What zoo improved the most in recent years?

Emanuel Theodorus

Emanuel Theodorus

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
There's a discussion on zoos that are declining over the past few years, now I'm wondering, what zoos have really improved over the past recent years, in the sense of in this era it's their most thriving era with so many improvements over old exhibits and introduced tons of brand new ones in the area? The first zoo that comes to my mind is easily Houston Zoo, it's probably not a top 10 zoo back in 2014 but it for sure is now. With tons of renovation of their elephant exhibit, their sea lion exhibit, and introducing new exhibits like South American Pantanal and Texan Wetlands, it's definitely a world class zoo everyone must visit now.
 
Wildlife World in Arizona has improved immensely in the last 20 years. They added a large aquarium, and two huge new sections. The design of Adventureland is spotty, but the Safari Park area is really well done. They are also renovating parts of the Original Zoo over time, but being a private zoo they don't have the funds to do things like a pubic zoo often does. Their species list is also mind boggling.
 
From a US perspective: Omaha, Houston, Fort Worth, Lincoln Park, Fresno, Cheyenne Mountain and Nashville have all seen tremendous improvement over the last decade. The amount of investment that these seven facilities have seen over a 10 years period is extraordinary.
 
From a UK point of view, Yorkshire Wildlife Park has to be mentioned. What originally started as a small zoo with a few oddities has grown to have a huge ABC mammal collection.

In the past decade the zoo has opened what might be the best sea lion enclosure in the country, successfully bred prominent species like black rhinos and giant otters, and introduced some more unusual species like smooth-coated otter, Venezuelan red howler, and okapi. It's biggest claim to fame is being the first English zoo in decades to hold polar bears, in some really great enclosures at that.

Currently it has one of the best large mammal collections in the UK and if it expanded its bird and reptile collection it would be a solid contender for one of the very best in the country.
 
Cleveland has made many renovations to exhibits over the past 10 years:
  • Tiger Passage
  • Asian Highlands
  • Rhino Reserve
  • Primate Forest
  • Bear Hollow
While it still has a handful of exhibits that need work (Looking at you, seals and American bears), it feels like a completely different zoo from this time in 2014
 
pachyderm pro said:
From a US perspective: Omaha, Houston, Fort Worth, Lincoln Park, Fresno, Cheyenne Mountain and Nashville have all seen tremendous improvement over the last decade. The amount of investment that these seven facilities have seen over a 10 years period is extraordinary.
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Follow-up: To emphasize how these zoos in particular have drastically improved in recent years, here's a complete timeline of developments from over the last decade or so for each of them, plus some projects for the imminent future. I didn't do the math myself, but this has to be somewhere north of a billion US dollars in upgrades between them all.

Omaha
2016: African Grasslands, Alaskan Adventures Waterpark
2017: Children's Adventure Trails
2018: Asian Highlands Phase I
2019: Asian Highlands Phase II, Glacier Bay Landing Plaza
2020: Sea Lion Shores
2021: Gorilla Valley Renovation, Simmons Aviary Renovation, Stingray Pavilion, Event Center
2022: Desert Dome Plaza
2024: Orangutan Forest

Houston
2017: Bull Elephant Yard Expansion
2018: Black Bear Exhibit Renovation
2019: Texas Wetlands
2020: South American Pantanal, Orangutan Exhibit Renovation
2021: Renovated Main Entrance and Plaza
2023: Galapagos Islands
2024: Birds of the World
2025: Jack's Cafe

Fort Worth
2018: African Savanna
2022: Elephant Springs
2023: Predators of Africa & Asia
2026: Jungles & Forests of the World

Lincoln Park
2015: Macaque Forest
2016: Arctic Tundra, Penguin Cove, Renovated Seal Pool
2017: Learning Center
2018: New Entrance & Visitor Center
2021: Lion House Renovation

Fresno
2012: Sea Lion Cove
2015: African Adventure
2019: Warthog Exhibit
2023: Kingdoms of Asia
2024: Conservation Action Center

Cheyenne Mountain
2013: Encounter Africa
2020: Water's Edge: Africa
2021: Demolition of Monkey Pavilion
2025(?): Great Ape Exhibits

Nashville
2016: Entry Village
2017: Mexican Spider Monkey Exhibit
2018: Expedition Peru: Trek of the Andean Bear
2019: Tiger Crossroads, Veterinary Center
2023: Komodo Dragon Exhibit
2024: Leopard Forest
2025+: African River Safari (multiple phases)
 
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I know I’ve said this on other threads, but ZooWorld has really improved greatly. I have memories of going as a child and disliking it, (it didn’t help that my grandmother fell on the horribly jagged pathways). It’s really improved with new management, (new species being introduced, exhibit renovations, etc.)
 
In France the best improvement may have happened in the Bassin d'Arcachon Zoo that looked awful 20 years ago according on web pictures (I never visited it) and that became a reference later with a lot of new zones that look very interesting (the latest being the African primate complex).
 
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has turned itself around magnificently - around a decade ago, controversy surrounding the origin of its tigers and continued breeding of hybrid giraffes led to its expulsion from BIAZA, while zoo enthusiasts detested it for its inaccurate signage and emphasis on children's play areas over exhibitry. The decade since then has seen the opening of the largest elephant complex in Northern Europe housing a bachelor group of Africans, the opening of an excellent South American zone featuring commonplace species (Capybara and Brazilian Tapir) in brilliant enclosures and some rarities (the only Spix's Guan in Europe), a brand new Aldabra Giant Tortoise house offering an enormous amount of space, and a wonderful mixed-species enclosure for Spectacled Bears and Ring-tailed Coatis, which is the largest in the UK and produced cubs just two years ago. In 2019 (?) they got their BIAZA membership back, and have overall seen themselves evolve from one of the worst (or at the very least most controversial) zoos in the country, to a genuine contender for top 20. Far from a perfect zoo, but definitely a much-improved one.
 
Kalaw said:
Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has turned itself around magnificently - around a decade ago, controversy surrounding the origin of its tigers and continued breeding of hybrid giraffes led to its expulsion from BIAZA, while zoo enthusiasts detested it for its inaccurate signage and emphasis on children's play areas over exhibitry. The decade since then has seen the opening of the largest elephant complex in Northern Europe housing a bachelor group of Africans, the opening of an excellent South American zone featuring commonplace species (Capybara and Brazilian Tapir) in brilliant enclosures and some rarities (the only Spix's Guan in Europe), a brand new Aldabra Giant Tortoise house offering an enormous amount of space, and a wonderful mixed-species enclosure for Spectacled Bears and Ring-tailed Coatis, which is the largest in the UK and produced cubs just two years ago. In 2019 (?) they got their BIAZA membership back, and have overall seen themselves evolve from one of the worst (or at the very least most controversial) zoos in the country, to a genuine contender for top 20. Far from a perfect zoo, but definitely a much-improved one.
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Does it still exist the creationist messages and information in this zoo?
 
I would say that Wingham wildlife park has improved it's exhibit design, with the exception of their penguin pool. for example, here is their Giraffe exhibit.
DSC07388.jpg
 
Does anyone know if Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm have officially changed their stance and distanced themselves from the past positioning?

One zoo which might not be obvious in undergoing enormous change is Vienna.

This has taken place over a couple of decades and I am not experienced enough to know all the details.

My understanding is that in the 80s to early 90s it was seen as an old-fashioned zoo in stagnation and yet is now one of the best in Europe.
 
Cobi said:
My understanding is that in the 80s to early 90s it was seen as an old-fashioned zoo in stagnation and yet is now one of the best in Europe.
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Would that really be recent though? :rolleyes:

An improved zoo that comes to my mind is Zie Zoo. It went from a small hobbyist collection to an EAZA member. The old garden area still felt cramped on my visit in 2022, but the zoo does have plans to improve the area for the animals in the area so this is a zoo to keep an eye on.
 
If we are going to include the eighties and nineties, then Zurich, Burgers', Beauval, Chester, and several other of Europe's greatest zoos will have to be included, as all the world-beating exhibits that make them unique and great came after that time frame...
 
Cobi said:
Depends on how you define it. Not sure how your comment adds to the conversation though.
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Sure the OP @Emanuel Theodorus should have been more clear when defining “recent years”. When some of the posts before yours and mine brought up the last ten years, I am sure saying that the 80s to early 90s is not recent does add something to the discussion.
 
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