Hello.
Animal housing-wise, I divide zoos into three types: indoor, outdoor and mixed.
Indoor zoos are zoos that house all (or at least most) of their animals inside buildings such as aquaria, paludaria, reptile or tropical greenhouses. This concept of zoo is more common in colder or hotter areas where keeping tropical species outside is either too risky or expensive.
Examples of indoor zoos include:
Projeto Selva Viva,
Montreal Biodome,
Randers Regnskov,
Birds of Eden Free Flight Sanctuary,
Kobe Animal Kingdom,
Cairns Wildlife Dome.
Outdoor zoos are zoos that house all (or at least most) of their animals in open-air enclosures. This concept of zoo is widespread worldwide.
Mixed zoos are zoos that house their animals both inside buildings and open-air enclosures. This concept of zoo is widespread worldwide.
Most zoos are either entirely outdoor or mixed.
It's vital to keep in mind that not every zoo is the same. Many are awful for many reasons, but it usually comes down to their goals as institutions or a lack of expertise and funding.
Now, for other types of zoo I can think of from the top of my head.
Animal Theme Parks: they are hybrids between theme parks and zoos. They have both rides and wild animals, many of which are displayed the safari way.
Examples of animal theme parks include:
Animália Park,
Disney's Animal Kingdom,
Busch Gardens Tampa,
Six Flags Great Adventure.
Aquaria: their main attraction is aquatic and semiaquatic species, but most also display terrestrial animals.
Examples of aquariums incude:
São Paulo Aquarium,
Georgia Aquarium,
L'Oceanogràfic,
uShaka Marine World,
Okinawa Churami Aquarium,
Aquarium of Western Australia.
- Some aquariums can also be dedicated to certain groups of aquatic animals. The main examples would be
marine aquariums (also called
oceanariums) which, in theory, exclusively keep marine animals.
@Jana also mentioned
jellyfish aquariums, like
Svět Medúz.
Examples of marine aquariums include:
AquaRio,
Lisbon Oceanarium.
- If an aquarium has cetaceans and pinnipeds as its main attraction, they probably offer shows in which these animals perform acrobatics. Therefore, many earn the name
marine mammal parks.
Examples of marine mammal parks include:
Mundo Marino,
SeaWorld,
Zoomarine, (one of the closest places to a dolphinarium in Africa is
Friguia Park),
Dubai Dolphinarium,
Dolphin Marine Magic.
Bear parks: their main attraction is bears.
Examples of bear parks include:
Bearizona,
BärenPark Bern.
Biome/Continent/Region-based zoos: their main attraction is species native to the biome, continent or region said zoo revolves around.
Examples of region-based zoos include:
Parque das Aves,
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum,
Nordens Ark,
Tsimbazaza Zoo,
Arabia Wildlife Center,
Darling Downs Zoo.
Bird parks: their main attraction is birds, but most also display other animals. Many hold a lot of their more docile residents in mixed walkthrough enclosures.
Examples of bird parks include:
Parque das Aves,
National Aviary,
Loro Parque,
Vallée des Oiseaux,
Mandai Wildlife Reserve,
BirdWorld.
- Many bird parks focus either on holding birds of prey (
e.g. Parque dos Falcões and
Les Aigles du Léman) or parrots (
e.g. Loro Parque). Since both are highly intelligent animals, these zoos usually offer shows in which these birds perform free flights or solve puzzles.
Butterfly parks/Insect zoos: their main attraction is butterflies and moths, but most also display other arthropods.
Examples of butterfly parks include:
Borboletário de Osasco,
Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center,
Papiliorama,
Exotic Animal World,
Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park,
Australian Butterfly Sanctuary.
São Paulo has an insect zoo.
Cat parks: their main attraction is felids, but many also hold other carnivorans and some primates.
Examples of cat parks include:
Parc des Félins.
- The controversial tiger temples fall under this category, as well as a few roadside zoos. They are places where you are allowed to pet some of the world's most dangerous animals while they are "sleeping".
Conservation, rescue and research facilites: availability to the general public varies from facility to facility. These places usually focus on a certain group of animals (
e.g. tropical species, ungulates,
etc.) or on a specific species. They can also serve as rehab centers if located near areas to which their residents are native.
Examples of conservation and research facilities include:
NUPECCE,
Center for Conservation of Tropical Ungulates,
ACTP (I know this one's controversial),
CTC Conservation Center,
Endangered Primate Rescue Centre,
The National Kiwi Centre.
Deer parks: their main attraction is deer, but many also hold local wildlife.
Examples of deer parks include:
Wisconsin Deer Park,
Staglands.
- Some deer parks have walkthrough exhibits where you can interact with some of the more docile residents.
Minizoos/Petting zoos/Little farms: their main attraction is farm/domesticated animals. They are one of the best kinds of zoo for children, as they are allowed to interact with the residents while learning about them and having new experiences.
Examples of minizoos include:
Dreams Ecopark,
Petting Zoo Ocala,
Knies Kinderzoo,
Haven Zoo,
Hay Dairies Goat Farm,
Wai Ariki Farm Park.
Native fauna parks: their main attraction is local (and introduced) wildlife ("local" as in "native to biome, state, country or continent"). Most small zoos in emerging and least developed countries are also what you'd call "native fauna parks", although not for the right reasons.
Examples of native fauna parks include:
GramadoZoo,
Parque Biológico de Gaia,
Qinghai Tibet Plateau Wildlife Zoo,
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Primate parks: their main attraction is primates, but many also hold other species of animals.
Examples of primate parks include:
Apenheul.
Ranches: owned by private individuals. The owners usually decide who gets to visit said places. They can have many species, but the three main groups usually held are big cats, birds and ungulates.
Reptile parks: their main attraction is reptiles, but other cold-blooded animals are also common residents.
Examples of reptile parks include:
Museu Vivo Répteis da Caatinga,
The Reptile Zoo,
National Reptile Zoo,
Kalimba Reptile Park,
iZoo,
Australian Reptile Park.
- In a similar tone to bird parks, many reptile parks focus on either crocodilians or snakes. This, usually happens because many of them started off as antidote farms (in the case of snakes) or leather farms (in the case of alligators and crocodiles).
Safari parks: a different type of zoo. Instead of the visitor being separated by a wall from the animals, which are confined in enclosures, the public is trapped inside their vehicles while the residents roam freely. Their main attraction usually consists of a big mixed exhibit containing African or Asian herbivores. Sometimes, they offer you food so you can feed the plant-eating animals.
Examples of safari parks include:
Safari Rancagua,
San Diego Zoo Safari Park,
Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno,
Africa Safari Park,
Sharjah Safari Park,
Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
-
Singapore Night Safari offers its visitors a safari ride at night.
Sanctuaries (the ones in the Americas and Europe) are theoretically not open for visits. Many, however, have decided to open their doors to visitors so they can learn about their residents, usually animals coming from circuses and roadside zoos, as well as specimens with zero or low conservational value (
e.g. generic and white tigers).
- There is another type of sanctuary that is common in Southern, Eastern and Central Africa. They are located near or in savannas and usually serve as breeding and rehab centers and as permanent shelters for animals that cannot go back to the wild. Many, like the
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, are open to the public. Since many hold baby animals orphaned by poaching, they earn the name
orphanages. These orphanages are not exclusive to Africa, though, as Sri Lanka and Indonesia have notable ones for elephants and orangutans, respectively.
Venomous animal collections: their main attraction is poisonous and venomous animals. Some are owned by the government and are part of wider research facilities.
Examples of venomous animal collections include:
Museu Biológico do Instituto Butantan,
Kentucky Reptile Zoo,
Welt Der Gifte Salzburg,
Australian Venom Zoo.
*One zoo can use multiple of these conceptions simultaneously.
Some places such as amusement parks, botanical gardens, city parks, hotels, museums, roadside attractions and universities also often have live animals on display.
