What zoos do you regret visiting?

WufflePenguins

WufflePenguins

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For me I regretted visiting Taipei Zoo for a few reasons.

1. I put the zoo on my family itinerary, only for my family to spend 3-4 hours there. We practically rushed through everything.

2. My family decided to see the more popular animals instead of the rarer species. We missed the formosan animals exhibit as my family wanted to see koalas (displayed at the singapore zoo, and I live in singapore)

3. Not taking photographs when I had a phone.

So I felt the trip was a disappointing way to spend the time at the area.
 
I regret visiting two collections and those are Wales Ape and Monkey “Sanctuary” and George Wildlife Park.
Reasons for regretting going too Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary are:
1) mostly small cages
2) are very anti zoo
3) not much enrichment for the animals
Reasons for regretting going too George Wildlife Park;
1) it’s just a row of big and small cats
2) no enrichment
3) nothing else to do
4) bland enclosures
 
I somewhat regret visiting Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park in Alto, MI, as though I knew it was a private facility the average quality of the animal enclosures was much worse than I was expecting. Sticking out in particular were a habitat for Asian small-clawed otters about the size of a single-use restroom and a corn cage for coatis with little more complexity than a single branch sticking though the middle. I also learned soon after my visit that they also have an annual event where guests can come to pet the offspring of various wild ungulates which are kept together in tiny corals, which definitely doesn’t seem like it would be good for the animals nor educational to visitors. I also saw a picture from the same event where a few ring-tailed lemurs were squished into a tiny cage like the kind that would normally house a small mammal pet, completely out in the open for people to gawk at from all angles.

In addition to the animal welfare concerns, they also didn’t have some of the species rare in the AZA I was hoping to see and which were still listed on their website, such as striped hyena and black-backed jackal, though I did at least see my first and so far only black wildebeest.
 
For me, it would have to be the Honolulu Zoo by a long shot. Yes, it was nice to see a large flock of Nene geese, a black rhino calf (at the time of my visit), and my very first aardvark and Japanese Giant Salamanders (albeit from less-than-ideal positions).

At the same time, however, the vast majority of their current enclosures (with a few exceptions) were dreadfully outdated. Not to mention that my visit took place on a bright sunny day in July, which in Oahu (Hawaii) is just about as miserable as you can imagine.

If I ever find myself visiting a zoo in the Hawaiian Islands ever again, it will certainly not be the Honolulu Zoo!
 
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I don't regret the facilities themselves but I've had a few bad trips.

I visited Peoria Zoo and due to issues with transportation, arrived late (an hour before closing) and never entered the facility proper. Staff were kind enough to warn us animals were already inside.

I reached the London Aquarium/Sea Life without an advance ticket, similar issue as above.

Finally, I have been inside Detroit Zoo but we arrived late and only did two exhibits in one hour before we had to leave early as a family member experienced a health issue. The staff were very kind, patient and understanding but my family member's situation made me regret it. I look forward to visiting again solo.
 
New Delhi Zoo.

Utterly miserable place. Very dirty, poor animal welfare, and several no-shows.

Though that was in 2011 so I'd hope they changed but considering what I know about India, probably not
 
I once missed a flight because I had crammed a trip to the zoo in my schedule that I realistically didn't have time for... I wish I was joking.

The zoo in question was Tierpark Hagenbeck. It was the most expensive zoo trip of my life.
 
I found Sea Life Kansas City remarkably underwhelming. But I grew up going to the Mall of America location which in hindsight created some unrealistic expectations.
 
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There are no zoos I regret visiting but there are some I wouldn't revisit unless they underwent a huge upgrade. Having said that, the worst zoo I ever visited was the old Valencia zoo.
 
Even the worst zoos I’ve visited have allowed me to encounter unique animals I would have never otherwise seen, and I’ll cherish those memories if nothing else.

That said, you couldn’t pay me to go back to Virginia Aquarium.
 
I've been to my fair share of poor and/or underwhelming facilities, but I can't say I regret going to any of them.
 
I've visited worse zoos than Ouwehands, but that's still the only zoo I really regret going to. There's so many bad enclosures mixed in with some really good ones and it just speaks to the horrible management of the park. Ancient 1940s exhibits right next to the new Giant panda complex. An unskippable gift shop stuffed to the brim with overpriced panda plushies, and the whole place reeks of missed potential.

To top it off, the aquarium was closed and half the terrariums had "new animals coming soon" signs on them, which looked like they had been there a while. I knew the zoo wasn't great but I was planning on taking notes for my zoo guides and then not visit again for a while, but with so many empty exhibits and the bad state of the zoo, I wasn't able to take any proper notes and I decided to pretty much never visit this zoo again...
 
I think the one place I truly regret visiting was a former aquarium in St David's in Pembrokeshire (Googling it, I think it may have been called St David's Marine Life Centre). Definitely the worst place I have ever visited - it had tanks full of dead animals, and most of the larger fish were missing one or both eyes.
 
Pymatuning Deer Park. The only zoo I have regretted visiting. Going there as a kid, it seemed innocent enough. But then my dumb self finally realized the cruelty of the place. Animals where in cages. In my first visit there was a bear cub in a small cage... Poor animal, plus the infamous Black Bear pit... We could've gone to Erie Zoo multiple times instead of Pymatuning Deer Park. I hope it shuts down.
 
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