Everyone's favorite popularity contest is back again! In recent years, I have actually avoided voting in the competition as I do not find the results all that telling of the true quality of a facility. Rather I enjoy viewing the results as a measure of local support for the facilities and a great way for the facilities to generate positive media support. Anyways, I post these threads yearly so others can participate if they want to in a convenient way and for civil discussion and criticism to occur. Anyways, these are the nominees this year for the zoo related categories:
Best Zoo Nominees:
1. Alaska Zoo, Anchorage, AK
2. Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, LA
3. Brevard Zoo, Melbourne, FL
4. Bronx Zoo, New York, NY
5. Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, IL
6. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO
7. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Cincinnati, OH
8. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, OH
9. Dallas Zoo, Dallas, TX
10. Denver Zoo, Denver, CO
11. Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, TX
12. Houston Zoo, Houston, TX
13. Memphis Zoo, Memphis, TN
14. Nashville Zoo, Nashville, TN
15. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE
16. Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, PA
17. Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, MO
18. San Diego Zoo, San Diego, CA
19. Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington DC
20. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
Best Aquarium:
1. Adventure Aquarium, Camden, NJ
2. Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, AK
3. Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA
4. Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, LA
5. The Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
6. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA
7. Maui Ocean Center, Maui, HI
8. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA
9. Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT
10. New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
11. New York Aquarium, New York, NY
12. Newport Aquarium, Newport, KY
13. North Carolina Aquariums, NC
14. Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, OR
15. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, TN
16. Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, WA
17. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
18. Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN
19. Texas State Aquarium, Corpus Christi, TX
20. Wonders of Wildlife, Springfield, MO
Best Safari Park:
1. African Safari Wildlife Park, Port Clinton, OH
2. B. Bryan Preserve, Point Arena, CA
3. Bear Country USA, Black Hills, SD
4. Bearizona, Williams, AZ
5. Big Cat Rescue, Tampa, FL
6. Buffalo Safari Jeep Tour, Custer, SD
7.Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, Divide, CO
8. Disney's Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL
9. Global Wildlife, Folsom, LA
10. Keystone Safari, Grove City, PA
11. Lazy 5 Ranch, Mooresville, NC
12. Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park, Ashland, NE
13. Lion Country Safari, Loxahatchee, FL
14. Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, San Antonio, TX
15. Safari West, Santa Rosa, CA
16. San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego, CA
17. Virginia Wildlife Park, Natural Bridge, VA
18. Wild Animal Safari, Pine Mountain, GA
19. Wildlife Safari, Winston, OR
20. The Wilds, Cumberland, OH
Best Zoo Exhibit:
1. Animal Care Center, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
2. Asia Trail, Smithsonian's National Zoo
3. Asian Highlands, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
4. Boyd Family Asian Trek, Zoo Knoxville
5. California Trail, Oakland Zoo
6. Congo Gorilla Forest, Bronx Zoo
7. Crocodile Breeding Center, Zoo Miami
8. Devereaux Tiger Forest, Detroit Zoo
9. Kayaking Tour, Brevard Zoo
10. Land of the Tiger, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
11. Lied Jungle, Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
12. Maniac the Giant Crocodile, Reptile Gardens
13. Museum of Living Art, Fort Worth Zoo
14. River's Edge, Saint Louis Zoo
15. Rocky Mountain Wild, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
16. Simmon's Hippo Outpost, Dallas Zoo
17. Toyota Elephant Passage, Denver Zoo
18. Tropical Rain Forest, Woodland Park Zoo
19. Walkabout Australia, San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Yes there are only 19 nominees for this category for some reason.
Issues with this year's nominees:
Best Zoo Nominees:
1. Alaska Zoo, Anchorage, AK
2. Audubon Zoo, New Orleans, LA
3. Brevard Zoo, Melbourne, FL
4. Bronx Zoo, New York, NY
5. Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, IL
6. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO
7. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens, Cincinnati, OH
8. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Columbus, OH
9. Dallas Zoo, Dallas, TX
10. Denver Zoo, Denver, CO
11. Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, TX
12. Houston Zoo, Houston, TX
13. Memphis Zoo, Memphis, TN
14. Nashville Zoo, Nashville, TN
15. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, NE
16. Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, PA
17. Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, MO
18. San Diego Zoo, San Diego, CA
19. Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington DC
20. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA
Best Aquarium:
1. Adventure Aquarium, Camden, NJ
2. Alaska Sealife Center, Seward, AK
3. Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA
4. Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, LA
5. The Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
6. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, GA
7. Maui Ocean Center, Maui, HI
8. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA
9. Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT
10. New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
11. New York Aquarium, New York, NY
12. Newport Aquarium, Newport, KY
13. North Carolina Aquariums, NC
14. Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, OR
15. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg, TN
16. Seattle Aquarium, Seattle, WA
17. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
18. Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN
19. Texas State Aquarium, Corpus Christi, TX
20. Wonders of Wildlife, Springfield, MO
Best Safari Park:
1. African Safari Wildlife Park, Port Clinton, OH
2. B. Bryan Preserve, Point Arena, CA
3. Bear Country USA, Black Hills, SD
4. Bearizona, Williams, AZ
5. Big Cat Rescue, Tampa, FL
6. Buffalo Safari Jeep Tour, Custer, SD
7.Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, Divide, CO
8. Disney's Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL
9. Global Wildlife, Folsom, LA
10. Keystone Safari, Grove City, PA
11. Lazy 5 Ranch, Mooresville, NC
12. Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park, Ashland, NE
13. Lion Country Safari, Loxahatchee, FL
14. Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, San Antonio, TX
15. Safari West, Santa Rosa, CA
16. San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego, CA
17. Virginia Wildlife Park, Natural Bridge, VA
18. Wild Animal Safari, Pine Mountain, GA
19. Wildlife Safari, Winston, OR
20. The Wilds, Cumberland, OH
Best Zoo Exhibit:
1. Animal Care Center, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
2. Asia Trail, Smithsonian's National Zoo
3. Asian Highlands, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
4. Boyd Family Asian Trek, Zoo Knoxville
5. California Trail, Oakland Zoo
6. Congo Gorilla Forest, Bronx Zoo
7. Crocodile Breeding Center, Zoo Miami
8. Devereaux Tiger Forest, Detroit Zoo
9. Kayaking Tour, Brevard Zoo
10. Land of the Tiger, Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens
11. Lied Jungle, Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
12. Maniac the Giant Crocodile, Reptile Gardens
13. Museum of Living Art, Fort Worth Zoo
14. River's Edge, Saint Louis Zoo
15. Rocky Mountain Wild, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
16. Simmon's Hippo Outpost, Dallas Zoo
17. Toyota Elephant Passage, Denver Zoo
18. Tropical Rain Forest, Woodland Park Zoo
19. Walkabout Australia, San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Yes there are only 19 nominees for this category for some reason.
Issues with this year's nominees:
- The zoo category is missing Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, The Living Desert Zoo, and Oregon Zoo. Replaced by Alaska Zoo, Philadelphia Zoo, and Woodland Park Zoo. Aside from the later, probably not indicative of most people's top zoo lists especially when Brevard Zoo is still on the list.
- Dallas World Aquarium and National Aquarium were not nominated this year. While the replacements of Alaska Sealife Center and New England Aquarium are great facilities, the omission of these two is odd.
- Best Safari Park is all over the place. This was an issue years ago but the category seemed to have gotten better last year when they removed the problematic facilities. All the nominees last year were of good quality at least. This year not so much. For real, Big Cat Rescue?!? Not only is this place of terrible quality, you can barely qualify it as a "safari park" when compared with the other nominees where the main attraction is some sort of vehicle ride to get closer to the animals. Big Cat Rescue is a series of metal cages for former pet cats. They aren't even open to public tours anymore. How can this even be a nominee for a TRAVEL website's "best of" contest? Absurd. Knowing the internet, this facility may very well win the category due to it's infamous owner and appearance in Tiger King.
- Also missing from the Safari Park category are Fossil Rim and White Oak. How? Just how when Natural Bridge (VA) and BCR are included instead?
- The Zoo Exhibit category is also problematic. Missing are universally well loved exhibits Sea Lion Sound (a former category winner), Russia's Grizzly Coast, Elephant Lands, and included are questionable choices Brevard Zoo Kayaking Tour and Maniac the Giant Crocodile. A couple zoos had one exhibit swapped with another at the same facility (Predator Ridge was swapped with Elephant Passage, Sea Lion Sound with River's Edge, Mission: Everglades with Crocodile Breeding Center) and Henry Doorly Zoo had a second nominee (Lied Jungle and Asian Highlands). This is potentially an issue For HDZ as voting is still limited to once per day. Asian Highlands is the winner of the past two year's contests. Adding Lied Jungle (as well deserved as it is) will pull votes from Asian Highlands making it highly unlikely either exhibit will win the category. Weird decision if you ask me.
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