Zoos with funiculars, aerial lifts or monorails

Simon Hampel

Simon Hampel

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20+ year member
Following on from this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/22/funicular-zoo-world-first-238996/ ... I though it would be interesting to compile a list of zoos with funiculars or chair lifts (including all types of aerial lifts - gondola lifts as well), either inside the zoo or leading up to the zoo.

EDIT: why don't we expand this list to include monorails as well?

Funicular

  • Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria (to the entrance)
  • John Ball Zoo, USA (under construction)
  • Santiago Zoo, Chile (outside the zoo to the top entrance)
  • Skansen, Sweden (nearby the zoo)

Aerial lift (chair lift, gondola lift, etc)

  • Alton Towers, UK
  • Busch Gardens, USA
  • Dudley Zoo, UK (currently closed)
  • Flamingo Land, UK
  • Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, USA
  • Kansas City Zoo, USA
  • Kolmården Wildlife Park, Sweden
  • Lisbon Zoo, Portugal
  • Lowry Park Zoo, USA
  • Oakland Zoo, USA
  • Ocean Park, Hong Kong
  • Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, USA
  • San Diego Zoo, USA
  • San Diego Zoo Safari Park, USA (actually a zip-line rather than a lift)
  • Sentosa Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom, Singapore (nearby transport to Sentosa)
  • Taronga Zoo, Australia
  • Wildlife World Zoo, USA
  • Zoo Praha, Czech Republic

Monorail

  • Alton Towers, UK (to the theme park entrance)
  • Bronx Zoo, USA
  • Busch Gardens, USA (no longer operating)
  • Chessington Zoo, UK
  • Chester Zoo, UK
  • Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand
  • Dallas Zoo, USA
  • Flamingo Land, UK (Zoo Monorail + People Moover)
  • Japan Monkey Park, Japan (no longer operating)
  • Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
  • Miami Seaquarium, USA (no longer operating)
  • Miami Zoo, USA
  • Minnesota Zoo, USA
  • Oakland Zoo, USA
  • Ouwehands Zoo, Netherlands
  • Philadelphia Zoo, USA (no longer operating)
  • Parque Jaime Duque, Colombia (monorail goes around the outside of the park)
  • San Diego Zoo Safari Park, USA (no longer operating - replaced by a "tram")
  • Sea World, Australia
  • Sentosa Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom, Singapore (nearby transport to Sentosa)
  • Sydney Aquarium, Australia (not part of aquarium - stops nearby)
  • Wild Life Sydney, Australia (not part of aquarium - stops nearby)
  • Toronto Zoo, Canada (no longer operating)
  • Ueno Zoo, Japan
  • Underwater World, Singapore (old Sentosa monorail no longer operating)
 
Last edited:
San Diego Zoo used to have a Chairlift. I haven't been in 20 years; they might have done away with it.

:p

Hix
 
Prague has a chair lift, Dudley has one that's not in use but should be up and running again soon.......
 
Funicular at John Ball Zoo is under construction, I believe

Bronx Zoo had one for years but dismantled it after this:
Bronx Zoo Skyfari Cable Cars Get Stuck: Gothamist

Although technically neither is a true funicular as I understand it (doesn't a funicular require a track?) Nor would I call them chair lift (enclosed gondola in these cases). So what would one call them?? Aerial tramway!
 
Zooplantman said:
Although technically neither is a true funicular as I understand it (doesn't a funicular require a track?) Nor would I call them chair lift (enclosed gondola in these cases). So what would one call them?? Aerial tramway!
Click to expand...

Funicular is a railway that goes up a hill pulled by a cable ... usually two cars or trains acting as a counter-weight to each other, when one goes up, the other goes down.

Chair lifts, gondola lifts, etc are all aerial lifts in which you are suspended by a cable above the ground. When I wrote "chair list" I did mean to include all types of "aerial lift", such as gondolas and such as well. I might change the description.
 
Toronto Zoo used to have a Monorail.

San Diego Wild Animal park - was that a monorail or a train? (It's been so long!)

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Toronto Zoo used to have a Monorail.

San Diego Wild Animal park - was that a monorail or a train? (It's been so long!)

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

SDWAP had a monorail. Now it has a bus-type coach somewhat like the Disney's Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari vehicle. It drives on a roadway on tires rather than on a rail like the old system.

The San Diego Zoo has an aerial sky bucket system. It is still in use.

The Oakland Zoo has one also.

Minnesota and Dallas Zoos have monorails.
 
There are only 4 zoos in the US that have monorails. Dallas, Bronx, Miami, and Minnesota. Jurong Bird Park, Chester and Ueno outside of the US have them as well.
 
Chester have a monorail and has already been stated Dudley have a defunct chairlift but have/are to receive funding to restore it.
 
There are ski-lift style chairlifts at Lowry Park Zoo (Tampa, Florida, USA) and Wildlife World Zoo (Litchfield Park, Arizona, USA).

And I forget already - did someone on this thread mention the new gondolas at Kolmarden Wildlife Park (Sweden)?
 
Chessington UK. Its a theme park as well as (more than?) a zoo. Has a monorail which runs over some of the animal exhibits.
 
I've updated the list in the first post with a bit more information that I've found on the net.

Let me know of any I've missed or any mistakes.
 
The Seoul Grand Park Zoo has a chair lift which takes visitors from the parking lot (or subway) up to both the lower and upper entrances of the zoo. It sort of goes around and over the zoo, at a separate cost, and not inside the zoo per se.

Also, the King's Dominion amusement park outside of Richmond, VA had a Safari Monorail until the early-90's. I don't remember it all that well - I more remember it as a popular stop because it had air conditioning. Youtube video shows that they did have lion, giraffe, antelope, even a herd of Scimitar-horned oryx. Kings Dominion was a Lion Country Safari before it was an amusement park.
 
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