Top Ten UK Zoos

R

redpanda

Well-Known Member
With recent talk, mainly on the USA forum, of the ten best zoos, i've decided to start up my own - the ten best in the UK. I'll start with my top ten and see what everyone elses opinions are. I think we should avoid listing zoos that we haven't visited although it might be useful to start by writing some of the major ones that fall into this category. For example, major zoos i haven't visited are Howlett's and Port Lympne (i'm trying to persuade my parents), Colchester, Twycross, Flamingo Land, Chessington, Belfast, most safari parks and probably a few more that i have forgotten.

So here's my list, feel free to comment and/or give your own. BTW, you don't have to give reasons, i just did to get the thread going and because i have put my choices in a different order to what i would imagine most people would.

1. Chester Zoo (just!): Overall i think that this is the best zoo in the UK. Although they have no truly outstanding exhibits, there are several excellent ones (SOJ, ROTRA, Twilight zone, Tsavo, Islands in Danger, Tropical Realm etc.) and the grounds are all well tended. Also, i can't really think of any truly bad exhibits and the new masterplan sounds fantastic.

2. Edinburgh Zoo: This was very close to the top spot and is an excellent zoo. Budongo Trail is, in my opinion, the best exhibit in the country and recently won the BIAZA exhibit award. Other excellent exhibits include Living Links, the penguins, african savannah, tigers and Rainbow Landings. Unfortunately, there are also a number of bad exhibits which let this zoo down. Overall, some of the new exhibits are fantastic but there are a higher proportion of bad ones here than in most of the other major collections.

3. Marwell Zoo: No doubt i'm going to get a chorus of angry voices saying that this should be london but oh well. A brilliant zoo with many excellent exhibits and beautiful grounds. I haven't been since the opening of Life in the Trees but the pictures look fantastic and, if Roof of the World is anything to go by, it will be. This collection houses many unusual species and is sensibly spread out into a big loop. A truly fantastic zoo where the animals often seem to be considered more important than the the visitor's.

4. ZSL London Zoo: Although this was once the best zoo in the country it can no longer fill the top spot; there are too many bad exhibits for this zoo to be rated as the best. Unfortunatly, i have not been for ages, not since the opening of GK, but the new exhibits that i saw while i was there cemented its position in the no. 4 slot. B.U.G.S. is brilliant and is a concept not seen in other zoos and pictures that i do see of new, and pending, exhibits make me think that this is one to look out for.

5. Durrell (jersey zoo): The great conservation work of this unique establishment simply can not be over-looked. there are many world class exhibits and it is a beautiful zoo to walk around. Also, there are not really any bad enclosures and many unusual and rare species can be seen here.

6. Paignton Zoo: My local zoo which has great potential but often fails to fulfil it. This zoo needs to get the balance right between the needs of the animals and the visitors. Some enclosures make for impossible viewing and others for impossible hiding. The two most recent exhibits have been badly designed to say the least but i persist with this zoo and hope that things do get better with the new baboon enclosure. There are some truly excellent parts of this zoo but the bad bits let it down.

7. Bristol Zoo: A small, inner-city zoo which is showing what it can achieve with the smaller species. New exhibits are excellent such as, Seal and Penguin Coasts and Monkey Forest but some of the older ones are somewhat lacking. All in all a really good zoo and i look forward to its planned satelite collection, the NWCP.

8. ZSL Whipsnade Zoo: As with london, i haven't visited for a long time (Lions of the Serengeti was still under construction), hence i don't rate this zoo particularly highly. In my mind, it is just a load of large mammals put in fields and even the pictures that i have seen show that new exhibits don't seem to be straying from this stereo-type. Having said that, the hoof-stock collection is excellent and with all the recent constructions, this zoo is certainly improving.

9. Living Coasts: Personally i loved this little attraction. All the animals have nice enclosures and the interpretation is great. The indoor areas are all informative and well-done. The only thing moving this zoo down so far is the lack of species and the small size but it is definitely worth a visit.

10. Longleat Safari Park: Unfortunately the only UK safari park that i have visited although i may be going to West Midlands next year. Personally i'm not a huge fan of such attractions as there is nothing to teach visitors about the animals during the drive and the fields that the animals are kept in make it kind of boring. Having been on an african safari this just doesn't deliver the same experience. Bits of the walk-around area need up-dating but overall this part is nicely done and there are a multitude of other attractions to suit all tastes.
 
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@Redpanda: thanks for the list!!!

I adore top 10 lists and I made my own top 10 North American zoos list near the very end of the "Snowleopard's Epic Road Trip" thread in the summer. I've never visited the United Kingdom, but I get the sense that there aren't very many zoos that would be rated as world-class by ZooChat members. I'd say that Chester is by far and away the #1 most highly regarded zoo in the U.K., and that Jersey Zoo is known for its conservation and Edinburgh is coming along strong and has giant pandas in the future to boost its fame even more. After those 3 there isn't much left, and while London Zoo has come a long way in a short period of time many photos show that it still has a way to go before becoming a truly great zoo. Port Lympne and Howlett's are well regarded and certainly have enormous groups of animals, and so I'd be intrigued to see if they crack your top ten when you do visit them. If I ever plan a European zoo journey I'd love to hit some U.K. zoos, but it seems to me that the Netherlands is the country to visit for the best that Europe has to offer.
 
i dont agree with longleat and living coasts being your list and i was shocked to see marwell 3rd!
 
Out of the zoos that i have visited i simply think that marwell is well-designed and has a greater collection than say london which also has far more bad exhibits. Marwell's enclosures are nice for the animals and the newer enclosures especially are excellent. I would be interested to know where you would put it but personally i just think that marwell is really good.

I did not really include small zoos but i simply feel that living coasts ticks all the boxes. It has excellent interpretation, does good conservation, raises awareness and gives all the animals nice enclosures, not to mention the brilliant cafe and restaurant - few others in the uk can boast that. This is just my opinion though.

As for longleat, well, that was more from a visitors point of view although the animals, in the safari park at least, have nice large enclosures, aswell. I would think that if i had visited every major zoo in the country then this and living coasts would probably be struck from the list, however.
 
Well, I'm certainly very pleased with where you placed Marwell compared with other UK zoos. Since the day I can remember Marwell's my 'typical' zoo, so yeah, great to see. And you'll just have to visit next year when they open the African Valley!

With Longleat, you do have to bear in mind there is a lack of education seeing as you can't drive through a discovery centre, but they certainly try their best with the free audio commentary in the park and lake, and the constant interpretation in Pets Corner. Overall, I feel lucky to live near some great collections.
 
marwell dalek - thats if it opens next year! it was supposed to open this year but no..

karenzoo - maybe he hasnt been to colchester (how dare he)
 
No, the restaraunt opens this year. Animals move in next, don't be so downhearted.
 
2. Edinburgh Zoo: This was very close to the top spot and is an excellent zoo. Budongo Trail is, in my opinion, the best exhibit in the country and recently won the BIAZA exhibit award. Other excellent exhibits include Living Links, the penguins, african savannah, tigers and Rainbow Landings. Unfortunately, there are also a number of bad exhibits which let this zoo down. Overall, some of the new exhibits are fantastic but there are a higher proportion of bad ones here than in most of the other major collections.
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As much as i love Edinburgh it has a long way to go before it reaches such dizzy heights, i realise this is a list of collections YOU have visited and i think you should have made that a bit more clearer in your title, back to Edinburgh though when it comes to its collection, the mammal collection is outstanding top 3 in the UK definately, could do with some more small mammals though.
Birds too are excellent, but there are a lot of better collections in the UK and better housed collections too, top 10, 8,9,or 10.
The reptile collection is nonexistant as is the invertebrate collection although good things being done with partula snails and no fish.
And it is this last factor that drags the overall collection down.

Housing wise the exhibits built since the new penguin pool have been of a high standard, culminating with the Budongo exhibit, probably the finest single exhibit in the UK.(probably).
Animals that are needing re-housed are the Indian rhino, warthog, polar bear and all the primates in the 30 year old monkey house, when i say re-housed there is no urgency as the current exhibits have been refurbished to suit that particular species needs, they may not be aesthetically pleasing but they are functional.
 
I did say i hadn't visited colchester in my list as it is rather out of the way for me. I am however working my way through the larger collections (hopefully with a zoo tour of kent next year) - it's just a matter of persuading my parents.

Kiang - To be honest i am not particularly knowledgable on inverterbrates so do not really notice their absence in a collection and very few zoos have a number of fish species. Yes, there are is an absence of birds but those that they do have seem to be well housed. For me, the combination of some truly out-standing exhibits and friendly staff makes this zoo excellent, as i said, however, the proportionally high number of bad enclosures let the zoo down. Just my opinion though.
 
I think what they mean't was that the fences, landscaping and waterhole which creates the valley is opening this year, which has. The animals come next Easter.
 
I was very disappointed with Living coasts. The only exhibit i enjoyed was the Waders estauay. I can't say i'll be rushing back, and i'm glad i didn't take the family, it would have been an expensive half hour. Nearby Shaldon, i did enjoy, and will visit again.

I went to living coasts the same weekend as Dartmoor, i didn't enjoy either.

I did start compiling my own top ten, but couldn't decide my favourite, and when i got down to about 7, i was picking zoos which aren't as rubbish as others. So i decided to not bother. I also realise that there are a lot of good zoos i haven't been to, so compiling a list where i have to include zoos which i wasn't that fussed on but were better than others i had been to is a bit unfair.
 
johnny morris - i agree with you there, living coasts didnt live upto what i had hoped and the same with dartmoor, hopefully with new owners it will improve.
 
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