Small zoos

London had a number of small zoos in municipal parks. Battersea, Brent lodge park, Walpole, Crystal Palace and I think there was (is?) one in a park in Wood Green. They were all very small, maybe one – two acres and kept monkeys, toucans, parrots, llamas that kind of thing. Crystal Palace is long gone but I think the others are still going. In fact, does any one remember Crystal Palace zoo? What did they have there? I remember Penguins, a Toco Toucan and kinkajou.
 
Well this thread is now older than most of the kids on tiktok so how bout I ressurect it.

Smallest "traditional" zoo I've been to is Capron Park Zoo which measures at about 5.5 acres (according to Google Maps) but feels smaller because of how much space Lemur Island takes up.
 
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The Central Florida zoo is 100+ acers, but only around 25 of those acers are used for exhibit space. The Santa Fe zoo is even smaller with only around 10.
 
I was at AZA Midyear, I want to say 2018, when a curator from Cincinnati Zoo was giving a presentation. She referred to her zoo as a "small to medium-sized" facility. A year or so earlier, I was talking with a keeper from San Diego, who told me that, before going there, she came from a smaller zoo. I asked her where. She replied, "Omaha."

It's all relative, I guess...
 
I'd say the smallest zoo I've ever been to is the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis in the North of England, but it's been so many years since my last visit that I barely remember anything about it, though I looked the place up again recently and it is quite a small place, with only eleven exhibits in its outdoor section and five in its indoor section. Going by the map on their website, a third of the zoo's land is just the car park. It's also mostly smaller animals as well, with the largest species they have being snow leopards. I wouldn't mind going back there some day, but it is quite far fro where I live and it looks like there's no good public transport to the area.
 
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I've been to lots of small zoos, but the smallest depends of how you define it I guess. For example Bruemmer Park Zoo is over 9 acres in size, yet the entire zoo can easily be seen in less than 5 minutes. In contrast, I've been to zoos than are only an acre to two yet took me an hour or more to see!
 
birdsandbats said:
I've been to lots of small zoos, but the smallest depends of how you define it I guess. For example Bruemmer Park Zoo is over 9 acres in size, yet the entire zoo can easily be seen in less than 5 minutes. In contrast, I've been to zoos than are only an acre to two yet took me an hour or more to see!
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That would be especially true if we're considering aquariums, which have very small footprints but lots of exhibits with thousands of individual animals.
 
Aardwolf said:
That would be especially true if we're considering aquariums, which have very small footprints but lots of exhibits with thousands of individual animals.
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That's definitely true, I went to a fairly small aquarium last week to write down some fish species for my Zoo/Aquarium Life List. Five pages of my notebook in and I had to stop once I thought to myself "Okay, this is too much" and I didn't even end up adding everything I wrote down to the Life List. It's surprising just how many species even a tiny aquarium can have.
 
Aardwolf said:
That would be especially true if we're considering aquariums, which have very small footprints but lots of exhibits with thousands of individual animals.
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I mean, the New England Aquarium only has 75,000 feet of total square footage but packs in so much.

Maybe a way to measure would be a combo of footprint and species count or animal count?
 
Brooklands Zoo (New Zealand) - their main attractions are a Brolga, Slender-tailed meerkat, Cotton-top tamarin and Black-capped capuchin.

Paradise Valley Springs (New Zealand) - essentially a trout farm, they also have a handful of native birds and farmyard animals. Their main attraction is a pride of lions.

African Lion Exhibit - The Pride

African Lion Exhibit - The Pride

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Smallest zoo I've been to is Aquasearch Aquarium, which is a single room with seven tanks, which may sound like not a lot but keep in mind it's run by one guy out of his own backyard. Nice little place, nice variety of fish and coral species, very large giant clams too. Lots of informational signage, and they breed a few clownfish species, a few freshwater species and giant clams.
 
The smallest zoo I’ve been to is Stevens Point Herpetological Society. Just one room-sized enclosure with a handful of common reptile species.
 
Smallest aquarium I've been to is the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which only has 13 species but is famous thanks to Dolphin Tale. It's also expanded since I've gone.
 
I was going back through old threads including this one.

UPDATE:

Battersea Park Children's Zoo
under 4 acres and only 43 species, but two mustelid species.

No canids yet but I could totally see them adding Fennec Foxes
 
The smallest traditional zoo I've been to is the aforementioned Central Park Zoo, however there's a number of other charming zoos in the northeast that are quite charming as well.

Shirokuma said:
Also, what animals do you think would make a good small collection? (from a visitor point of view as well as an expert's).
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There seems to be a pretty good "formula" for a small zoo that works quite well. 1-2 larger, charismatic species is key (ideally one species of big cat plus one species of bear), but more than that isn't ideal from a spatial perspective. Red pandas are a must-have species for a small zoo, as are any species of river otter. Meerkats or prairie dogs are ideal to have as well to provide an active small mammal. A few species of primates tend to be good in this regard to, and while small zoos don't have the space to do gorillas or orangutans justice, species such as callitrichids, pitheciids, and guenons are great for small zoos to have. While large ungulates aren't great for smaller zoos, it is great to represent this group with something like muntjacs, pudu, or smaller antelope. Having a large walk-through aviary can be a great exhibit for small zoos to have as well, while having a small collection of herps is great to help balance the collection out. Some small zoos, however, break this mold to instead specialize in certain taxa. This can be a great approach to, for instance Staten Island Zoo is notable for its large reptile collection, while Buttonwood Park Zoo has a notable collection of waterfowl.
 
Henson Robinson Zoo, which is only 15 acres and is located near Springfield, IL is the smallest facility I've yet visited and I found it very charming. They have a focus on North American wildlife, including black bears and cougars as well as the rare wolverine, with the addition of a small Australia section, penguins, sloth, and some primates. I thought it was a great collection for a small facility with just enough smaller exotic animals, and mostly lively species, to feel like more than a wildlife center.

I never thought I'd enjoy a small zoo as much as I did there. It was very charming.
 
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