Zoo visiting as an unaccompanied child?

LaughingDove

LaughingDove

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Hello all,
Some of you may know that I am a 15 year old child so am often restricted by visiting zoos when I'm travelling by having to do certain things with my parents and brother that I find boring. So I have been wondering whether I would be allowed to visit a zoo by myself. I would be dropped off by my parents but would go into the zoo and go around the zoo by myself then be picked up by my parents at the end of the day.
Does anyone know what the rules would be on this. Is it legal for me to visit zoos by myself ?(I would be visting zoos in Europe but if people know for other countries I would be interested too)
And do zoos have rules themselves about children visting unaccompanied and if they do, do these vary between zoos?
I'm also thinking that I may encounter questions and problems queuing up to get tickets and then going in as a 15 year old by myself.
Once I'm in the zoo, I don't think there will be a problem because I regularly leave my family in a zoo café or picnic area and wander around the zoo by myself and I haven't had any problems with this before.
Thanks for any help and advice
:)
 
LaughingDove said:
Hello all,
Some of you may know that I am a 15 year old child so am often restricted by visiting zoos when I'm travelling by having to do certain things with my parents and brother that I find boring. So I have been wondering whether I would be allowed to visit a zoo by myself. I would be dropped off by my parents but would go into the zoo and go around the zoo by myself then be picked up by my parents at the end of the day.
Does anyone know what the rules would be on this. Is it legal for me to visit zoos by myself ?(I would be visting zoos in Europe but if people know for other countries I would be interested too)
And do zoos have rules themselves about children visting unaccompanied and if they do, do these vary between zoos?
I'm also thinking that I may encounter questions and problems queuing up to get tickets and then going in as a 15 year old by myself.
Once I'm in the zoo, I don't think there will be a problem because I regularly leave my family in a zoo café or picnic area and wander around the zoo by myself and I haven't had any problems with this before.
Thanks for any help and advice
:)
Click to expand...

Children under 16 must be with a responsible adult. You can't got to Warsaw Zoo yourself.
 
That depends from zoo to zoo. I just checked a few random zoo websites:
- London Zoo: kids under 16 not allowed w/o responsible adult
- Cologne Zoo: kids under 12 not allowed w/o responsible adult
- Berlin Zoo: kids under 10 not allowed w/o responsible adult
- Zoo Prague: kids under 15 not allowed w/o responsible adult

Another question is if those zoos that don`t allow kids under 16 alone actually enforce that rule. If you behave properly, I guess they will let you in without asking questions more often then not, unless you look a lot younger then 15.
 
lowland anoa said:
Children under 16 must be with a responsible adult. You can't got to Warsaw Zoo yourself.
Click to expand...

Stop making up stuff lowlandanoa, no-one is impressed by it.

@laughingdove, according to Warsaw Zoo's website, children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult, so presumably its fine if you go by yourself. Obviously other zoos may have other requirements.

Personally, I think you need to talk to your parents about this, and make a decision together.
 
I'm thinking that certain people shouldn't be allowed to post on ZooChat without a responsible adult supervising them.

:p

Hix
 
I never heard of zoos having age limits this high, at least in the US, but then again, I don't pay tons of attention and I've walked around zoos by myself at younger ages. I would imagine they're not generally enforced unless the kid gets in trouble. I'm wondering if this is a liability thing.
 
Thank you to those who posted useful things.
Warsaw Zoo is very easy for me because I have a membership so I can just walk straight in. I'll check the websites for other zoos and see 1 by 1. My main concern was with the Berlin collections because I will likely be visiting Berlin later this year and if my parents had to accompany me then I would be allowed 1 day to do both zoos.
Thanks again to those who actually posted useful things.
:)
 
zooboy28 said:
Personally, I think you need to talk to your parents about this, and make a decision together.
Click to expand...

I have already spoken to my parents. They are happy for me to visit a zoo by myself if it is legal and permitted by zoo rules. They would not want me getting to the zoo by myself (apart from Warsaw which is a different situation because I often use the public transport here by myself) but they said that once I'm in the zoo it's safe enough to be by myself.
 
It really varies, but I haven't had any problems with it when I was a teenager. I started visiting my home zoo alone when I was 11. And I had absolutely no problem with visiting both Berlin collections on my own when I was 14. Btw. It was also no problem for my parents when I used the public transport in Berlin on my own. Berlin is a safe city and with a bit common sense (which I think you have enough of), that also should be no problem. However I am not one of your parents ;).
 
LaughingDove said:
My main concern was with the Berlin collections because I will likely be visiting Berlin later this year and if my parents had to accompany me then I would be allowed 1 day to do both zoos.
Click to expand...

1 day for Zoo, Tierpark and Aquarium? Where's the fun in that?

Little piece of advice: there's a youth hostel close to Berlin central station / Hauptbahnhof called A & O Hostel. Dreadful place, full of noisy teenagers and bored, inexperienced staff. Next to the elevator on the ground floor, you can find free discount vouchers for the Aquarium, Tierpark and Zoo, as well as for other attractions. And since you're a teenager, you can easily sneak in through the crowds of noisy teenagers, without arousing suspicion. ;)
 
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LaughingDove said:
Hello all,
Some of you may know that I am a 15 year old child so am often restricted by visiting zoos when I'm travelling by having to do certain things with my parents and brother that I find boring. So I have been wondering whether I would be allowed to visit a zoo by myself. I would be dropped off by my parents but would go into the zoo and go around the zoo by myself then be picked up by my parents at the end of the day.
Does anyone know what the rules would be on this. Is it legal for me to visit zoos by myself ?(I would be visting zoos in Europe but if people know for other countries I would be interested too)
And do zoos have rules themselves about children visting unaccompanied and if they do, do these vary between zoos?
I'm also thinking that I may encounter questions and problems queuing up to get tickets and then going in as a 15 year old by myself.
Once I'm in the zoo, I don't think there will be a problem because I regularly leave my family in a zoo café or picnic area and wander around the zoo by myself and I haven't had any problems with this before.
Thanks for any help and advice
:)
Click to expand...

In the end it will also depend on your behaviour. You are 15, which is close enough to 16 for most zoos to be fine if you behave maturely. Considering your posting behaviour on zoochat I think you will be fine and no zoos will prohibit you visiting on your own.
 
lintworm said:
I started visiting my home zoo alone when I was 11.
Click to expand...

I think I can beat that, probably from the age of nine.:) I knew all the keepers and animals too, and would 'help' with 'light duties' with safe animals. Of course that was way back in the 1950's. Nowadays it would not be allowed due to Health and Safety issues, or would be dressed up as 'Keeper for the Day' activities( not a bad idea in itself and it makes them money too).
 
Like others have said, it varies betwee zoos. I checked my home zoo and could not find anything about people under a certain age need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, but obviously you're going to draw attention if you're only 7 or 8 and walking around by yourself. When I was 10 my friends and I visited the zoo often because we could ride our bikes to it and it was something fun to do in the summer rather than sit around and watch TV all day.
 
At the very least try to get your parents to allow you a day for Tierpark, and a day for Zoo/Aquarium - you will still miss stuff but nowhere near the amount of stuff you would miss if you tried to do both in a single day!
 
Where on the websites (I assume) of zoos have you been able to find this information? I have looked on the websites of the Berlin collections and of Warsaw Zoo and haven't been able to find an age limit.
 
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