Your Top 10 Zoos

@Tigerlemurguy: I noticed that you put Amazon World in your top ten zoos, which is interesting because many members here at ZooBeat have been ripping that place apart. It seems as if many zoo fans appreciate the diverse collection, but not the poor exhibits.
 
No particular order:

North Carolina Zoo
Bird Kingdom (Niagara Falls, Ontario)
Toronto Zoo
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
London Zoo
Lowry Park zoo
Busch Gardens (Florida)
Wings of Paradise Butterfly Conservatory (Cambridge, Ontario)
Silver Springs (Florida)
Charles Towne Landing (Charleston, SC, unfortunately didn't go last time I was there)
 
snowleopard said:
@Tigerlemurguy: I noticed that you put Amazon World in your top ten zoos, which is interesting because many members here at ZooBeat have been ripping that place apart. It seems as if many zoo fans appreciate the diverse collection, but not the poor exhibits.
Click to expand...


I feel the same as most of the others, great collection bad exhibits but i believe they can change!
 
US Top 10

North Carolina Zoo
National Zoo
Bronx Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Detroit Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Saint Louis Zoo
San Diego Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

If I were to visit Europe these are the 10

London Zoo
Antwerp Zoo
Rotterdam Zoo
Hagenbeck Tierpark
Frankfurt Zoo
Berlin Zoo
Budapest Zoo
Zurich Zoo
Chester Zoo
Jersey Zoo
 
Top Ten zoos

Hi
this is my first visit to zoo beat and on looking through your top ten zoos Dublin zoo struck me as a odd choice, yes it is a larg zoo that has had a lot of money spent on it over the last few years but on a resent visit the houses in the african plains exhibit seemed very tatty considering that they are relativly new.
 
Again in no particular order:

Chester
Lincoln Park (Chicago)
Bristol
Jersey
Bronx (New York)
Marwell
Animal Kingdom (Disney Florida)
Silver Springs (Florida)
Cricket St Thomas
Whipsnade
 
Some interesting choices on this list, I was suprised to see Hamilton Zoo and Central Park Zoo...
 
I agree with NZ Jeremy that the Central Park Zoo is a surprising choice for a top ten zoo list. But I know another member of ZooBeat who claims that it is one of the best zoos in North America simply because of the quality of the establishment, so perhaps it deserves to be there. It's only 6 acres in size, but the exhibits are supposedly very well done. I'll be visiting in July, and so will post a short review afterwards.
 
I thought it had a very poor Polar Bear enclosure..? Has this been removed or renovated..?
 
@NZ Jeremy: see the new "Central Park Zoo" thread for more information on that tiny establishment. Almost the entire zoo is only 20 years old (re-opening was in 1988), and the polar bear exhibit is a thousand times better than the old one that used to be there. Alas, it is still nothing compared to the Detroit Zoo's "Arctic Ring of Life".
 
US Top Ten (of zoos I've seen in person)

Disney's Animal Kingdom
San Diego Zoo
San Diego Wild Animal Park
Woodland Park Zoo
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Phoenix Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Denver Zoo
Rio Grande Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo
 
So far I've only visited zoos in Europe, so my ranking is restricted to this continent (and large parts are also still missing here).

1 Berlin Tierpark
2 Berlin Zoo
3 Walsrode (bird park)
4 Leipzig
5 Prague
6 Plzen (Czech Republic)
7 Rotterdam
8 Stuttgart
9 Antwerp
10 Frankfurt
 
1 zurich zoo
2 san diego zoo
3 melbourne zoo
4 san diego wild animal park
5 healesville
6 whipsnade
7 taronga
8 montarey aquarium
9 london
10 adelaide
 
@bosco albert: you've been to some great zoos, and I've visited 8 out of your personal top 10. The only two that I'm missing are London and Whipsnade, but it's interesting to see you place Melbourne and Healesville over Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
 
melbourne may not have as many critters as taronga but on the whole they do extremely well with what they have. maybe a bit of home town bias as well
healesville imo is brilliant. the best 'regional' zoo in oz and could well rate it higher.
london zoo is average. the insect hall is excellent and the reptile building is alright but the rest is overcrowded, and a bit tired. the new gorilla exhibit is a major disappointment.
 
Monterey seems to be the only or highest rated aquarium on everyone who has been there's lists..? Better than Georgia (the largest)..?
 
Not in Order:

Singapore
Taronga
Colonge
Leipzig
Melbourne
Emmen
Australia (Beerwah)
Rotterdam
Western Plains zo, Dubbo
Perth
 
Last edited:
Your 13 and have visited all those zoos..? Is one of your parents a pilot perhaps..?
 
@dragon: if you've been to all of those zoos then you are extremely fortunate as you provide an impressive list. Was it too hard to put them in order, or are they all different in their own special way? Do you have one favourite that stands out?

@NZ Jeremy: here in North America I'd have to say that the Georgia, John G. Shedd and Monterey Bay Aquariums are regarded as the unofficial big three in terms of quality and size. There are many others that are well regarded (the Seaworlds, Vancouver, National Aquarium in Baltimore, etc) but those first three seem to be consistently ranked as the best of the best. Monterey Bay is perhaps more accessible for visitors, as many people take trips up and down the California coast. That way they can hit San Diego, L.A., Monterey, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top