The mundane quarrel between @Tim Brown and @snowleopard should suffice; let's not continue on that road. Both exhibits are no positive showcases for modern great ape husbandry.
Snowleopard's 2022 Road Trip: Denmark, Sweden & Norway
- Thread starter snowleopard
- Start date
Thank you very much Snowleopard for this very interesting read. Reading your thoughts as a Canadian in Northern Europe was also entertaining and interesting for me as I have lived for a few months in Sweden and visited several of the highlighted institutions.
One big miss, that I can understand for being slightly out of the way and in a city where it is not easy to park, is Skansen at Stockholm. It is a unique mixture of aquavivarium, native wildlife exhibited in rather good and naturalistic exhibits where one can actually have a chance to see the animals and a outdoor museum/theme park about the various Swedish traditional lifestyle and traditions. I enjoyed it very much as it is much richer than just bears, seals and reindeers. There was even a few rarities such as Harris antelope-squirrel.
I really liked Parken zoo, especially the drills and the south American area of the park. Here as well, there is a good balance between size of exhibits and the possibility to see animals.
To come come back to Scandinavian institutions, they indeed offer splendid conditions for their mammals, especially from Northern regions of the world but also tropical ones. However, we are fortunate to have other types of zoo in Europe as those collections are very ABCs focused. In order to play a role as an ark for endangered species, and not only for crowd favorites, it would be impossible or unsustainable if all zoos were similar as some institutions showed with hectares dedicated for a few individuals. I think it is also a good reason why zoochaters don't go up there so often.
It might be surprising but I found some similarities with French zoos especially when compared to other European countries and north America:
- Mostly private and recent zoos in the countryside
- Very heavy focus on mammals, especially ABC
- Willingness to offer naturalistic exhibits, with little mock rock or theming.
So if you liked Scandinavia, maybe you should try Western France which have an impressive concentration of rather good zoos and much more rarities. On top of that it is cheaper and you can shift you burger king meal for a sandwich made of a good baguette instead!
One big miss, that I can understand for being slightly out of the way and in a city where it is not easy to park, is Skansen at Stockholm. It is a unique mixture of aquavivarium, native wildlife exhibited in rather good and naturalistic exhibits where one can actually have a chance to see the animals and a outdoor museum/theme park about the various Swedish traditional lifestyle and traditions. I enjoyed it very much as it is much richer than just bears, seals and reindeers. There was even a few rarities such as Harris antelope-squirrel.
I really liked Parken zoo, especially the drills and the south American area of the park. Here as well, there is a good balance between size of exhibits and the possibility to see animals.
To come come back to Scandinavian institutions, they indeed offer splendid conditions for their mammals, especially from Northern regions of the world but also tropical ones. However, we are fortunate to have other types of zoo in Europe as those collections are very ABCs focused. In order to play a role as an ark for endangered species, and not only for crowd favorites, it would be impossible or unsustainable if all zoos were similar as some institutions showed with hectares dedicated for a few individuals. I think it is also a good reason why zoochaters don't go up there so often.
It might be surprising but I found some similarities with French zoos especially when compared to other European countries and north America:
- Mostly private and recent zoos in the countryside
- Very heavy focus on mammals, especially ABC
- Willingness to offer naturalistic exhibits, with little mock rock or theming.
So if you liked Scandinavia, maybe you should try Western France which have an impressive concentration of rather good zoos and much more rarities. On top of that it is cheaper and you can shift you burger king meal for a sandwich made of a good baguette instead!
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Thanks for the kind words, and Skansen is a facility that I had in my first draft of the road trip but it ended up being omitted for Parken and I'm very happy with that decision. For sure, Skansen has parking issues and that was a factor in me shifting it off my itinerary.
Kolmarden is a bit of an enigma for me, as I was also expecting more from the zoo. I know that some families spend a couple of days there and it is the 'Disney's Animal Kingdom of Sweden', but for people like you and I it's obvious that 3-4 hours is enough to see everything. If one eliminates the Bamses World kiddie zone, and the big wooden rollercoaster, and the other rides, then it's a half-day zoo at best. Having said that, there are some exhibits that are clearly world-class and I'm thrilled to have toured the facility.
Scandinavia clearly caters to the public in having ABC species and in fact at some places (Kolmarden, Boras, Nordens Ark, Parken) it's basically mammals and nothing else! Therefore, it was nice to see a small Tropical House at Aalborg, or the 'Jungle House' at Kristiansand, and especially Randers and its three domes, just to add some variety to my journey.
Kolmarden is a bit of an enigma for me, as I was also expecting more from the zoo. I know that some families spend a couple of days there and it is the 'Disney's Animal Kingdom of Sweden', but for people like you and I it's obvious that 3-4 hours is enough to see everything. If one eliminates the Bamses World kiddie zone, and the big wooden rollercoaster, and the other rides, then it's a half-day zoo at best. Having said that, there are some exhibits that are clearly world-class and I'm thrilled to have toured the facility.
Scandinavia clearly caters to the public in having ABC species and in fact at some places (Kolmarden, Boras, Nordens Ark, Parken) it's basically mammals and nothing else! Therefore, it was nice to see a small Tropical House at Aalborg, or the 'Jungle House' at Kristiansand, and especially Randers and its three domes, just to add some variety to my journey.
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Whew... this indoors is really unpleasant...Perhaps notthough there is a difference between that, and the enclosure being "far worse" than the Copenhagen example.
Of course, both are wonderfully modern and spacious compared to the horror at Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary:
Outdoor
Indoor
I know they operate on a shoestring budget and installing climbing equipment may well be beyond them (and where do you put the chimps meantime?) but a couple of simple platforms or benches, or even just logs, would help give the chimps things to sit or rest on off the ground. Awful....
Lota lota
Well-Known Member
The aquavivarium doesn't have anything to do with Skansen except that it is located on Skansen grounds.Skansen and Skansen-Akvariet are two separate businesses, and Skansen-Akvariet pays rent to Skansen.
Lota lota
Well-Known Member
I think Skansen as a zoo has had an bit of an uplift in the last years.The new children zoo was built in 2012,prior to that it was a bit boring,only exhibiting domestics and only being open in summer.The new version has an indoor house with a couple of wild herps and small mammals native to sweden as well as some domestics like guinea pigs,domestic cats,old swedish breeds of rabbit and chicken.They also have an aviary for the critically endangerd swift parrot.Outside you can find miniature pigs,roslagen sheep and swedish yellow ducks,as well as the outside enclousers for the rabbits,guinea pigs,swift parrots and cats.Wasn't Lill-skansen on some top 100 list of the world's best exhibits here on zoochat?
ZooAtHome
Well-Known Member
Apologies to bring up an old thread, but I have spent the last couple of days reading through this thread and the 2019 tour of Europe and have really enjoyed it! I have added a few more destinations to my ever expanding list of zoos to visit.
Do you Snowleopard have plans to do a UK tour? as I would be interested to read that; also are there any other similar threads to this of UK but also other European zoo 'multi-trips'?
I have also enjoyed lintworms top 50 and top 100 threads.
Do you Snowleopard have plans to do a UK tour? as I would be interested to read that; also are there any other similar threads to this of UK but also other European zoo 'multi-trips'?
I have also enjoyed lintworms top 50 and top 100 threads.
Lota lota
Well-Known Member
I think this might be of your interest. The World Is Not Enough - Zoochat Travel Report Directory
Thanks for the kind words! Between those two threads, I reviewed approximately 120 European zoos and I've visited a total of 546 different zoos and aquariums in my life.
I'd love to have a big trip through southern and eastern Germany, or through Poland and Czech. Republic, or the U.K. to meet a bunch of fellow zoo nerds, or even make it to Japan and Singapore, but I have zero plans at the moment. Life is expensive as my wife and I have 4 growing kids and between our mortgage, gas and grocery bills here in B.C., Canada, I'm not sure when I'll have the finances for yet another Snowleopard Road Trip. We'll see what the future brings.
@snowleopard Do you have plan to update a newer version of America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums or have it published in North America?
There are no plans for any updates right now, as the Top 100 book came out at the very end of 2019 and so it has only been just over three years since its publication. Many zoos were quite static during the pandemic, due to financial losses, and only now are new exhibits steadily increasing in number.
As for a North American release, that's not going to happen either. Loads of folks ordered the book from countries across the globe, with a European publishing base just increasing the cost of postage but not stopping zoo nerds from purchasing the book. The people who collect zoo memorabilia and zoological literature buy items from anywhere and everywhere, and the Top 100 book is easily accessible from the IZES website (although it's close to being completely sold out). Anyone genuinely intrigued by zoo history already owns the book.
SOCIETY BOOKS
ZooAtHome
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the kind words! Between those two threads, I reviewed approximately 120 European zoos and I've visited a total of 546 different zoos and aquariums in my life.
I'd love to have a big trip through southern and eastern Germany, or through Poland and Czech. Republic, or the U.K. to meet a bunch of fellow zoo nerds, or even make it to Japan and Singapore, but I have zero plans at the moment. Life is expensive as my wife and I have 4 growing kids and between our mortgage, gas and grocery bills here in B.C., Canada, I'm not sure when I'll have the finances for yet another Snowleopard Road Trip. We'll see what the future brings.
Thank you for the reply, and I completely understand with regards to mortgage bills etc.
If you do decide to visit the UK, be happy to meet up at a zoo for a chat and wander about