to me and people that worked under him it largely stagnated and only regained it's reputation once Robin left and Chris Mitchell took over the running and once again the reptile collection became something to be proud of.
 
Laboratory 7 said:
I agree Drayton manor is an under rated zoo, but as someone who first visited when it was run by John Foden who was a true zoo man with a passion for his herps, we however disagree about Robin's time in charge when to me and people that worked under him it largely stagnated and only regained it's reputation once Robin left and Chris Mitchell took over the running and once again the reptile collection became something to be proud of.
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Strange that, especially all the improvements that occurred after the very sad death of John was initiated by Robin.I do agree with your comment about John, he was truly exceptional not only with his herps but was a really lovely man. Unfortunately John was poorly for quite a long time and let's just say that alot of administration had been overlooked It took Robin and Mary Brancker, zoo licensing vet awhile to put things right. I feel honoured to have been a good friend of both John and Robin
 
Strathmorezoo said:
Strange that, especially all the improvements that occurred after the very sad death of John was initiated by Robin.I do agree with your comment about John, he was truly exceptional not only with his herps but was a really lovely man. Unfortunately John was poorly for quite a long time and let's just say that alot of administration had been overlooked It took Robin and Mary Brancker, zoo licensing vet awhile to put things right. I feel honoured to have been a good friend of both John and Robin
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In the words of a quote from her late majesty queen Elizabeth the second, recollections may vary
 
For me, personally.

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (Visited)
Erie Zoo (Visited)
Akron Zoo (Visited)
Living Treasures (New Castle; Visited)
Keystone Safari (Visited)
Wagon Trails (Visited, still miss after it closed but it's worth mentioning)
Oglebay Good Zoo (Visited)
Columbian Park Zoo
Henson Robinson Zoo
Zoo New York at Thompson Park
Seneca Park Zoo
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
Capron Park Zoo
Sunset Zoo
Howletts Wild Animal Park (Most Underrated European Zoo)

The list quite possibly goes on, these are the ones I could think about.
 
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