{Note - thread split from here: San Diego Zoo - San Diego: The Perfect Zoo?}
Here is something that I've never put on ZooChat but now seems to be an appropriate occasion:
I've read about the Bronx Zoo many times on this thread and @ThylacineAlive has stated that the Bronx is "by far my favourite zoo" but he needs to understand the enormous level of subjectivity that takes place when comparing zoos. My excellent friend @ANyhuis and I have sent each other 400-500 emails over the past decade, with many of the messages featuring discussions about zoos. We've got lots in common as we both have earned Master's Degrees, we've both got 4 kids, we've both visited 350-400 zoos and Allen has even written two books about zoos while I've got a zoo book being published next year. Neither of us think that the Bronx Zoo is the best zoo in America, or even the 2nd best (Omaha), or even the 3rd best (Saint Louis), or even the 4th best (Columbus) and we both have Bronx in the #5 slot. The Bronx Zoo is an amazing, world-class institution that is head and shoulders above thousands of other zoological parks around the world, but the USA is stacked with tons of great zoos. If @ThylacineAlive believes that Bronx is the best then that is wonderful and I support his decision but I don't necessarily have to agree with it.
It is ALL subjective but Allen and I did team up with Jon Wassner, who co-wrote America's Best Zoos (2008) and about a year ago the three of us traded what seemed like a hundred emails back-and-forth. We realized that the three of us all agreed on the 5 best zoos in the USA but we each had a slightly different order of ranking them. So Allen, who is a qualified statistician, came up with a 'statistically objective analysis' and a complicated spreadsheet with at least 15-20 categories. Allen, Jon and myself, all well-informed zoo nerds, ranked our 5 zoos in all of those categories. Off the top of my head, some of the categories were: North American animals, South American animals, Australian animals, Asian animals, African animals, primates, hoofstock, big cats, bears, birds, reptiles/amphibians, fish, invertebrates, weather, history, conservation programs, restaurants, visitor amenities, rides, etc, etc, etc. I can't remember all of the various headings and I'm guessing on a few of those that I listed but obviously someone could be pedantic and even debate the use of certain categories. We would then each rank the zoos in each category and for example with reptiles/amphibians I'd go in this order: 1- San Diego, 2- Saint Louis, 3- Omaha, 4- Bronx, 5- Columbus. Many would agree with my rankings but others might have a different order. Allen, Jon and I would compile all of our rankings of the 5 zoos in each category and the spreadsheet was then filled in with our data.
There are individuals that will certainly dismiss the whole thing as goobledygook and I can accept that. Vive la difference! We had great fun! However, at the end of the day San Diego won handily and the 3 of us were genuinely surprised at the ease of victory as the zoo ended up with many more points than its nearest competitors. Perhaps too many categories were a reflection of a zoo's animal collection? Perhaps San Diego really is one of the best zoos in the nation, as it has been since its earliest days? Omaha and Saint Louis were practically a dead heat for 2nd place although in the end Omaha just shaded it and Saint Louis was third. Columbus, even with its piped-in music that @sooty mangabey adores, finished 4th and Bronx was in 5th place.
Here is something that I've never put on ZooChat but now seems to be an appropriate occasion:
I've read about the Bronx Zoo many times on this thread and @ThylacineAlive has stated that the Bronx is "by far my favourite zoo" but he needs to understand the enormous level of subjectivity that takes place when comparing zoos. My excellent friend @ANyhuis and I have sent each other 400-500 emails over the past decade, with many of the messages featuring discussions about zoos. We've got lots in common as we both have earned Master's Degrees, we've both got 4 kids, we've both visited 350-400 zoos and Allen has even written two books about zoos while I've got a zoo book being published next year. Neither of us think that the Bronx Zoo is the best zoo in America, or even the 2nd best (Omaha), or even the 3rd best (Saint Louis), or even the 4th best (Columbus) and we both have Bronx in the #5 slot. The Bronx Zoo is an amazing, world-class institution that is head and shoulders above thousands of other zoological parks around the world, but the USA is stacked with tons of great zoos. If @ThylacineAlive believes that Bronx is the best then that is wonderful and I support his decision but I don't necessarily have to agree with it.
It is ALL subjective but Allen and I did team up with Jon Wassner, who co-wrote America's Best Zoos (2008) and about a year ago the three of us traded what seemed like a hundred emails back-and-forth. We realized that the three of us all agreed on the 5 best zoos in the USA but we each had a slightly different order of ranking them. So Allen, who is a qualified statistician, came up with a 'statistically objective analysis' and a complicated spreadsheet with at least 15-20 categories. Allen, Jon and myself, all well-informed zoo nerds, ranked our 5 zoos in all of those categories. Off the top of my head, some of the categories were: North American animals, South American animals, Australian animals, Asian animals, African animals, primates, hoofstock, big cats, bears, birds, reptiles/amphibians, fish, invertebrates, weather, history, conservation programs, restaurants, visitor amenities, rides, etc, etc, etc. I can't remember all of the various headings and I'm guessing on a few of those that I listed but obviously someone could be pedantic and even debate the use of certain categories. We would then each rank the zoos in each category and for example with reptiles/amphibians I'd go in this order: 1- San Diego, 2- Saint Louis, 3- Omaha, 4- Bronx, 5- Columbus. Many would agree with my rankings but others might have a different order. Allen, Jon and I would compile all of our rankings of the 5 zoos in each category and the spreadsheet was then filled in with our data.
There are individuals that will certainly dismiss the whole thing as goobledygook and I can accept that. Vive la difference! We had great fun! However, at the end of the day San Diego won handily and the 3 of us were genuinely surprised at the ease of victory as the zoo ended up with many more points than its nearest competitors. Perhaps too many categories were a reflection of a zoo's animal collection? Perhaps San Diego really is one of the best zoos in the nation, as it has been since its earliest days? Omaha and Saint Louis were practically a dead heat for 2nd place although in the end Omaha just shaded it and Saint Louis was third. Columbus, even with its piped-in music that @sooty mangabey adores, finished 4th and Bronx was in 5th place.
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