But Brecon is really just a small town, though maybe with those population extras you mention, and its pretty isolated too. I think to succeed you need to be within easy reach of at least one city/conurbation, or preferably more. That's where Marwell scores- its within easy reach of three- and where Port Lympne falls down- its not near any really, just a few coastal towns.
Too Many Zoos?
- Thread starter Javan Rhino
- Start date
But Brecon is really just a small town, though maybe with those population extras you mention, and its pretty isolated too. I think to succeed you need to be within easy reach of at least one city/conurbation, or preferably more. That's where Marwell scores- its within easy reach of three- and where Port Lympne falls down- its not near any really, just a few coastal towns.
In fact it's quite simple : build a zoo in an area with enough potential visitors, offer a nice experience and your zoo will atract enough visitors. In the Netherlands - with quite a number of larger and smaller collections - most zoos are located in the western part where the large cities ( Rotterdam, Amsterdam ) are located or in areas which are visited by large numbers of tourists ( the middle en central eastern part with cities like Arnhem, Apeldoorn and Emmen ). In the northern part ( Friesland and Groningen ) there aren't much large cities and also little touristic attractions and here only a few zoological collections can be found.
Big Rob
Well-Known Member
Location seams to me to be the number 1 reason that Yorkshire Wildlife Park is always really well attended. There are no other "large" zoos/wildlife parks etc within 90 minutes drive of there. The nearest to it would be Chester or Twycross. There is nothing exceptionally rare there,not packed with animals( yet 
) but there are always huge queues on a sunny weekend. They also seam to cater well for families with small children with the amount of play areas etc aimed at them. I hope they don't suffer from the fact of not many enclosures,even though they are all large and well laid out. I tend to see so many kids rush up to the enclosure-see the animal/animals and immediately want to run off to the next one. Wont take them long to get round and say they have seen everything (mum I'm bored,can I have an ice-cream etc) then the parents are going to get frustrated and think they haven't got value for money.
And no,i personally don't think there are too many,especially not around my local patch.
) but there are always huge queues on a sunny weekend. They also seam to cater well for families with small children with the amount of play areas etc aimed at them. I hope they don't suffer from the fact of not many enclosures,even though they are all large and well laid out. I tend to see so many kids rush up to the enclosure-see the animal/animals and immediately want to run off to the next one. Wont take them long to get round and say they have seen everything (mum I'm bored,can I have an ice-cream etc) then the parents are going to get frustrated and think they haven't got value for money.And no,i personally don't think there are too many,especially not around my local patch.
I struggle to understand by what is meant by option three, as it appears to me that only London and Chester have that pull factor (I was going to include Edinburgh, but it is, as previously stated, the only large zoo in Scotland, and Bristol could be included for its historical fame). Take me for example, I live in oxfordshire, with the local collection being the cotswold wildlife, and the closest big collection being one of the ZSL parks, so I think that people are liable to visit the CWP once a year, and take the trip to London for the zoo every few!
You could also put collection size into all this, eg those in Kent would probably have no reason to visit London zoo's when they have the Aspinall Parks as their 'local zoo's'.
What the UK is missing is a zoo to stand up with the superstars of the Zoo world, Chester has the potential to go up with the best (eg Berlin, Prague, Rotterdam, Cologne, Vienna etc) but I'm not sure if any other UK zoo is making any sort of move's toward this.
You could also put collection size into all this, eg those in Kent would probably have no reason to visit London zoo's when they have the Aspinall Parks as their 'local zoo's'.
What the UK is missing is a zoo to stand up with the superstars of the Zoo world, Chester has the potential to go up with the best (eg Berlin, Prague, Rotterdam, Cologne, Vienna etc) but I'm not sure if any other UK zoo is making any sort of move's toward this.
I live in Kent and I've been to London Zoo once.
I reckon if I got the train and included admission and food I could get a year's pass to Howletts, PL and Wingham for the cost of 1 or 2 trips to London Zoo.
I don't even pay extra for travel to the Kent zoos as I have a bus pass for work. Personally, I don't feel there are too many zoos around here. I like them all for very different reasons.
I reckon if I got the train and included admission and food I could get a year's pass to Howletts, PL and Wingham for the cost of 1 or 2 trips to London Zoo.
I don't even pay extra for travel to the Kent zoos as I have a bus pass for work. Personally, I don't feel there are too many zoos around here. I like them all for very different reasons.
Interesting statement that I would largely agree with. London & Whipsnade combined might cut it but they are on two different sites which precludes that really, and bar a miracle, London on its own will never again be the 'great' Zoo that it used to be.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
With the extra ten acres and a different mindset, London could be formidable, and taken in conjunction with Whipsnade being governed by the same attitudes it could give anywhere in Europe a run for its money. The ZSL collections need to be viewed as being one zoo on two sites.
Chester is a fine zoo, easily the best in the UK. But its comparative lack of smaller mammals and the scale of its aquarium alone put it in a lower ranking to West Berlin. How far the Islands development will make up some of that gap remains to be seen.
And whoever heard of such a major Zoo with no Gorillas!
Or hippos, even pygmy ones! Chester is the best zoo in the UK, but there are plenty of gaps in the collection to fill.
Having visited Chester Zoo a few times, though not nearly as much as I should like, I would say that it's already up there with the best of them. I don't believe gorillas to be a must have for a major zoo (Colchester is another major collection lacking gorillas that springs to mind), and anyway I find gibbons to be more entertaining than gorillas. Does Chester have gibbons? Shockingly, I can't remember seeing any.
I agree with you Ian, it's a disgrace that ZSL aren't allowed another ten acres (or more) to expand into with all that land in regents park. Take Antwerp, 8 acres smaller than London but it has the superior collection.
Thanks for the support though Pertinax, I thought I might be shot down for the statement!
And Ireland has 4 Zoos.......(including Tayto Park and Belfast)
technically five now with tropical world, letterkenny.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Having lived in an area with several small zoos, Cambridge, I would have happily traded them for one large, 'all-day' zoo. And I suspect that their presence makes it less likely that someone would choose Cambridge as a 'new zoo' location. That being said, were it ever to happen, I'm sure it would be the small collections that would suffer in a resulting competition.
IMO, I think countries should distribute zoos in this such order:
* Large cities should have urban zoos, dedicated to a larger variety of smaller species, like primates, nocturnal animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, etc.
* Small towns with plenty of space around them should have rural open-range zoos, dedicated to a smaller variety of larger species, like hoofstock, big cats, elephants, rhinoceros, etcetera.
* Coastal populations in general should receive the aquariums.
The overall size and spectrum of the zoo should have the magnitude of the population/tourism in mind.
I'd like to know what you guys think.
* Large cities should have urban zoos, dedicated to a larger variety of smaller species, like primates, nocturnal animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, etc.
* Small towns with plenty of space around them should have rural open-range zoos, dedicated to a smaller variety of larger species, like hoofstock, big cats, elephants, rhinoceros, etcetera.
* Coastal populations in general should receive the aquariums.
The overall size and spectrum of the zoo should have the magnitude of the population/tourism in mind.
I'd like to know what you guys think.