Which UK Zoo could do with an upgrade ?

I think London is the obvious answer, frankly it needs gutting and rebuilding in a way reflective of its heritage, but modern and appropriate for such a historic establishment.

In fact, its difficult to think beyond London in answer to that question.
 
Regents Park has to be top of any list though given the pull in various directions (finance, heritage, public interest, conservation value, history etc) it's really hard to see how a practical scheme could be pursued.
 
London has plans in progress or about to start for the renovation of the Snowdon Aviary and the new reptile exhibits, with renovation of the Reptile House to follow. That appears to me to be a better situation than the one at Paignton, where there are still so many empty paddocks, aviaries and exhibits. I understand the combination of problems that have led to this situation, but, to the best of my knowledge, no plans for the future have been announced. There is much to done to restore the zoo to the situation it was in just 4 years ago, when bovine TB was detected in some hoofstock.
 
I'd like to see Blackpool's lion and tiger housing get an upgrade/improvement.
I did the big cat experience there 5 years ago and the keeper I did it with mentioned they were hoping for that to be the next area to be worked on after project elephant was completed.
 
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gentle lemur said:
London has plans in progress or about to start for the renovation of the Snowdon Aviary and the new reptile exhibits, with renovation of the Reptile House to follow. That appears to me to be a better situation than the one at Paignton, where there are still so many empty paddocks, aviaries and exhibits. I understand the combination of problems that have led to this situation, but, to the best of my knowledge, no plans for the future have been announced. There is much to done to restore the zoo to the situation it was in just 4 years ago, when bovine TB was detected in some hoofstock.
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Because of all the Covid restrictions over the past 18 months or so, my zoo visiting has been restricted to Paignton and I've tried to stay loyal and support it. However, having just ventured to Colchester, I've had my eyes reopened as to what zoos can still be like. I have to say that Paignton doesn't come out well in comparison and I can understand why visitors don't feel they are getting their money's worth. No tumbleweed blowing around at Colchester (or bindweed, nettles and brambles).
 
Although I haven't been to London in 18 months now (but hope to remedy that in the near future), it does sound like they are doing a few things here and there to move forwards within the framework of what they have. It will be interesting to see the new Reptile area, and the revamped Snowdon (lets hope it does as expected and bring more footfall to the north bank, and hopefully start some more revamp work of those old aviaries).

As much as it would pain me to see such iconic structures go, I do think the Mappins have had their day. I know they are listed, but without some serious work they will surely be structurally unsound in the near future (if not already!).

I would also mention Dudley's loo facilities, they were pretty bad two years ago, hope they are on a list of upgrades there
 
I used to love going to Drayton Manor's zoo as a child but in recent years I felt that majority of the enclosures were poor and in desperate need of a revamp.

Now, I know they have been making some improvements as of lately (with the Meerkat enclosure and an exhibit for Radiated tortoises in the Reptile house), but certain areas still look a bit cramped like the Tiger enclosure and cat enclosures. The former Black leopard exhibit does not look as appropriate for even Red pandas....
 
Animallover1998 said:
I used to love going to Drayton Manor's zoo as a child but in recent years I felt that majority of the enclosures were poor and in desperate need of a revamp.

Now, I know they have been making some improvements as of lately (with the Meerkat enclosure and an exhibit for Radiated tortoises in the Reptile house), but certain areas still look a bit cramped like the Tiger enclosure and cat enclosures. The former Black leopard exhibit does not look as appropriate for even Red pandas....
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I live within walking distance from Drayton manor and I couldn't agree more. It has a great reptile and bird collection as well as some interesting mammals such as dusky pademelon, sumatran tiger, sulawesi macaque, red kangaroo, lowland anoa and fishing cat but the vast majority of the zoo is outdated. There is so much potential because the paddock areas where the kangaroo, tapir capybara etc are kept is a huge area which could easily be redesigned into a few large enclosures for the zoos tigers or even introducing other species to the zoo like rhino, giraffe or even bears. I really hope that in the near future drayton manor zoo gets the major upgrade it deserves. Theme parks with zoos can work really well (Chessington, Flamingo land etc) so with a bit of time and money Drayton manor zoo could be a huge success.
 
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