Your Five Favourite UK Zoos

Jambi said:
1) Blackpool Zoo - It may not be the best or brightest, but it's a lovely place and I've been itching to go back since my last visit in May last year. It is a shame that they don't have a reptile house any more, but I still love the animals they do have. My favourite things there are the orangutans, elephants, wolves and penguins, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new lion and tiger enclosures when they open this year.
2) Dudley Zoo - While the layout and winding paths are a bit of a pain, I love the animal line-up and enclosure designs, even some of the older ones. My favourite things there are the reptile house, orangutans, fruit bats, and the lorikeet walkthrough.
3) South Lakes Safari Zoo - The closest large zoo to where I live, while it hasn't quite shaken off its "Britain's worst zoo" reputation, the place has improved a huge amount over the last few years, with much better enclosures and happier looking animals. My favourite things there are the giraffes, rhinos, tigers, jaguars, and the "Worldwide Safari" walkthrough that has a load of random animals like kangaroos, capybaras, lemurs, prairie dogs and emu all living together.
4) Lakeland Wildlife Oasis - While this place is only small, only about three acres, I'm impressed by just how much they manage to pack into that small space. My favourite things there are the fruit bats, butterfly walkthrough, coral reef tanks, armadillo and fossa.
5) Edinburgh Zoo - There has been some decline over the years, but I still really enjoy visits to Edinburgh Zoo, and I'm hopeful that they can get better and better in the future. My favourite things there are the giraffes, tigers, koalas, Wee Beasties exhibits, sun bears and penguins.
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I'd say enough time has passed for me to update this listing. Blackpool Zoo, the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis and Edinburgh Zoo are still in my top 5 for the same reasons, but now I'd like to add:
4) Telford Exotic Zoo - This is a very nice small zoo with a solid line-up of animals across four distinct themed areas, and they also recently opened a small natural history museum featuring real dinosaur bones and other fossils. My favourite animals to see there are the capybaras (the capybara in my profile picture is one of theirs), macaws, genets, civets and armadillos.
5) Flamingo Land - I'll admit I didn't go in with the highest expectations as I don't like theme parks all that much, but this is a lovely zoo that's not too big and fairly easy to find your way around, with a good number of animals I had either never seen before or only ever seen at maybe one other place. My favourite animals there are the rhinos, hippos, lions, tigers, kangaroos and wallabies.
 
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Jambi said:
I'd say enough time has passed for me to update this listing. Blackpool Zoo, the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis and Edinburgh Zoo are still in my top 5 for the same reasons, but now I'd like to add:
4) Telford Exotic Zoo - This is a very nice small zoo with a solid line-up of animals across four distinct themed areas, and they also recently opened a small natural history museum featuring real dinosaur bones and other fossils. My favourite animals to see there are the capybaras (the capybara in my profile picture is one of theirs), macaws, genets, civets and armadillos.
5) Flamingo Land - I'll admit I didn't go in with the highest expectations as I don't like theme parks all that much, but this is a lovely zoo that's not too big and fairly easy to find your way around, with a good number of animals I had either never seen before or only ever seen at maybe one other place. My favourite animals there are the rhinos, hippos, lions, tigers, kangaroos and wallabies.
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I would have liked to include Blackpool in my top 5 too but there wasn't room. It's the opposite end of the country to me and I've only made a few visits over many years. But I've always thought it was a very good zoo.
 
Not in any particular order:
-CWP
-Marwell
-Exmoor
-Paulton's Park (although it's only a zoo within a theme park, it has some decent surprises and rarities as well as not being too big so you can still enjoy all the rides without having to rush)
-Chester
 
-Chester (my home)
-Whipsnade
-Yorkshire
-Colchester
-Edinburgh
Each of them had something really unique and interesting that really appeals to me. I understand this is a quite a common group of zoos to pick for this category, but these are the ones that I personally feel are best.
 
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