Worst UK Zoos

[Cat-Man]

the aspinall parks would storm america, but they dont like bars, so

 

[taun]

There are very few actually appalling zoos in the UK, some may not be more than a few acres in size, some may not have any major exhibits made for more than a few quid. But very few are really bad or fall under "worst".

Just because the enclosures are cheap and not particlarly breath-taking do not make them 'bad' exhibits.

Very true foz, there are some unappealing places in the UK but on reflection you actually quite liked the place.

 

[taun]

the aspinall parks would storm america, but they dont like bars, so

I was very dissappointed with the place! Not sure whether I built it all up and when I actually visited I only thought one maybe two enclosure that great.

 

[Mike11]

I was actually very impressed with the Howletts ,Definately my favourite its a very special zoo for me

 

[willtheman45]

Iv'e never visited Howletts but I'd like to as I'd like to form my own opinion on it-it seems to split everyone !

 

[taun]

I was actually very impressed with the Howletts ,Definately my favourite its a very special zoo for me

Don't get me wrong I loved the Gorilla's but some of it was just disappointing.

 

[James27]

A "worst zoos" list shouldn't be too hard to come up with, as the ZooChat gallery is littered with horrible little parks that should really be closed down. Cefn-yr-Erw, Amazona Zoo, Battersea Park Zoo, South Lakes, Dartmoor, Five Sisters, Animalarium, Mole Hall, RSCC, Southport (it's thankfully closed, right?), Shaldon, etc, etc, etc.

Great zoos in the United Kingdom? From thousands of photos, books, fellow ZooChatters, etc, I'd say that Chester looks to be fantastic and the one truly world-class zoo out of the 200 or so in the U.K. Chester can compete with the big guns in other nations, but after that...? Maybe Edinburgh...and is that it? There are some that would argue that the privately-owned facilities Howletts and Port Lympne (even with all that ugly wood and wire around 98% of the enclosures) are top notch so I'll include those and that brings the list up to 4. I'm not talking about average establishments that are more country garden estate than zoo (Cotswold), collections that are impressive but exhibits that are at times horrendous (Twycross, Bristol), or even Durrell Wildlife Trust (which could arguably be on a list of greats simply for its conservation work). London Zoo is puny in size (35 acres), has perhaps not a single great enclosure (only good ones), and almost closed down not too long ago but must be at least average compared to some of the U.K.'s other collections. However, is London Zoo even above average, let alone truly great? Monkey World, Marwell, Whipsnade and Longleat (quite popular) are probably decent and it is interesting that out of the 200 or so zoos in the U.K. only 2 have over a million visitors a year.

The United Kingdom has over 60 million people and lots of average to below average zoos, but is it really going to offend someone if I state that the excellent Chester Zoo is the one and only zoo that can compete with any of the top 20 in the United States? I am not American so there is zero patriotism involved, but several times already on this thread there have been comparisons between U.S. and U.K. zoos. There are plenty of small, crappy zoos in the U.S., but to be honest many of them have been shut down over the last couple of decades. Both the U.K. and the U.S. have lots of disappointing animal menageries, but surely Chester is the ONLY British establishment that is even in the same league as the big guns in the United States. What other zoo is as impressive? You'd have to venture farther afield (Germany, the Netherlands) to find the other great European zoos.

You, Sir, need to visit the UK and see for yourself
Nowt wrong with Shaldon zoo, great little zoo, really relaxed, decent enclosures with some unusual species. Ocelot enclosure is really small though, but I believe they might be getting a new cage. And none of Bristol zoos exhibits are horrendous! The UK is less commercialised than America, so zoos are very different here than they are in the US; We don't see the need for immersion and that, we're happy with our cages that satisfy the animals

 

[snowleopard]

Thankfully most people agreed with my post, and so I didn't manage to rile up any of my British zoo friends. Perhaps I should not have included Shaldon in my long list, but other than that park both the worst and the best were clearly defined in my posting. Chester Zoo strikes me as the obvious candidate to be the U.K.'s # 1 zoo, and as I said before the only one that could seriously challenge the top 20 in the United States. Over here in Canada I live in the world's second largest country and yet there are only really 2 major zoos that are even worth mentioning (Calgary + Toronto) and so I know what it's like to live in a nation that has a lack of top quality animal facilities. Just like the U.K. there are a number of average zoos, but not many truly excellent. I have to drive down south every time I want to visit a great zoo! Taun pointed out that even he (a regular at Chester) questions the validity of calling his local zoo "world class", but Chester has some knock-out exhibits and also a bright future ahead of it. There is no other establishment in the U.K. that is even in the same ball-park.

 

[taun]

You, Sir, need to visit the UK and see for yourself
Nowt wrong with Shaldon zoo, great little zoo, really relaxed, decent enclosures with some unusual species. Ocelot enclosure is really small though, but I believe they might be getting a new cage. And none of Bristol zoos exhibits are horrendous! The UK is less commercialised than America, so zoos are very different here than they are in the US; We don't see the need for immersion and that, we're happy with our cages that satisfy the animals

If you read the post carefully, there is some home truths in it. However UK zoo's are too nuremous and don't get the visitors to have 4-5 world class zoo's.

 

[willtheman45]

You, Sir, need to visit the UK and see for yourself
Nowt wrong with Shaldon zoo, great little zoo, really relaxed, decent enclosures with some unusual species. Ocelot enclosure is really small though, but I believe they might be getting a new cage. And none of Bristol zoos exhibits are horrendous! The UK is less commercialised than America, so zoos are very different here than they are in the US; We don't see the need for immersion and that, we're happy with our cages that satisfy the animals

I completely agree with you all of America's zoos have a very commercial feel to them (which I don't like!) Their much more expensive too -it works out at (roughly) 30 quid to get into Sand Diego Zoo!

 

[taun]

Taun pointed out that even he (a regular at Chester) questions the validity of calling his local zoo "world class", but Chester has some knock-out exhibits and also a bright future ahead of it. There is no other establishment in the U.K. that is even in the same ball-park.

Agree that not many come close to Chester, If Chester can keep the building work going on then by 2020 it could well be a "World Class Zoo".

By the way I loved Britol, although not huge and some minor problems it is a very good zoo indeed.

 

[Pertinax]

I visited several of the larger American collections a long time ago. I appreciate there have been some big new developments and other places that I never went to. But I would still rate the 10 major collections in the UK as being on a par with some of them- a few examples;

Washington NZP is very comparable to London Zoo.
Philadelphia- a famous long established urban Zoo but it turned out to be quite small and old fashioned, rather like our Bristol (or Edinburgh).
Oklahoma had a major collection but was quite scruffy, rather like our Dudley.
SanDiego Zoo- comparable with Chester but at that time certainly no better.
Cincinnati- lots of concrete and quite small, on a par with Edinburgh or Colchester perhaps.

So I don't believe all our zoos are inferior to some of those Stateside...

 

[snowleopard]

@Pertinax: you named some so-so zoos in your list, and two excellent ones. You would honestly rate the 10 best U.K. zoos on par with the 10 best U.S. zoos? Are you serious? Have you seen Omaha, Bronx, Columbus, Miami, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Woodland Park, Minnesota, North Carolina, etc? I haven't seen any of your British zoos and so maybe you are correct...

Since you last visited the National Zoo has opened "Asia Trail" (sloth bears, clouded leopards, fishing cats, Asian small-clawed otters, red pandas) to go alongside the renovated giant panda enclosures. That entire section of the zoo is brilliant, and I have high standards and often bash what I perceive to be below-average exhibits. Even with all of those improvements the National Zoo would not crack my top 15 list for North America.

The Oklahoma City Zoo just opened its most expensive set of habitats ever, as in 2007the 8-acre "Oklahoma Trails", with its North American animals, opened to acclaim. The big cat and ape complexes at the zoo, along with the newer exhibits and "Wild Dog Drive" area, pushes that zoo into a position where it is possibly a top 12 zoo in North America.

Not many people would rate Philadelphia in the top 30 American zoos, Cincinnati has some brilliant species on display but many subpar enclosures, and San Diego...what needs to be said about San Diego?

 

[Pertinax]

You would honestly rate the 10 best U.K. zoos on par with the 10 best U.S. zoos? Are you serious? I haven't seen any of your British zoos and so maybe you are correct...

No, I'm not suggesting that. All I'm pointing out is that I saw distinct similarities in some of the zoos in both countries, perhaps more than I expected. Many of the others you mention I haven't been to, and as I said I appreciate there have been huge advances in designs in many zoos since my visits. I have no doubt that the USA overall has many zoos superior to most of those we have in the UK, but its a far, far bigger country. If you compared the USA & Europe, rather than just UK Zoos, the contrast might not be so big though.

 

[snowleopard]

@Pertinax: Good point, and I'm sure that there would not be much to choose from between a 10 top Europe list and a top 10 U.S. list.

 

[gentle lemur]

I'm not going to waste anyone's time by trying to comment about zoos that I've never visited. Neither will I give any credence to anybody else's opinions of about a zoo that they have never visited. So I think that some of the posts in this thread are of very little value.
I want to try to be constructive. I think we can all agree about what makes a bad zoo. Obviously a good zoo is the opposite of a bad zoo. But what makes a zoo outstanding? I think that is an interesting and difficult question.
There are obvious measures like the condition, longevity and breeding record of the livestock. Then there is the list of species kept, in terms of their aesthetic, scientific, educational and conservation interest - and the use that the zoo makes of these. The quality and attitude of their keepers. The design, construction, maintenance and suitability of the enclosures. The quality of the visitor experiences and the ability of the zoo to satisfy a wide range of visitors (quite a tall order when the range goes from toddlers to ZooChatters).
Then there is the intangible thing, which comes from the zoo's founders, history and current management - every institution has a mission statement now - but an outstanding zoo is its own mission statement. Carl Hagenbeck started it at Hamburg, other zoo founders have put their own stamps on their zoos (I'm sure everyone reading this could choose several examples). The current management of these zoos has to develop, adapt and improve this mission, in just the same way that the structures in the zoo have to be developed. Sometimes things go wrong and people lose the plot, the zoo may close or its progress may stall (as happened at London not so long ago). But you know it when it's there, provided that you visit - particularly if you can visit two or three times.
At the moment, in my opinion, Edinburgh, Whipsnade and Chester have it - so perhaps does Blackbrook (but I don't know it well enough yet), Twycross has lost it - but I hope it finds it again, Bristol is working towards it but has a big challenge with its new site, Colchester is going in the right direction but isn't there yet.

Alan

 

[Tim May]

I'm not going to waste anyone's time by trying to comment about zoos that I've never visited. Neither will I give any credence to anybody else's opinions of about a zoo that they have never visited.

Well said!

I think it is impossible to be completely objective about what makes an outstanding zoo. We are all obsessed by zoos, but all use different criteria to judge them because we all have different zoological interests. It is just a matter of personal opinion.

I know I am digressing from the original topic of this thread, but picking up the point about comparisons between American and European zoos:-

I have visited a number of the major American zoos; I have been extremely impressed by them and thoroughly enjoyed my visits. However, without doubt, my all time favourite zoos are (West) Berlin Zoo and (East) Berlin Tierpark; I prefer these to any of the American zoos that I’ve visited. But that is just my personal opinion.

Incidentally, though, my favourite aquarium is the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and my favourite natural history museum is the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In my opinion, both of these institutions are better than any I’ve seen in Europe.

 

[Sand Cat]

Ive heard very good things about Shaldon actually , Pictures dont seem to do that place justice but i think it looked very good.
Dartmoor is definately improving with new yards and enclosures etc and filling up empy enclosures as Red Foxes and Corsac Foxes are now rotating round the Old Tiger Mountain and it looks great.
Im not going to comment on the RSCC issue but all i will say is all the enclosures are very modern and good but the only major issue is the size of the place.
I agree with Foz just because the enclosures are done cheaply, and quite alot of them are good enclosures but dont have the same price tag as many other major zoos does not make them poor zoos or poor enclosures.

First I've heard about Dartmoor having Corsac Foxes. BRILLIANT news, they're a lovely little species! Good to hear that the Red Foxes now have better accomodation too... I assume this has replaced that horrid pit they used to be in? Any chance of some photos of the enclosure? If it's what I think it is then it will be absolutely massive for foxes, brilliant!!!

 

[foz]

Sand Cat: there is already a photo of the enclosure in the gallery along with more information.

 

[jacks zoo]

First I've heard about Dartmoor having Corsac Foxes. BRILLIANT news, they're a lovely little species!

I dont think Dartmoor has Corsac Foxes, there were 2 Silver Foxes in the holding pen next to the former Tiger Mountain im sure it is these that have been given access to the pen.