Top 10 Central European Zoos?

HungarianBison

HungarianBison

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
My opinion:
1. Leipzig
2. Berlin Zoo
3. Prague
4. Vienna
5. Wroclaw
6. Budapest
7. Zlin
8. Tierpark Berlin
9. Dvúr Králove
10. Warsaw
 
Prague
Tierpark Berlin
Zoo Berlin
Innsbruck Alpenzoo
Wroclaw
Magdeburg
Plzen
Leipzig
Dvur Kralove
Tierpark Nuremberg

--

This is, of course, with the caveat I have never visited Vienna :P
 
I don't think currently this is easy to gauge. When I visited both Berlin zoos 3 years ago, both had open carnivore houses (nocturnal house in zoo Berlin) plus the pachyderm house with manatee at Tierpark. At that time I would have said Tierpark was best zoo I'd visited in a long time and zoo Berlin close behind! Currently all I've mentioned along with Tierpark snake House is gone so both zoos may not fair so highly!
 
Now the top 10
1.Berlin Zoo has 35 pts
2.Tierpark Berlin has 28 pts
3.Prague has 27 pts
4.Leipzig has 18 pts
5.Wroclaw has 17 pts
6.Plzen and Magdeburg have 9 pts
8.Innsbruck and Vienna have 7 pts
10Budapest has 5 pts
 
pipaluk said:
I don't think currently this is easy to gauge. When I visited both Berlin zoos 3 years ago, both had open carnivore houses (nocturnal house in zoo Berlin) plus the pachyderm house with manatee at Tierpark. At that time I would have said Tierpark was best zoo I'd visited in a long time and zoo Berlin close behind! Currently all I've mentioned along with Tierpark snake House is gone so both zoos may not fair so highly!
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Well, my last visit to both came after those closures, and both collections were still pretty damn good! :) so you may be pleasantly surprised.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, my last visit to both came after those closures, and both collections were still pretty damn good! :) so you may be pleasantly surprised.
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Thanks, but I suspect Prague ( which I was due to visit in September), plus one or two others may now beat the Berlins, definitely in their current state!
 
pipaluk said:
Thanks, but I suspect Prague ( which I was due to visit in September), plus one or two others may now beat the Berlins, definitely in their current state!
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Well, Prague beats the Berlins anyhow :P note my list.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Well, Prague beats the Berlins anyhow :p note my list.
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I DID note that and I suspect I will feel the same! It is without question the best European zoo I've not managed to visit! If I could do a list I would, just still would not know where to put either Berlin zoo at present, probably Vienna could compete for 2nd?
 
Berlin Zoo
Wrocław
Prague
Walsrode
Plzen
Berlin Tierpark
Leipzig
Zurich
Vienna
Poznan Nowe

Counting by unique animals and mega-exhibits, with some points for a nice park ambience.
 
pipaluk said:
I DID note that and I suspect I will feel the same! It is without question the best European zoo I've not managed to visit! If I could do a list I would, just still would not know where to put either Berlin zoo at present, probably Vienna could compete for 2nd?
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Odds are that by the time you get back over to the continent the respective carnivore houses at the Berlin collections will be back open (and improved) in any case :P so it is possible you won't have to decide how far they have declined!

I definitely want to reach Vienna in order to assess it for myself - had things gone differently it would have been one of several Central European collections I was going to visit for the first time over the course of this year, along with Budapest and Zagreb.
 
Jurek7 said:
Zurich
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I have, of course, already discussed how much of Germany potentially counts as Central Europe elsewhere - so the borderline case of Walsrode can probably be ignored. Zurich, however, I think may be much more solidly a Western European collection - obviously I have never been to Switzerland but I feel that it perhaps falls more into the latter category.

It's another collection I very much want to reach in order to assess for myself, and would have this year, incidentally.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Odds are that by the time you get back over to the continent the respective carnivore houses at the Berlin collections will be back open (and improved) in any case :p so it is possible you won't have to decide how far they have declined!

I definitely want to reach Vienna in order to assess it for myself - had things gone differently it would have been one of several Central European collections I was going to visit for the first time over the course of this year, along with Budapest and Zagreb.
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Budapest is another I suspect would make my top 10 along with Leipzig, Wroclaw, Plzen, for starters, but obviously I won't try to produce a guess list!
 
Jurek7 said:
Berlin Zoo
Wrocław
Prague
Walsrode
Plzen
Berlin Tierpark
Leipzig
Zurich
Vienna
Poznan Nowe

Counting by unique animals and mega-exhibits, with some points for a nice park ambience.
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I decided not to include Walsrode on mine purely because they’re a specialist collection - if I had however it would’ve been fifth place, with Jihlava being taken off the board.

EDIT: should also mention I’ve only included zoos I’ve actually been to.
 
Zoo Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Zurich
Tierpark Berlin
Leipzig
Wroclaw
Plzen
Magdeburg
Budapest

Honorable mention - Warsaw
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Zurich, however, I think may be much more solidly a Western European collection - obviously I have never been to Switzerland but I feel that it perhaps falls more into the latter category.
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Obviously, Switzerland is both a part of Western Europe and Central Europe ('Mitteleuropa'). How could you be more central in Europe than dead center in the Alps and sandwiched between Germany, France, Italy, and Austria; Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Vienna :p ? On the other hand, Eastern European countries like Poland or Hungary apparently are also considered Central Europe ;) .
 
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Now the top 10
1. Zoo Berlin has 55 pts
2. Prague has 44 pts
3.Tierpark Berlin has 39 pts
4. Wroclaw has 30 pts
5. Leipzig has 27 pts
6. Plzen has 18 pts
7. Vienna has 17 pts
8. Magdeburg has 11 pts
9. Zurich and Innsbruck have 9-9 pts
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I have, of course, already discussed how much of Germany potentially counts as Central Europe elsewhere - so the borderline case of Walsrode can probably be ignored. Zurich, however, I think may be much more solidly a Western European collection - obviously I have never been to Switzerland but I feel that it perhaps falls more into the latter category.

It's another collection I very much want to reach in order to assess for myself, and would have this year, incidentally.
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antonmuster said:
Obviously, Switzerland is both a part of Western Europe and Central Europe ('Mitteleuropa'). How could you be more central in Europe than dead center in the Alps and sandwiched between Germany, France, Italy, and Austria; Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Vienna :p ? On the other hand, Eastern European countries like Poland or Hungary apparently are also considered Central Europe ;) .
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So gentlemen, is Zurich counts ? :)
 
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