Which zoos to visit?

A

Ara

Well-Known Member
I intend to retire soon, and in retirement I intend to visit Britain.
I've never been there, but I understand that there are some wonderful zoos and bird gardens.

As this forum seems to have a large and enthusiastic membership in Britain, I wonder if some of you kind people would advise me?

Which zoos ( and/or bird parks) should I Visit?
Give me a list of 5 or 6 and tell me why?

Thanks so much.
 
It depends, Do you like birds? If you do then Blackbrook is just brill and then Peter scott's WWT centres are Certainly worth a visit.

Zoos wise:
Chester:- Enclosures are brilliant, large redevelopment programme and lots of unusual animals. The only red billled curassows in the UK.
London:- Some nice enclosures, very wide variety of Animals, The only Woolly necked stork in the UK.

I can't think Of many more on the mainland. I've been mainly to Californian zoos. Of course there is the wonderful Jersey zoo, but it costs a bit to travel out to Jersey.
 
Got to be Chester, as it is easily Britain's best. I've never been to Jersey, but from everything I've ever heard I'd say that would also be worthwhile.

London's pretty good, and is especially interesting from history point of view- some quite dated enclosures etc, but interesting architecture.

And actually yeah, I think Mr Bielby's call of WWT centres is a good one. Check out Slimbridge, great for the bird nerd.
 
It depends on what you like to see. If you just enjoy good zoos then I would say Chester, Edinburgh, London and Marwell for a start.
 
You spelt Beilby Wrong!!!
It's become a motto know. I before E except not after C and in Beilby!!!!

Maybe the John aspinall parks, but then you'll have to like carnivores, monkeys and Ungulates as that's basically all they have!!!
 
Apologies! Would anyone recommend Colchester? I've heard a lot about it but never been. It seems an extensive collection- especially of African mammals.
 
Writhedhornbill said:
You spelt Beilby Wrong!!!
It's become a motto know. I before E except not after C and in Beilby!!!!
Click to expand...

My saying has always been ... "I before E except after C and except for exceptions!" ... and there are plenty of exceptions (gotta love the consistency of the english language)
 
^Chris^ said:
Apologies! Would anyone recommend Colchester? I've heard a lot about it but never been. It seems an extensive collection- especially of African mammals.
Click to expand...

Colchester is actually a very lively, growing collection- some people might even rate it among the top league of zoos in the Uk. It certainly has a very large and continually growing collection of animals. The main problem there is large crowds of visitors and excited small children (yes, I know that's a primary function of any zoo) in confined spaces in parts of the zoo- so I suggest you try and choose a quieter,less 'popular' day for your visit if you can. The 'out of Africa' area with the African savanah-type species(includes White rhino, giraffe, breeding African elephants etc, is newly developed and there is much more room to move around there. A bit like Chester, they are always building new exhibits.
 
Thanks very much for all that, people.

I've now retired (YAY!) and am planning my trip.

Is Twycross any good? (Supposed to have a top primate collection.)
 
Port Lympne is a stunning place. I would also do Island Amazon Adventure, London, Chester, Edinburgh and Colchester.
 
Ara said:
Thanks very much for all that, people.

I've now retired (YAY!) and am planning my trip.

Is Twycross any good? (Supposed to have a top primate collection.)
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the retirement!

Its a good collection and very successful in breeding monkeys but the standard of some of the enclosures aren't that great really- its always been designed in a purely practical way.

Probably worth visiting to see some of the rare animals they've got but not necessarily the enclosures they're in. That said they do seem to be developing and starting to build better exhibits- new elephants and an Amazon house etc with a Bornean house planned.
 
for a range of animals rarely seen in britain yes you have colchester, marwell, howletts/port lympne but at the moment i don't think edinburgh can be bettered
 
I you really want a kaleidoscope view of all good conservation-minded zoos in the UK, you should try Chester, Colchester, Edinburgh, London-Whipsnade and Marwell. They are the main contenders and I guess Bristol is also worth your while.
 
Forward thinking: Port Lympne and Bekesbourne for their far-sighted policy on conservation breeding and reintroduction of captive-born wildliife (black rhinos, Przewalski horses and gorillas) back to the wild.
 
i see blackbrook have imported kelp geese, purple sandpiper, whitenecked raven and squacco heron from a private breeder in germany and are hoping for torrent duck along with the open billed stork
 
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