I really like this thread. I find it enjoyable to read what people think about places, and what it is that interests them. I sometimes feel threads like this are the most constructive, and add a dimension into insight of people and why they visit zoos.
I'm very different to a lot of people. Due to serious mental issues, I struggle with large crowds and therefore I tend to avoid going to zoos during school holidays, and I only really go to a big zoo, if I've booked an experience of some kind. I also like to chat to people, whether its public, keepers, whoever. I find talking about animals really enjoyable, it passes the time and for me adds to the enjoyment of the day. I also find that its one of the few social places you can go as a 40yo male on your own and not get strange looks as to why is this person on their own.
So for me, my favourite zoos are often places where I feel comfortable, safe and where there is a personal feel. I also like to spend a whole day at a zoo of any size. I like to watch animals, document behaviours and just really enjoy being in awe of nature. I like to zone out with my camera and let the world pass by. I can happily spend 6-8 hours at a zoo, at one exhibit, to see just one animal, I guess whatever makes you happy. So my top five is a bit more personal than most people's.
5: Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park
- I first visited here in 2017, and at the time it was very small, it was very farm yard based and I would say the exhibits, were of no different to a farm park. Over the last 6 years, I have been fortunate in some ways, that I had a large gap in the time of visiting and therefore it's growth is noticeable. I enjoy a walk in the woodland, watching native birds fly around, and last year, I got a great view of a family of Muncjac on the outside of the woods, looking in. Native and wild yet looking in at a zoo. I also love the rare breeds aspect and the identification of British farm species and ones which deserve much more prominence if only to educate.
I also have found their experiences very good. Rather than just meet and greets of animals, they are designed to educate, through interactive training and enriching and I found the keepers very knowledgeable in that they would tell you all about the animals.
Signage is also something I like, and I find it uplifting each exhibit has signage which displays how to say the animals name with sign language, and the feeling of inclusion, and how we can all do more for others.
As the park has grown, exhibits have improved, it has become photogenic friendly and a range of more exotic species have arrived.
Future plans for the Zoo, with large carnivores, and African plains make for an exciting future, and they also keep one of my favourite animals in that of a Tapir, and I love seeing them rustling in the woodland and playing in the water.
Everything feels rather natural at Jimmy's farm and I like how the Reindeer have access to the back of the woods. The Guinea Pig Village is clever, witty and well designed, before the ability to photo animals and look back and not see mesh upon mesh in all your shots.
Staff are super friendly, and they have in my opinion, one of the best restaurants that any zoo or wildlife park has. Yes it is expensive, but you get what you pay for in life, and there is no substitution for quality.
I feel happy at Jimmy's Farm, and I feel the animals do too. I appreciate it's not a zoo, which would enter most people's top 5, top 10 or perhaps top 20, but it's one I feel a connection to and one I think has a very bright and promising future.
4: Northumberland County Zoo
- I often think of Brad Paisley singing out, "When I Get Where I'm Going" when I think of Northumberland County Zoo, and I think you have to appreciate where they have come from, and how quickly the zoo is progressing and the zoo it will someday become.
The North East has a shocking lack of big, or interesting zoos, with the exception of Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which is effectively in South Yorkshire, you have to go all the way to Flamingo Land to find another notable collection and then it's Scotland, so for me, the fact there is a very much out of left field zoo emerging in one of the most beautiful counties in the UK, is uplifting and exciting.
When I visited a few years ago, I was largely disappointed at a zoo, which felt a bit messy and yet a visit last autumn left me suitably impressed.
I enjoyed again, doing a keeper experience here, where you got to do something with the majority of the zoos animals, and it gave me an appreciation of animals I would normally just walk by.
Keepers are passionate and tell you back stories of the animals, and there feels a real sense of pride in their work and also a constant need to improve the previous exhibits.
When I last visited, the Livingstone's Fruit Bats exhibit was just being finished, but I had adored these bats since they were at Bristol, and back in 2018 I met a group of them at Bristol and it gave me a whole different perspective of the flying mammals and I love the way they walk, and have kind of teddy bear faces. I found them endearing and I sometimes feel the animals you love the most, are the ones that you don't know a lot about, but when you learn about them, your mind is blown.
I also liked the concept of the indoor flying display for the birds, and having also experienced this at the Scottish Owl Centre, I found a lot more enjoyment in the close bond of the birds and keepers and how often they ignore the humans, which always makes me laugh. Birds have so much character and I often feel are the most underrated animals at a zoo. I could sit and watch birds all day and be in awe of their beauty and also their character, often cheeky, they are one of the few animals which make me smile.
I just really enjoyed Northumberland, a range of differing species, in easy to see exhibits, with lovely backdrops, informative keeper talks, and space to expand into, which makes you feel it's a zoo which is very much a progression and that the whole team are passionate. I think it's a zoo with legs, and one day will very much be one of the more well known in the UK.
3: Exmoor Zoo
- As I have said, inclusion is a big thing for me. I like a family, kind feel of a place, and I like it when passion shines through.
Having lived locally to Exmoor until the start of this year for the last year, and for a period of time before that in 2018 and early 2019, I found myself visiting Exmoor a lot. A lot of visits were before I knew anything about exotic animals, and how they should be kept, or why they should be kept, so I wouldn't have known that I was staring at something incredibly rare in the zoo world, or even in the real world, but I always liked that there was something on every corner.
I like that there is a lot of talks throughout the day, for a number of animals and all very informative and focus not just on the animals backgrounds and why Exmoor keep them, but about the species itself, and always spoke about passionately by the education team.
I like how all the staff are friendly, including the owners and they will talk to you, and share your passion for the animals they house.
I have dark days at zoos, although I try to go to zoos to get away from the darkness and I remember in April last year, feeling so low at Exmoor zoo one day, that I took myself off into a quiet area, and actually started crying, feelling down. A couple of members of the public walked by, I saw them look at this lone figure clearly distressed and just walked by, but a few minutes later a member of staff stopped and chatted and asked if I was OK. The feeling of inclusion and actually that people can be kind and decent was a feeling that Exmoor cared, like a family group.
Over time, my love of the zoo grew, more understanding of rarer animals, and booking multiple experience days, not so I could get up close to so much feed the array of small carnivores that the zoo has, but to get photos of animals you don't see in big zoos or everyday zoos and with that came a friendship formed with some of the keepers, and staff and then the owners.
A feeling of always being welcome, and trying to support them, as much as they support you.
Exmoor love the weird and the wonderful, and I do as well. They keep the most interesting of species, and no they don't have the exhibits of a major zoo, and most of them are only what you could call adequate, but there is a personal love of the animals the zoo has and I like it is often quiet and you can just sit there and watch, and photo. It's one of a few places, I feel sad when I read of animal passing, as I've probably met that animal and had memories of that animal, and therefore, you sense a feeling of grief as well.
Exmoor have been very good to me, and now I try to return the favour to them by offering support to them, in the way of appreciation of the support they have shown to me.
I also love the large collection of wetland birds, in a multitude of aviaries and I never have a day at Exmoor where 5pm hasn't come too soon.
2: Linton Zoo
- Not a Zoo I had been to a lot in the past, but I know I did visit once in 2019, and the again in October last year, where I was so excited to turn up and not know that only 2 days prior, there had been the birth of a Brazilian Tapir, called Erro, which means Mistake in Portuguese. As well as spending an hour or two, perhaps three, camped outside the Eastern Quoll exhibit, hoping to see them. Patience was rewarded when shortly before closing both Stella and Ada appeared, as if to say, you've waited this long, so I'll come out for you to photo us.
I found myself enjoying this quiet zoo and at the time, I was chatting to what I believed to be a member of staff about the animals and the zoo, and it was only later that I realised, I was actually chatting to the owner Kim.
We talked about how it was such a lovely zoo, in beautiful settings and I couldn't understand why it was so quiet.
Over the last few months, I have found myself enjoying the zoo a lot more. I love how all bar the Snow Leopard exhibits, the majority of the exhibits are decent, and the zoo is incredibly well planted.
From stories of a Sulcata Tortoise, that was used as an icon species in Mauritania, and another who had been saved from being used as a football, by children. Also how images from the zoo of a tortoise and 40 babies had ended up used by a Star Trek actor on his socials, using the line "Quick, to the mothership".
It also fascinates me, the passion in which it's owner talks about the humbling origins from having a small collection in their back garden whist running pet shops, to taking over the old circus training grounds at Linton, when the then owner couldn't continue after the death of a child on the roads close by.
Linton pride themselves in expert tortoise care, and I do enjoy seeing the Aldabra Giant's roaming around.
I also learned so much about the Zebra and the different species, and how they took on a female called Heidi, who had been labelled as evil and a psycho by previous collection Marwell, but is now very friendly and the owner speaks how when she is feeling down, she often goes to see Heidi for a cuddle and to feel better. Heidi is also the oldest Zebra known in captivity at the age of 30, and will be 31 in August, although she is now under end of life care, so it is unlikely she will see her next birthday.
Linton have also been incredibly successful in the breeding of their animals, from 24 Brazilian Tapir births, to holding three generations of lion, whose genes are spread throughout Europe.
The majority of Sulcata tortoises held in the Uk also hail from successful breeding at Linton and I always enjoy seeing the Ground Hornbills, which for me are probably one of the most beautiful birds around.
The owner of Linton talks with such passion, recollects every day and event as if it was only yesterday and speaks of passion for their animals and plans they want to have in the future.
The zoo will also soon announce ground breaking news for a UK Zoo, and I can't help but feel it is an underrated collection, whose successes in breeding is outstanding for rare animal conservation.
They are also one of only three holders in Europe of White-Collared Lemurs, having had births in the last two years as well, for this critically endangered species.
A mixture of stories, easy to photo exhibits, good people and amazing animals makes it feel so proper and well run to me. I have also had probably the best big cat experience I have had with big cats there, getting so close to three species of cat, seeing their different characters and also learning all about their histories.
I love how their sole focus is on breeding endangered species, which need our help, and I love how everything is so informative. It really ticks off for me, the perfect little zoo, but with massive character, so welcoming and also quite beautiful and picturesque.
Plans are afoot for expansion and improving the Snow Leopard exhibit, and for me, it really is an underappreciated collection, and one that sits close to my heart.
That and of course, they don't hold Meerkats!
1: Chester Zoo
- My love of Chester Zoo comes from that of one which resonates in me. Having read Our Zoo, and seen the TV Program, I feel a connection to the history, of a man who battled with mental health problems, and felt useless and was looking for an escape. A passion and love for animals and possibly didn't know what they would get themselves into, but risked their whole life, wealth and future for a love of animals and in time has created possibly the finest zoo, the UK could ever wish to hold.
The story of George Mottershead is sad, inspiring, uplifting and sensational all rolled into one. Many will say I'm tilting at windmills, and deluded, but his dream back in the 1930s of building something for animals so people could enjoy and be inspired and educated, is something that matches my own life goals. I messed up in life more than most, hate the day to day living of life, and animals and zoos are my escape. Back in the 1930's George Mottershead didn't have an array of places to visit to aid his recovery of PTSD and give himself a sense of purpose in life, so he created it all from his back garden.
I don't proclaim to ever seeing myself create something like Chester Zoo, but I do know that with time, hard work, and guile I'll get to where I want to be.
I've a passion for animals, conservation, education and zoos, and I don't care how many walls people want to put up, I will knock them down, one by one to get there.
Chester Zoo is the zoo of all zoos. It has amazing exhibits, fantastic animals, amazing photographic opportunities and I for one, am proud it sits in our great nation, a nation when a generation like no other fought for our freedom, and the way of life has been built on those who did so much for those they didn't know.
I must say, I go to Chester at least twice a month. I will often spend the whole day at 2/3 exhibits, taking photos of animals I love to see, with great back drops, and I love that everyone visiting seems in awe.
Over 2022 and 2023, I done all 9 of the Keeper For A Day Experiences, and with this I have got to meet some amazing animals, learn so much, but more than that, I have met people who are experts in their fields and help give inspiration to a love of animals and conservation, which inspires me to do more, and keep doing more.
From Tamas, whose passions for Invertebrates is so spell binding, that you can't help but share the passion and be left open mouthed at so many animals who you simply would never appreciate. Leaning that from the ground up, our whole ecosystem would not survive without these animals. Developing a love for species, you never knew existed, and are so rare, that some were found in literally a rubbish dump in Bermuda, and it was the only place in the world they existed!
Then there's perhaps the most inspirational person I have ever met. Jonathan, who is a member of the birds team. He will tell you modestly about his time working in the field with Javen Green Magpie in Cikananga, and give you a passion for birds which everyone should have. He allowed me to see new born Collared Trogon's, and watch videos of Javan Green Magpies hatching and having their first feed. Moments I will remember forever. Also being allowed to be the first member of the public, to fully biosuit up and hand feed Flamingo's at Chester Zoo, and learning so much about different species.
Jonathan is passionate about animals most people ignore, but his enthusiasm and wit, makes him humorous, likeable and informative all at once. I always feel, that you learn more from those who make you believe and that's exactly how the bird team made me feel. I would say had I not done that experience, I would have never had the passion for birds that I have today.
From doing these experiences I've learned so much, mainly from the keepers, but there are too many to name. But highlights involve hand feeding a Caiman Lizard, Having a close encounter with a young female bongo, getting to see off show animals who are at Chester to breed and not to be in the public's view, being able to get up close and stroke an Okapi, and spending an hour of my time in awe of such amazing creatures and learning so much about them. Seeing newborn Rhino, Tapir, and having fruit bats eat out of my hands in darkness.
The experiences at Chester, have broadened my knowledge and have given me such more of an understanding of animals, endangered ones and how and why we need to conserve them.
I love now, that when I go to Chester I can photo animals I've met, and learned all about, as well as saying hello and chatting to staff, who I am honoured to have spent time with, pick their brains on animals and really felt for their passion.
Doing the experiences for me, was more enjoyable for the people than the animals, but it has really inspired me, and makes Chester feel such an amazing place for me.
There are things I want to do again at Chester and I could spend nearly every day there and be truly happy, something I rarely am.
They have the best range of animals in the UK for me, with the best exhibits, arguably the best and most passionate staff, and have the best photo opportunities with such inviting and friendly exhibits, that for me, they are a clear number one.
Sorry for the long post and if I've bored you, but I am really passionate about animals, zoos and their origins and how they develop and I hope one day I can take all that passion and guidance and build my own collection, which I know will never be a Chester, but I hope will give others inspiration and be something that in many ways, gave me a sense of purpose and a reason to live in life. Something I struggle with on a day to day basis.
), but due to their clever use of the natural environment, planting, and "Exmoor Zoo Style" mock rock, most are beautiful! Some exhibits might be on the smaller side, but no zoo is perfect, and they're home to one of the best sitatunga exhibits in Europe. With all the other praise Exmoor is getting on this thread, I think I'll leave it at that.
I think the only two places in the UK I've gone that long without visiting again would be Skye Serpentarium (which is now defunct) and SeaLife Scarborough, both of which I visited in the late 1990s.