What zoo do you think is near perfect? Or close enough?

For me the most perfect zoo I've been to is Burgers'. I tend to rate animal welfare above anything else, but a nice and diverse collection is also very important. Though it has it's few outdated enclosures, in general most of their enclosure are world-class for the animals and age very well. They also have a very high degree of coöperation with in-situ projects and transparency to the public, both very important in my opinion.

The lesser things their for me would be their gorilla-tunnel, the lynx b.t.s. enclosures, the aardvark exhibit, the capybara exhibit and the lack of separation exhibits for the bears. Their jackal, otter, bighorn sheep, elephant and reindeer enclosures aren't huge but they do seem to be sufficiënt for the current animals.

On to the greatest things. Of-course their huge halls are great, each in their own realm. Most of their reptile enclosure are great, their terraria are spacious and large even the older ones in the desert. The Ape-islands are large and well-structured, I love their savanna possibly even more because they didn't make a failed attempt at theming but used the local landscape. The Ocean is by far my favorite aquarium as it has an array of large and modestly stocked tanks, not small tanks centered around a huge overstocked tank. Too many aquaria just fill their tanks to the brim. Their coral reproduction on a large scale is also amazing as they do it in the main reef tank.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Well, fair enough then, I think for me their history and role in conservation is the attraction and significant factor that makes me rate them higher.

I think it is pertinent to remember that many of the mammal species that you will have seen in zoos on the mainland UK could only be seen there thanks to the historic efforts of the Durrell trust. Species like the Livingstones and Rodrigues fruit bats, Malagasy giant jumping rat, pied tamarin, aye aye etc.

Have you seen a black lion tamarin or a Malagasy big headed turtle ?

There are species that Jersey currently hold and that they will probably hold in the future that will be difficult or impossible to see out of their range countries.
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I was fortunate to see black lion tamarin at Bristol a couple of times before they lost them, I haven't seen the turtle though.
I do appreciate Jersey's contribution to breeding programmes ongoing in the UK.
I'm sure I will visit one day, but I have other priorities for visits first (a lot of them).
 
pipaluk said:
I was fortunate to see black lion tamarin at Bristol a couple of times before they lost them, I haven't seen the turtle though.
I do appreciate Jersey's contribution to breeding programmes ongoing in the UK.
I'm sure I will visit one day, but I have other priorities for visits first (a lot of them).
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They just need to send the meerkats, ring tailed lemurs and asian short claw otters to somewhere else and they would be a stellar collection IMO.

Yes, I remember seeing the black lion tamarins many years ago at Bristol too.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Well, fair enough then, I think for me their history and role in conservation is the attraction and significant factor that makes me rate them higher.

I think it is pertinent to remember that many of the mammal species that you will have seen in zoos on the mainland UK could only be seen there thanks to the historic efforts of the Durrell trust. Species like the Livingstones and Rodrigues fruit bats, Malagasy giant jumping rat, pied tamarin, aye aye etc. Other species that Jersey have propagated and distributed include Pink Pigeon, Mountain Chicken, Bali Starling, Palawan Peacock Pheasant, Madagascar Teal, Meller’s Duck, Sulawesi Macaque, Alaotra Gentle Lemur, Madagascar Fody, and goodness knows what else.
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Jarne said:
For me the most perfect zoo I've been to is Burgers'. I tend to rate animal welfare above anything else, but a nice and diverse collection is also very important.

.
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I can only agree. Few Zoos combiene this features aswell as burgers. They activily try to remove the outdated areas (like the majority of the bird area). Even though I love birds. The most importent messages a modeen Zoo should fellow is less animals on more space. And to replace non treathet animal with animals in need of conservation.
 
The thing is, when you look at Burgers' remaining bird area it's actually a very nice area for the animals, even though it is quite outdated in some other ways (personally I actually love the simplicity of it). By combining the smaller enclosures they have created decent indoor and outdoor aviaries for the species there. It's simple, it's not really themed but it's a decent home for the birds they can't keep in the larger halls.
 
Surprisingly, no one talked about how great Zürich Zoo is.
Probably the cleanest zoo I've visited and the one that cares the most about the smaller details (theming wise and utility wise). While some of the newer exhibits are not to everyone's taste, they're good for their inhabitants.
It is not perfect, of course, but I think that once the apes are rehoused it might be one of the rare zoos with no bad enclosure and a great number of top tier exhibits.
 
I *really* enjoy the Oregon Zoo, for me its probably the closest to "perfect" that I have personally experienced.

Active and personable social media, the zoo grounds are clean and visually appealing, nice, suitable exhibits, good mix of species, etc...There's very few things I can nitpick about them.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Well, fair enough then, I think for me their history and role in conservation is the attraction and significant factor that makes me rate them higher.
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I think Jersey's main problem nowadays is its geographical location. Its in rather a backwater, being not that easy to get there from the UK i.e. either a flight or a 4 hour+ sea journey to visit one relatively small collection with no others that can be dovetailed into the same trip to make it more worthwhile both economically and timewise. Durrell set it up on what was then a 'holiday isle' (though still a rather expensive one) but nowadays its been left behind by other more exotic destinations which are easily accessible- a bit like the mainland UK seaside resort industry. So Jersey's tourism industry has declined, and perhaps the zoo's visitor numbers in tandem? Not denying its a great collection- I would visit it far more regularly than I have done over the years, if it wasn't where it was geographically. I rather wish he'd been able to buy Upton Park outside Poole in Dorset, instead, which he wasn't able to do.
 
Pertinax said:
I think Jersey's main problem nowadays is its geographical location. Its in rather a backwater, being not that easy to get there from the UK i.e. either a flight or a 4 hour+ sea journey to visit one relatively small collection with no others that can be dovetailed into the same trip to make it more worthwhile both economically and timewise. Durrell set it up on what was then a 'holiday isle' (though still a rather expensive one) but nowadays its been left behind by other more exotic destinations which are easily accessible- a bit like the mainland UK seaside resort industry. So Jersey's tourism industry has declined, and perhaps the zoo's visitor numbers in tandem? Not denying its a great collection- I would visit it far more regularly than I have done over the years, if it wasn't where it was geographically. I rather wish he'd been able to buy Upton Park outside Poole in Dorset, instead, which he wasn't able to do.
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Yes, I agree that the location can contribute to a sense of frustration with zoo visitors and lower visitation numbers.

It is such a shame that it has declined as a tourist destination and the impact this will have on the zoo.

However, could there be a silver lining in the COVID-19 pandemic for Jersey ?

I mean considering that tourism to far off destinations will be disrupted for a while couldn't it be possible that this might encourage more domestic tourism from the UK mainland to Jersey ?
 
Rayane said:
Surprisingly, no one talked about how great Zürich Zoo is.
Probably the cleanest zoo I've visited and the one that cares the most about the smaller details (theming wise and utility wise). While some of the newer exhibits are not to everyone's taste, they're good for their inhabitants.
It is not perfect, of course, but I think that once the apes are rehoused it might be one of the rare zoos with no bad enclosure and a great number of top tier exhibits.
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I wouldn't really call the elephant outdoor enclosures that good, and at least the herd enclosure is actually quite bad when you look at how young it is. It's only about 2500-3000 square meters I believe.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
I mean considering that tourism to far off destinations will be disrupted for a while couldn't it be possible that this might encourage more domestic tourism from the UK mainland to Jersey ?
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Possibly but while the pandemic continues, the same constraints for travel will presumably apply to Jersey regarding flights and boat travel as they do to destinations further afield.. Domestic tourism has seen a major upsurge this year certainly, but its been to places that can be reached more easily, often just for day trips when restrictions on hotel occupancy and lockdowns are in force..Going to Jersey requires similar planning and travel time as say, a trip to France.
 
Jarne said:
I wouldn't really call the elephant outdoor enclosures that good, and at least the herd enclosure is actually quite bad when you look at how young it is. It's only about 2500-3000 square meters I believe.
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As posted elsewhere, size is a very bad indicator for quality of elephant indicators (just look at Pairi Daiza). Research has shown that number of feeding stations and enrichment options are much more important. This is where Zürich excels.
 
lintworm said:
As posted elsewhere, size is a very bad indicator for quality of elephant indicators (just look at Pairi Daiza). Research has shown that number of feeding stations and enrichment options are much more important. This is where Zürich excels.
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Could you send me those studies? Size and enrichment/feeding stations are not unrelated, as bigger sizes allow for more spread out feeding stations and enrichment options motivating animals to move larger distances throughout the day.
 
Based on those studies me calling it bad seems to be a bit excessive, though those studies also acknowledge the importance of space. I'd say the outdoors is not great nor bad in that case. However I do agree it's better then some of the bigger but more bare exhibits in Europe.
 
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