Worst UK Zoos

johnstoni said:
Marwell has always held many 'park' species that are of no conservation value, although the majority of the collection is focused on rare species. The aspinall parks are similar, and while there are possibly fewer 'common' species at Howletts and Port Lympne, the collection you must surely albeit unknowingly be referring to as pioneering conservation in its truest form is Jersey Zoo, at least for the UK.
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Yes I was thinking of Durrell as I believe he was the first (or at least one of the first) to realise the importance of captive breeding.

What I wrote was that neither are based "soley" on conservation of endangered species which is what cat-man wrote. Yes, both have made contributitions but each undoubtedly have other agendas as well.
 
I'm sorry that I have to post this, but how many of you who have posted on this actually work in a zoo or have had any lengthy discussions with zoo directors? How can you say any of our zoo's are bad, they are all working with what they have and always trying to better things one way or another, just because Shaldon is small does not mean it should be closed, it is a fab zoo with great conservation efforts. You should all be on here as "zoo enthusiasts" and not give the stupid anti's anything to "run" with. All zoo's always need more money, after all animals practically eat it! but please rather than concentrate on the negative, work with the plus side and perhaps apply to visit a few BIAZA meetings and listen to the amazing information that is available and the enthusiasm that it provides, with the good work that is being done for conservation!
 
tizer said:
I'm sorry that I have to post this, but how many of you who have posted on this actually work in a zoo or have had any lengthy discussions with zoo directors? How can you say any of our zoo's are bad, they are all working with what they have and always trying to better things one way or another, just because Shaldon is small does not mean it should be closed, it is a fab zoo with great conservation efforts. You should all be on here as "zoo enthusiasts" and not give the stupid anti's anything to "run" with. All zoo's always need more money, after all animals practically eat it! but please rather than concentrate on the negative, work with the plus side and perhaps apply to visit a few BIAZA meetings and listen to the amazing information that is available and the enthusiasm that it provides, with the good work that is being done for conservation!
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Well said :D
I don't think some people realise how much a zoo would cost to run, and that small zoos like Shaldon can't afford build bigger enclosures, but they get on fine with what they have and they do a lot of conservation work... Where's the problem with it?
 
I have to say that I feel - very strongly in fact - that bigger simply does not mean better. Collections shouldn't take on species they don't have the space or resources for but I often read dismissive comments about the 'best zoos' saying things like 'Zoo X would be one of the best if it were bigger' but I think this is a very superficial and short-sighted approach.
 
My criterion for zoo quality is a simple one - do I want to go there again? I am happy to visit many UK zoos repeatedly (you can tell which ones if you call up my photos in the Gallery). There are a few, which I will not name here, which I do not intend to return to until I am told that things have improved.

Alan
 
Marwell Dalek said:
I think with the Aspinall Parks it's a case of visiting to realise. I was looking forward anyway, but after visiting I was overwhelmed to the point of them becoming my third and fourth favourite zoos (after Marwell and Longleat).
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well met marwell darlek my friend , i too have a special place in my heart for the Aspinall parks , i have vehmently defended them against critcism , but since the last debate got so heated ive decided to stop the sparring
 
Jose said:
, i too have a special place in my heart for the Aspinall parks , i have vehmently defended them against critcism , but since the last debate got so heated ive decided to stop the sparring
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Me too Jose, The Aspinall Parks are too very special to me.
 
At risk of upsetting a few, the worst zoo I have ever been to is London Zoo. Please shut it down. It's way too small for the animals that live there. Thank god they sent the Elephants (and Rhino's I believe?) to Whipsnade. I've been twice, once in 2000 with my parents and spent... 45 minutes there. Then went on a compulsory Sparsholt College trip in 2007 and I will never go there again. I would gladly see London Zoo shut down, other zoo's (like Whipsnade) are much better equipped to look after those animals. Get them out of London now. I know Marwell isn't the perfect zoo, but I don't feel there is a perfect animal collection. But by god it's a damn sight better than London.

My top three:
1 - Marwell Zoo
2 - Whipsnade
3 - Longleat
 
I don't think you'll find anyone who agrees with you on that lol.
If you only spent 45 mins there on your first visit then how did you see everything and get a good idea of it?
 
MarwellGirl09 said:
At risk of upsetting a few, the worst zoo I have ever been to is London Zoo. Please shut it down. It's way too small for the animals that live there. Thank god they sent the Elephants (and Rhino's I believe?) to Whipsnade. I've been twice, once in 2000 with my parents and spent... 45 minutes there. Then went on a compulsory Sparsholt College trip in 2007 and I will never go there again. I would gladly see London Zoo shut down, other zoo's (like Whipsnade) are much better equipped to look after those animals. Get them out of London now. I know Marwell isn't the perfect zoo, but I don't feel there is a perfect animal collection. But by god it's a damn sight better than London.

My top three:
1 - Marwell Zoo
2 - Whipsnade
3 - Longleat
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I'm sorry but that is frankly ridiculous. London is by no means perfect, but the vast majority of it's collection now live in good enclosures and I for one (and i'm positive I'm not the only one) would much rather visit London than Longleat.
 
I think the problem was that I could only see big animals (Eg Elephants and Gorilla's) in TINY enclosures. I could not stand it even for a second. My parents wanted to leave earlier, but I did actually make them stay and I remembering saying "maybe it'll be better when we look more." Oh boy I was so wrong. The penguin enclosure? That white thing? Oh dear, not good, even at 10 I knew that it wasn't good for the animals. I'm very sorry but no one will change my mind on London Zoo, I've never seen anything good there except the butterfly enclosure. That is it. If it suddenly grew 100 times the size and all the enclosures were bigger, sure, but not now. Sorry London Zoo Lovers, it's just not for me.
 
MarwellGirl09 said:
I think the problem was that I could only see big animals (Eg Elephants and Gorilla's) in TINY enclosures. I could not stand it even for a second. My parents wanted to leave earlier, but I did actually make them stay and I remembering saying "maybe it'll be better when we look more." Oh boy I was so wrong. The penguin enclosure? That white thing? Oh dear, not good, even at 10 I knew that it wasn't good for the animals. I'm very sorry but no one will change my mind on London Zoo, I've never seen anything good there except the butterfly enclosure. That is it. If it suddenly grew 100 times the size and all the enclosures were bigger, sure, but not now. Sorry London Zoo Lovers, it's just not for me.
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Again, everything "bad" you mention has gone. Even since 2007 loads of stuff has improved there.
 
MarwellGirl09 said:
I think the problem was that I could only see big animals (Eg Elephants and Gorilla's) in TINY enclosures. I could not stand it even for a second. My parents wanted to leave earlier, but I did actually make them stay and I remembering saying "maybe it'll be better when we look more." Oh boy I was so wrong. The penguin enclosure? That white thing? Oh dear, not good, even at 10 I knew that it wasn't good for the animals. I'm very sorry but no one will change my mind on London Zoo, I've never seen anything good there except the butterfly enclosure. That is it. If it suddenly grew 100 times the size and all the enclosures were bigger, sure, but not now. Sorry London Zoo Lovers, it's just not for me.
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Then you really are being ignorant towards the London Zoo of 2009

The gorillas now live in a large grassy "naturalistic" enclosure and the penguins have moved to an excellent pool near to the gift shop. The "white thing" has been vacant for a few years now.

Of course there are areas that need improving (as at every zoo) and some areas are still behind the times, but to suggest that the zoo is the worst of it's kind in the UK and needs to be shut down is bizarre!

(I;m not even a particularly big London fan!)
 
Its interesting though, to see what a regular member of the public who maybe hasn't watched a zoo evolve on the journey that London Zoo has in its last 20-30 years or so, I guess even now its depressing in places to many visitors.
 
Not that I'm referrring to anyone on here as a 'regular member of the public', I'm speaking hypothetically.....
 
CZJimmy said:
I'm sorry but that is frankly ridiculous. London is by no means perfect, but the vast majority of it's collection now live in good enclosures and I for one (and i'm positive I'm not the only one) would much rather visit London than Longleat.
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I'll second that. I haven't been to london since 2003, yet even then very little of it could be considered truly awful. Yes, some of the enclosures were too small, but a lot has changed since then and I am really keen to get back now and see all of the improvements.
 
marwell girl

to be honest, the zoos with the best animal care that ive been to have got to be the aspinall parks, but im sure when i get round to seeing jersey then im sure they will be up there
 
MarwellGirl09 said:
I think the problem was that I could only see big animals (Eg Elephants and Gorilla's) in TINY enclosures. I could not stand it even for a second. My parents wanted to leave earlier, but I did actually make them stay and I remembering saying "maybe it'll be better when we look more." Oh boy I was so wrong. The penguin enclosure? That white thing? Oh dear, not good, even at 10 I knew that it wasn't good for the animals. I'm very sorry but no one will change my mind on London Zoo, I've never seen anything good there except the butterfly enclosure. That is it. If it suddenly grew 100 times the size and all the enclosures were bigger, sure, but not now. Sorry London Zoo Lovers, it's just not for me.
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As others have said; that's an out-of-date image of London Zoo. I strongly recommend you go back there now. Go in with an open mind and you'll find it much improved (as others have said, the elephants have gone and the gorillas and penguins both have new exhibits).

I'm in full agreement with CZJimmy - I'd take London over Longleat any day (Longleat has never really been anything other than a pure tourist attraction - this is no comment on the staff or even management but that is what the animal attractions at Longleat have always been there for. And to me, that came across as you went round. It's not at all a bad place, and it makes a great day out, but it's not a top 3 UK zoo).
 
I've only speed-read this thread but i think we should all concentrate on the positive, not the negative. After all the idiot anti-zoo brigade are still out there! It's not a good idea to help their immature, anthropomorphic views on ZooChat. Having said that the Monkey Rescue place in South Wales really should think about closing down soon. It's dreadful.
 
There's very little at London Zoo which could be considered depressing in my view. I've rarely seen streotypical behaviour and the turn around which has taken place in the last 20 years is actually incredible. I'm a huge fan although of course there is always room for improvement.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that London is - almost - unique in the UK, especially compared with Whipsnade and Marwell in that it has inherited a legacy of many buildings which are no longer appropriate for the animals and despite the park has a confined site with little prospect for expansion so the changes which have been made are all the more remarkable in my view.
 
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