And now for something completely different.......
I thought it would be nice this year to simpifly things a little:
-to avoid potentially complex debates on species/sub-species and identifications;
-to eliminate concerns about whether a species is visible when you visit a collection;
-to side-step debates on what constitutes a collection for the challenge, and;
-to eliminate the “luck of the draw” randomness of some poor soul traipsing somewhere to discover that a species is temporarily off-show (or, conversely, finding out some lucky sod visited less than 24 hours later to witness something new on-show).
Whilst all these elements do add complexity, interest and (possibly) fun to the challenges they are double-edged swords and I though it would be nice to have a year without them and roll back to the pure, simple, joy of visiting a zoo (especially those first visits).
So this year's challenge (drum roll for effect) is to visit as many of the following 35 “old” collections as you can in 2017. These collections represent 35 of the oldest collections in the UK (with Curraghs squeezed in as a guest spot for a little spice and to annoy the pedants). Note that these collections are not the (definitive) 35 oldest collections in the UK*, though I'd be happy to debate/discuss the accuracy/whimsy of my selections, but a fairly close selection which also comprises a nice mix of famous/obscure, near/far and general/specialist collections. So without further ado here are the collections for the challenge (with my best researches of their first year of opening to the public in brackets):
Bristol (1836)
London (1847)
(Sea Life) Brighton Aquarium (1872)
Edinburgh (1913)
Paignton (1923)
Drusillas (1926)
Chessington (1931)
Chester (1931)
Whipsnade (1931)
Belfast (1934)
Dudley (1937)
Slimbridge (1947)
Battersea Children's Zoo (1951)
Isle Of Wight Zoo (1955)
Beale Park (1956)
Birdland (1957)
Jersey/Durrell (1959)
National Seal Sanctuary (Gweek) (1959)
Flamingoland (1960)
Colchester (1963)
Twycross (1963)
Welsh Mountain Zoo(1963)
Paradise Wildlife Park (1964)
Shaldon (1964)
Curraghs (1964)
Skegness Natureland (1965)
Bentley Wildfowl (1966)
Hawk Conservancy (1966)
ICBP (Newent) (1967)
Banham (1968)
Birdworld (1968)
Camperdown (1968)
Linton (1969)
Newquay (1969)
Suffolk (AA) (1969)
Looking at the list it's interesting to consider what conditions conspire to enable collections to survive in the long-term. A quick review seems to indicate that, while driven and competent founders/owners/management are always essential, geography, the relative cheapness of keeping birds and cross subsidisation from associated businesses/benefactors are also possible key elements.
Hopefully those taking part will enjoy this challenge and I'd suggest reseaching the history of places a little before visits might add to your enjoyment (I'm always fascinated to look at an enclose, or remnant thereof, and consider what I know was once kept there, e.g. at Camperdown you can see three areas, including the current one, where bears have been kept). In the spirit of learning I'd be happy if this thread was used by members to gather information before a visit and/or reporting back after (there's a number of collections on the list I've not had the pleasure of visiting and I'd appreciate peoples views on them).
For clarification, the trimmed down rules for this year's challenge are as follows:
1. Proof of visits is not needed, your word is your bond;
2. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along (let's say mandatory reporting from four collections and above);
3. The winner will (obviously) be deemed to be the person who's seen the most at 31st December 2017. If tied (in terms of equal collections visited) the winner would be the one who reached their total first;
4. My (final) decision is final -though I struggle to see where it'll be needed this year.
Right, get your atlases out and Satnavs/smart phones set, go (from 1/1/17)!!
I suspect the winner will be someone who visits somewhere between 25 and 30 of the collections listed and am certain no-one will visit all 35 (who with the time and resources to visit Belfast, Curraghs, Jersey and the Isle of Wight in a year would do so rather than going to Europe or further afar?).
*partly because it starts getting murky working these things out (when having to consider, and how to classify, collections that have moved location or been took over or temporarily closed for a while), partly because I've tweaked the list a little to add variety and reduce the amount of “zoo plus attraction” collections by two and also to avoid people having to visit a zoo that claims it isn't one.
I thought it would be nice this year to simpifly things a little:
-to avoid potentially complex debates on species/sub-species and identifications;
-to eliminate concerns about whether a species is visible when you visit a collection;
-to side-step debates on what constitutes a collection for the challenge, and;
-to eliminate the “luck of the draw” randomness of some poor soul traipsing somewhere to discover that a species is temporarily off-show (or, conversely, finding out some lucky sod visited less than 24 hours later to witness something new on-show).
Whilst all these elements do add complexity, interest and (possibly) fun to the challenges they are double-edged swords and I though it would be nice to have a year without them and roll back to the pure, simple, joy of visiting a zoo (especially those first visits).
So this year's challenge (drum roll for effect) is to visit as many of the following 35 “old” collections as you can in 2017. These collections represent 35 of the oldest collections in the UK (with Curraghs squeezed in as a guest spot for a little spice and to annoy the pedants). Note that these collections are not the (definitive) 35 oldest collections in the UK*, though I'd be happy to debate/discuss the accuracy/whimsy of my selections, but a fairly close selection which also comprises a nice mix of famous/obscure, near/far and general/specialist collections. So without further ado here are the collections for the challenge (with my best researches of their first year of opening to the public in brackets):
Bristol (1836)
London (1847)
(Sea Life) Brighton Aquarium (1872)
Edinburgh (1913)
Paignton (1923)
Drusillas (1926)
Chessington (1931)
Chester (1931)
Whipsnade (1931)
Belfast (1934)
Dudley (1937)
Slimbridge (1947)
Battersea Children's Zoo (1951)
Isle Of Wight Zoo (1955)
Beale Park (1956)
Birdland (1957)
Jersey/Durrell (1959)
National Seal Sanctuary (Gweek) (1959)
Flamingoland (1960)
Colchester (1963)
Twycross (1963)
Welsh Mountain Zoo(1963)
Paradise Wildlife Park (1964)
Shaldon (1964)
Curraghs (1964)
Skegness Natureland (1965)
Bentley Wildfowl (1966)
Hawk Conservancy (1966)
ICBP (Newent) (1967)
Banham (1968)
Birdworld (1968)
Camperdown (1968)
Linton (1969)
Newquay (1969)
Suffolk (AA) (1969)
Looking at the list it's interesting to consider what conditions conspire to enable collections to survive in the long-term. A quick review seems to indicate that, while driven and competent founders/owners/management are always essential, geography, the relative cheapness of keeping birds and cross subsidisation from associated businesses/benefactors are also possible key elements.
Hopefully those taking part will enjoy this challenge and I'd suggest reseaching the history of places a little before visits might add to your enjoyment (I'm always fascinated to look at an enclose, or remnant thereof, and consider what I know was once kept there, e.g. at Camperdown you can see three areas, including the current one, where bears have been kept). In the spirit of learning I'd be happy if this thread was used by members to gather information before a visit and/or reporting back after (there's a number of collections on the list I've not had the pleasure of visiting and I'd appreciate peoples views on them).
For clarification, the trimmed down rules for this year's challenge are as follows:
1. Proof of visits is not needed, your word is your bond;
2. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along (let's say mandatory reporting from four collections and above);
3. The winner will (obviously) be deemed to be the person who's seen the most at 31st December 2017. If tied (in terms of equal collections visited) the winner would be the one who reached their total first;
4. My (final) decision is final -though I struggle to see where it'll be needed this year.
Right, get your atlases out and Satnavs/smart phones set, go (from 1/1/17)!!
I suspect the winner will be someone who visits somewhere between 25 and 30 of the collections listed and am certain no-one will visit all 35 (who with the time and resources to visit Belfast, Curraghs, Jersey and the Isle of Wight in a year would do so rather than going to Europe or further afar?).
*partly because it starts getting murky working these things out (when having to consider, and how to classify, collections that have moved location or been took over or temporarily closed for a while), partly because I've tweaked the list a little to add variety and reduce the amount of “zoo plus attraction” collections by two and also to avoid people having to visit a zoo that claims it isn't one.
a nice one.
)
