Top Zoos In Europe?

lintworm said:
I think most would agree that zurich is clearly better than Basel and Pairi Daiza better tthsn Planckendael. Burgers and Blijdorp are rated rather equally and Cologne is really one of the German top zoos and Tierpark Berlin less so.
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Currently Leipzig is getting a lot more love than either of the Berlin zoos, though it isn't hard to see why any of them are top standard. Likewise for Cologne, Wuppertal, Wilhelma, Magdeburg and Frankfurt.

Tell me @lintworm could you help me out with the Hungarian, Danish, French and Spanish entries?
 
ShonenJake13 said:
Yes both are good but Burgers' Zoo is better than Blijdorp in my opinion.

Have you visited Doue la Fontaine? What makes Beauval the best?
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I haven't visited Doue la Fontaine YET, Beauval has many beautiful enclosures and currently building giant beautiful new ones : Hippo's , Lions...it has a Southeast Asia Savannah (Indian Rhino, Nilgai, Blackbuck, Cranes, Deer, Tapirs). I don't know why more zoos don't do that.

For Hungary i would say Budapest or Sosto
Denmark : Copenhagen
Spain : Valencia or Madrid (Loro Parc is not on Spain Mainland)

I haven't visited any or these zoos (spain this year), but seen YouTube vids, maps , collectionlists.
My personal taste is for so called immersion zoo with thematic aproach, i like animals sorted by geological location.
 
Sneeuwpanter said:
Loro Parc is not on Spain Mainland
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No but it is part of Spain so therefore it does count as a Spanish zoo. Just like how Jersey Zoo isn't on the mainland but would be considered in the list of UK zoos as Jersey is part of the UK. Again, Northern Ireland is part of the UK but on the island of Ireland :)
 
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List has been updated after talking to a contact who has been to both Valencia and Loro and asking which one they preferred and why.

So now we just have Hungary and Germany left!!

Albania = Tirana Zoo
Austria = Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Belarus = Minsk Zoo
Belgium = Pairi Daiza
Bosnia and Herzegovina = Pionirska Dolina
Bulgaria = Sofia Zoo
Croatia = Zagreb Zoo
Cyprus = Limassol Zoo
Czech Republic = Zoo Praha
Denmark = Copenhagen Zoo
Estonia = Tallinn Zoo
Finland = Helsinki Zoo
France = ZooParc de Beauval
Germany = Berlin Zoo or Leipzig Zoo(?)
Gibraltar = Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
Greece = Attica Zoo
Hungary = Sosto Zoo or Budapest Zoo(?)
Ireland = Dublin Zoo
Italy = Parco Natura Viva
Latvia = Riga Zoo
Lithuania = Kaunas Zoo
Luxembourg = Parc Merveilleux
Macedonia = Skopje Zoo
Moldova = Chișinău Zoo
Monaco = Jardin Animalier de Monaco
Netherlands = Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo
Norway = Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park
Poland = Wroclaw Zoo
Portugal = Lisbon Zoo
Romania = La Gradina Zoo
Russia = Moskva Zoo
Serbia = Belgrade Zoo
Slovakia = Bojnice Zoo
Slovenia = Ljubljana Zoo
Spain = Bioparc Valencia
Sweden = Kolmården Wildlife Park
Switzerland = Zoo Zurich
Turkey = Ankara Zoo
Ukraine = Nikolaev Zoo
United Kingdom = Chester Zoo
 
I believe that, the medium-sized Palic zoo (in the Northern Serbian town of Subotica - near Hungary), has overall better enclosure quality than Belgrade zoo. The Palic zoo is a candidate member for joining EAZA (it also holds Rothschild's giraffes, dorcas gazelles (that are regularly exchanged with those in Belgrade), and Asian elephants), while Belgrade is not an EAZA-candidate. Belgrade is richer on species than Palic, but the park seems pretty crowded, there is not much room left in the zoo, and many enclosures have concrete floor (I will soon, write a report of my visit to Belgrade zoo).
 
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As for Denmark, my impression is that most people who've visited both Copenhagen and Odense enjoy Odense the most, because the exhibitry quality is - on average - higher in Odense. To me, it's a tie between Odense and Copenhagen - Odense has fewer mediocre/bad exhibits and a more pleasant setting, but Copenhagen has more species, more rarities, a more diverse collection overall, and more development.

But I think the general zoo fan consensus is that Odense is slightly better.
 
Loro Parc is the best Spanish zoo I've been to (better than Valencia) I enjoyed Plzen as much as Prague. Andorra has a zoo called Naturlandia, I've never been.
 
Albania = Tirana Zoo
Austria = Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Belarus = Minsk Zoo
Belgium = Pairi Daiza
Bosnia and Herzegovina = Pionirska Dolina
Bulgaria = Sofia Zoo
Croatia = Zagreb Zoo
Cyprus = Limassol Zoo
Czech Republic = Zoo Praha
Denmark = Copenhagen Zoo
Estonia = Tallinn Zoo
Finland = Helsinki Zoo
France = ZooParc de Beauval
Germany = Berlin Zoo or Leipzig Zoo(?)
Gibraltar = Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
Greece = Attica Zoo
Hungary = Sosto Zoo or Budapest Zoo(?)
Ireland = Dublin Zoo
Italy = Parco Natura Viva
Latvia = Riga Zoo
Lithuania = Kaunas Zoo
Luxembourg = Parc Merveilleux
Macedonia = Skopje Zoo
Moldova = Chișinău Zoo
Monaco = Jardin Animalier de Monaco
Netherlands = Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo
Norway = Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park
Poland = Wroclaw Zoo
Portugal = Lisbon Zoo
Romania = La Gradina Zoo
Russia = Moskva Zoo
Serbia = Belgrade Zoo
Slovakia = Bojnice Zoo
Slovenia = Ljubljana Zoo
Spain = Loro Parque
Sweden = Kolmården Wildlife Park
Switzerland = Zoo Zurich
Turkey = Ankara Zoo
Ukraine = Nikolaev Zoo
United Kingdom = Chester Zoo
 
Odd that for Belgium I'm constantly seeing Pairi Daiza and Planckendael pop up, whereas I prefer Antwerp's zoo to both of those in collection, history, architecture, and honestly just about everything else! (except for elephant exhibits I suppose, the other 2 have Antwerp beat in that aspect by a long shot).
Perhaps that might be because of a slight bias as it is my home zoo, however. :P
 
As for The Netherlands, I prefer Blijdorp to Burgers. Burgers do have some amazing indoor ecosystems, but Blijdorp is way more 'complete' in my opinion.
Also, though Prague is an amazing zoo, I still like Plzen better in collection and appearance.
 
So Jersey should be on the list with Jersey zoo.

I prefer London and Bristol zoos more than Chester.
 
And what about Romania? La Gradina Zoo means a zoological garden. Which zoo do you mean? Tigru Mures, Brasov or Bucuresti?
 
Arek said:
And what about Romania? La Gradina Zoo means a zoological garden. Which zoo do you mean? Tigru Mures, Brasov or Bucuresti?
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I meant Tigru Mures. After putting it to a vote with various zoogoer friends of mine, the final list has been decided!
 
Albania = Tirana Zoo
Austria = Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Belarus = Minsk Zoo
Belgium = Pairi Daiza
Bosnia and Herzegovina = Pionirska Dolina
Bulgaria = Sofia Zoo
Croatia = Zagreb Zoo
Cyprus = Limassol Zoo
Czech Republic = Zoo Praha
Denmark = Copenhagen Zoo
Estonia = Tallinn Zoo
Finland = Helsinki Zoo
France = ZooParc de Beauval
Germany = Leipzig Zoo
Gibraltar = Alameda Wildlife Conservation Park
Greece = Attica Zoo
Hungary = Budapest Zoo
Ireland = Dublin Zoo
Italy = Parco Natura Viva
Latvia = Riga Zoo
Lithuania = Kaunas Zoo
Luxembourg = Parc Merveilleux
Macedonia = Skopje Zoo
Moldova = Chișinău Zoo
Monaco = Jardin Animalier de Monaco
Netherlands = Koninklijke Burgers' Zoo
Norway = Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park
Poland = Wroclaw Zoo
Portugal = Lisbon Zoo
Romania = Zoo Tirgu-Mures
Russia = Moskva Zoo
Serbia = Belgrade Zoo
Slovakia = Bojnice Zoo
Slovenia = Ljubljana Zoo
Spain = Loro Parque
Sweden = Kolmården Wildlife Park
Switzerland = Zoo Zurich
Turkey = Ankara Zoo
Ukraine = Nikolaev Zoo
United Kingdom = Chester Zoo
 
Of course it's completely down to each person's opinion, but based off of a number of reviews and personal accounts I've put together this list :)
 
CGSwans said:
According to the web Tayto Park costs €28 and Dublin €17.50..
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Tayto park costs 15e to enter the park/zoo the extra cost quoted above includes an armband for use of the rides.
Although Dublin is probably a far superior Zoo, I personnally prefer Tayto as it has lots of less commonly seen species and regularly adds new species/exhibits.
 
In my opinion, the best animal collection in Spain (Iberian Peninsula) are Barcelona by far. Maybe Madrid "wins" in mammals Species, but in numbers of reptiles, amphibians and birds Sp. Barcelona it's better that Madrid or Valencia.

For me, in France the best zoo I visited talking about animal collection it's Beauval, but for "exhibit and general atmosphere" the best it's Doué-La Fontaine.
In the Netherlands I liked very much Artis than Blijdorp, and Burguers disappointed me a lot. Too many fake rock, but a big lack of animals.
 
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I enjoyed Valencia more than Madrid, Loro Parque and Barcelona.
But, if I had a better car and better weather on the day, I might have enjoyed Cabarceno as much as Valencia.
 
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