The best zoo country in the world

This is something i have thought about for quite some time now, what is really the best zoo country in the world ? It is many things that a country must have to be a good zoo country, whethever it is the number of institutions, the quality of the establishments, or the number of animal species in each country. In this poll I have nominated 7 countries in, + the other option for other countries. Underneath I have written a shorth description, for each country,+ some hounorable mentions, with my personal opinions about each country. Note that this is only my personal opinions, feel free to write underneath, and remember to vote on the poll.

United States: This country is the country, I personaly think is the number 1. zoo country in the world. That is because it may have more high quality zoos than any other nation in the world. Zoos that have been highly praised include: San Diego, Omaha, Bronx, Colombus, Miami, Dallas, Animal Kingdom, and many more! In the Zoochat gallery there are pictures from 392 zoos and aquariums, and on the web page Zoos Worldvide I managed to find imformation about over 600 zoos and aquariums ! Even more, most of the larger zoos have good conditions for their animals. Only 10 percent, or about 220 zoos are accredited by AZA, That means that there are over 2000 zoos and aquariums in the United States ! Sadly many, or most of the unaccredited zoos have pretty bad conditions for its anmals, but that is outweighted by the good accredited zoos. Also most larger American zoos are quick to modernise, update and improve their animal exhibits. That means that if you go on a road trip there one year, and visits all the major zoos, and if you then visits all the same zoos two years after, you will notice that almost all of the zoos have gotten new exhibiths ! Also the United States is a big aquarium nation, the best aquariums are: Georgia, Shedd, and Monterrey Bay.

Germany: It is imposible not to love a country with over 500 zoos ! Even though many still associate Germany with Hitler, the country have many
nicer things to offer, zoos ! Every larger city in Germany have a zoo. And as it is very easy to move from one place to another with collective transport the zoos are always accesible for everybody. Big guns in the zoo world include: Berlin West, Berlin East, Leipzig, Hanover, Cologne, Duisburg, Hagenbeck, Frankfort, Dortmund, Wuppertal, and Walsrode, + many more ! The German zoos are maybe the most political correct zoos in the world. That meant that they were the first to ever exhibit many species of animals, and they used to catagorise them very accuarately taxonomicaly. Unfourtanetely that also meant that they were good in housing animals in unappropriate conditions. Luckily in todays world most of the German zoos are changing for the better, by improving their animal exhibiths. And today Germany are at the forefront in the world when it comes to exhibit design. I firmly believe that by a wide margin Germany is the best zoo country in Europe.

United Kingdom: United Kingdom have been the first with very many inventions in the zoo world, they started the worlds first scientific zoo (London). They opened the first safari park in the world outside Africa (Longleat). And they were the first to hold gorilas in large groups (Howletts, and Port Lympne). And not to be missed one of the worlds first modern zoos (Chester). Some says that British zoos are very traditonal. I disagree, based on the reasons written above, and the fact that they improve all the time, is a reason for placing the UK among the best, and most inovative zoos in the world. The best zoos in the United Kingdom are: Chester, Edinburgh, London, Whipsnade, Marwel, Cotswold, Colchester, Howletts and Port Lympne.

The Netherlands: While the United Kingdom are inovative, Netherlands are even more inovative, I believe they are the most inovative zoo country in the world. They are the most inovating and best, both when i come to making good geo zoos that are sorted geographicaly (Rotterdam), to create gigantic rainforest, and desertdomes (Burgers). Rotterdam and Burgers are the best zoos in the country, but other good zoos are Amsterdam, Emmen, and Apenheul.

France: Bonjoir, France is much more than just good food, romantic cities (Paris), large acres of countryside, and pretty ladies , France also have some very good zoos ! While french zoos are not so well known as the german, british and dutch collections, they have a number of good zoos that are well worth visiting. France have more zoos than the UK !, with 300-350 collections. The best zoos in France is argueably Beuaval Zoo. Other than that Paris have two zoos, the one Jardin Des Plantes is desperately in need of repair (but have several rare species),and a second one Vincennes that is now closed, but they will build a new zoo on the site, that will be one of the best in the country. So why not just take a trip down to France, and drop the wine, food, and ladies, and instead enjoy some faboulous zoos .

Australia: Altough the country down under only have four major zoos Taronga, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth, they are well worth seeing due to the fact that they exhibhit animals in world class exhibiths. It is also reccomended to visit small Australian fauna parks as they have animal species that you can not see anywhere else in the world (tasmanian devils, koalas, wombats, quolls and platypus). Worthwhile fauna parks to see are Healesville, Currumbin and Australia Zoo. Almost all the zoos in Australia have exhibths that are very good, and so not only the wildlife, but also the zoos are a good reason to visit the worlds smallest continent.

Singapore: This tiny country, the worlds only city state only have a few zoos, but they are all world class, so they are worthy of a mention here. Singapore Zoo is a "bareless" zoo. And the animals are wiewed in habitats that are seperated from humans, only with glass barriers, or ditches. Also it is recomendable to partcipate in the daily orangutan breakfast. Jurong Birdpark is the worlds best birdpark. As Walsrode still have more birdspecies, they have huge aviaries, like the african waterfall aviary, and it is also impresive to watch thousands of lories and lorikets in the Lory Loft. Night Safari is a unique zoo in the world, as you need to drive there in a car in the middle of the night to see the animals. River Safari is a newly built zoo, that I have heard very little about, but it seems like it is also a unique zoo, by the fact that it is a place were you travel on a boat to see the animals. River Safari even have giant pandas. Yet another newly built, this time aquarium, have 25 dolphins, and and huge aquariums. So you really should consider to visit this spot on the map just to see its zoos.

Honourable mentions: Not every country made it to the top for me. But here are some honourable mentions of countries, and their best zoos, that is still very well worth visiting.

Chech Republic: Prague Zoo, and Pilsen Zoo.
Denmark: Copenhagen Zoo, Odense Zoo , Aalborg Zoo, Ree Park, and Randers Rainforest.
Spain: Madrid Zoo, Barcelona Zoo, Valencia Bioparc, Valencia Aquarium, and Loro Parque.
Russia: Moscow Zoo
South Africa: Pretoria Zoo and Johannesburg Zoo
Malaysia: Melacca Zoo
Japan: Okinawa Churami Aquarium
Canada: Toronta Zoo and Calgary Zoo

I Have maybe forgotten some countries

Remember that this is only my personal opinion. Remember to vote on the poll, and comment bellow. Personal lists of top zoo countries is appreciated.

 

I voted for the Netherlands because it's my home-country and here I know the most zoos personaly. As Norwegian Moose said Dutch zoos are very inovative esp Burgers Zoo in Arnhem. For such a small country ( about 17 milion people ) there are a good number of large zoos, several medium sized and a lot of small ones and not one of them is realy bad. There are however some which are not what I would like they were but most of them are simply good and several very good. Also the diversity is enorm, monkey park, birdparks, one of the leading European delphinarium, herptile collections, butterfly houses, historic zoo and up to date modern zoo and so on - totaly about 60 public collections !
Second for me is Germany because it here that I started my zoo-keeper profesion and because there are such beautifull collections and in most zoos I've visited in Germany the German "sauberkeit" ( = cleanness ).

 

In the honourable mentions section, for south africa I would add the national zoo of south africa(which is regarded to be the best on the continent).
Another great british zoo innovation is edinburgh, who were the first zoo in the world to keep,and breed penguins.
perhaps one of the poll options, if not an honourable mention would be switzerland.
basel zoo: endless great exhibits, including the etosha, gamgoas houses, african zone, and historic antelope house. The zoo will go from strength to strength once they get and expansion, bring pandas to the collection, and open the large oceanarium.
zurich: masaola hall, baboon rocks and other great exhibits.
other mentions: tierpark dazholi.

(I voted for The US by the way for the endless world class and great zoos (san diego, LA, smith.national, bronx, omaha, colombus, miami, denver, brookfield, philadelphia, Dallas, fort worth just to name a few. there are also great aquariums such as georgia, monterrey bay,shedd, National in baltimore).

EK

 

I voted for the UK, I'm under no illusion that we're fantastic at exhibitry and all that immersion stuff... BUT it's my home country, nearly every zoo I've visited has been above par, (obviously they're not all perfect), we have quite a lot of variety unlike certain other countries on the poll and we have some fantastic achievments to be proud of!

 

I voted "other", specifically for New Zealand. I have visited zoos in all countries in the poll except France and the USA, and while all had some very nice enclosures, and certainly much better species diversity than found here in New Zealand, they all had some very poor exhibits.

Most New Zealand zoos have a very high standard of exhibit quality, both in terms of animal welfare and enrichment, and visitor amenities. There are almost no poor exhibits in the main New Zealand zoos, and even the smaller, privately-owned zoos, which often have smaller, older enclosures, still surpass some of the exhibits overseas.

To me, exhibit quality is the most important thing I look for in a zoo, so that is why I voted for NZ. Plus my inherent bias for my home country

Runners up would be Czech Republic, Singapore and Australia.

 

So jingoism trumps quality then?

I'm sorry but whilst the UK has some good zoos and a few very good zoos I don't think it's currently got any great zoos when considered on a world scale (Chester's getting there though). I've been fortunate to visit zoos in two other countries so far (Germany and The Netherlands) and I think anyone who's traveled a little would struggle to rate the UK higher* than either of these countries (and probably some of the others in the poll).

I'm not saying the UK hasn't got lots to be proud of, merely that they're not up there with either Germany or The Netherlands. For instance if you choose The Netherlands you've got Rotterdam, Arnhem, Apenhuel and Harderwijk all of which are way beyond anything the UK can offer in similar areas (general, general, primate, sea mammals) and Germany is only a stone's throw away.

* other opinions available

 

I think this is an unfair poll.
Portugal has alomst the same size has Maine (one of the smallest in the USA) but 9 more million people. If we compared it that way, Portugal would win without a doubt. The next state with the most similarities in term of area would be Indiana, wich has 3 million people less than Portugal. This is a best State for Zoos, but still loose for Portugal. In terms of population, the best states for a comparison are Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina. All these 3 have almost twice the size of Portugal.
Georgia, with the Atlanta Zoo and Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, can be compared to Lisbon alone. If we included the other zoos, Portugal would also have a best overall quality. Both Michigan and North Carolina have some good zoos, but none really great.

Overall, USA wins hands down. If we joined all European Countries, Europe would win.

 

I'm only speaking from personal experience. (See below.)

Most of my zoo visits have been within the UK, all the ones I have clear memories of are definitely on home soil. I don't really want to judge a countries zoo collection without seeing it.
If I had to choose the countries I was most enviable of, because their zoos look amazing then it'd be Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands in that order.

I think our history is something to relish, especially with places like Edinburgh, Bristol, London and Whipsnade. And some of our achievments are also fantastic, we did pave the way for visitor friendly and scientific zoos when everybody else had motley menageries.

 

Of course I voted USA (not only because I am an American but also the large number of high class zoos). But the country that is conspicuously absent from the list and is almost certainly number two IMO is Sweden. I have not been, but I know they have strict regulations for zoo animal welfare resulting in perhaps the most consistent zoo quality of any nation on earth. Plus some innovations like elephants in a mixed species savanna (which they have been doing for decades).

France gets bonus points for being home of Le Parc Des Felins, but I cannot rate the entire country because I have not been to any of their other zoos besides the substandard Le Menagerie (Jardin Des Plantes).

 

The best zoo country...

Can I put in a word for Poland; Wroclaw has some great stuff -- excellent bird & reptile houses/collections, historic elephant/hippo house.

 

I think based on a high quality zoos: population ratio it has to come down to Singapore or the Netherlands. I'd be inclined to give it to the Netherlands on the basis that Singapore's reputation has been made effectively by the one (government) organisation, whereas Netherlands has a large number of excellent independent zoos.

The US is up there but when you have about 60 metropolitan areas with a million or more people, it's not really hard to have a number of excellent zoos. The same applies to a lesser extent to Germany.

The UK comes into contention if you put a premium on conservation and captive breeding.

Australia has three world class metropolitan zoos and some of the world's best endemic-themed collections, but I can't imagine how you would put us above any of the previous five countries mentioned.

 

Singapore can probably top it for comprehensiveness and density - 5 world-class zoological establishments, each with a unique concept and collection, all within an hour's drive from each other, in a country about half the size of London.

Singapore Zoo - renowned conventional zoo, Jurong Bird Park - Asia's largest bird park in terms of size and collection, Night Safari - the world's first and only zoo that operates solely at night, SEA Aquarium - the world's largest aquarium in terms of water volume, and the world's largest freshwater aquarium in terms of water volume located within River Safari.

 

To be honest, I think that's the problem with a poll like this. Whilst it's fun to argue and debate the issue most of us will not visited all the countries mentioned and be in no position to judge on any kind of reasonable comparative basis. And that's before you consider distortions (if you feel that's appropriate) of vastly differing populations and various cultural differences (such as state funding being available in some places but not others).

Can't disagree with that, the UK has many (possibly most) important zoo "firsts". However my interpretation of the questions is "The best zoo country in the world now" and that's why I couldn't personally vote for the UK. To me it'd be like saying Liverpool FC are the best football club in the UK because of their history rather than current circumstances (runs to hide from angry scousers).

 

It's a little weird, your intro for Germany, isn't it? It's like comparing Norway with "although some people associate Norway with slaughtering whales". (I presume it was no offense, but it wasn't the best way either... By the way: Adolf Hitler was in fact Austrian and was born in Braunau am Inn, North of Salzburg!!!).

To your questions: I voted for USA. Most big and medium sized zoos (and even the smaller once like Central Park Zoo NY) are on a high level in keeping animals. They also show many rarities you can't see in other zoos outside of their homerange.

Nr. 2 = Netherlands (all in all modern exhibitry)
Nr. 3 = Germany (many zoos, many rarities, on the way to takeover the Netherlands in exhibitry)
Nr. 4 = Singapore and Czech Republik.
Nr. 6 = France and Spain (inkl. Canaries and other Spanish and not independent territories).
Nr. 8 = Switzerland (excellent exhibitry - with the exception of 2 or 3 roadside private zoos. Would have a much better position if there were MORE zoos).
Nr. 9 = Great Britain/UK (and everything that belongs to the crown and is NOT an independent nation)
Nr. 10 = Austria
Nr. 11 = Australia (all in all good exhibitry, would be at least Nr. 10 but I rated it down because this country is VERY poor in having exotic species and so you'll be bored after visiting 2 or 3 zoos).

 

I would have to say the Netherlands or Germany. Both countries have very good things to offer, but maybe I will stick to the Netherlands, because they have the best monkey park worldwide, one of the better places for sea mammals, a very good safaripark and some very good overall zoos. Who all have had some great succeses. Although some german zoos have an extra-ordinary development and do really wel, except the "zoo of the future" leipzig, I especially mean Magdeburg, which is together with Rheine one of the most pleasant zoos I have visited!

However I think it is a bit unfair to see USA as the best zoo country, because of the gigantic size and population 300 million against 16 million Dutch people. The rate of great zoos per inhabitant would be significantly lower then that of Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland or the Czech republic.

 

Thank you for commenting and discussing this, I had not expected to get so many replies in such a short time, but that is great. Anyway it is impossible to have all the great zoo countries in the world in one poll, as you can only choose 10 optinons for the poll. While I only have 8 options for this one, I thought that would be enough. The greatest zoo country I missed in the poll though is The Chech Republic, altough they have some misserable zoos, the zoos of Prague and Plzen are supousedly great, from what I have heard, and I regret I did not put it in the poll.

I only throwed in France as a sort of a wildcard. As they sure have some brilliant zoos: Beuval and Mulhouse, and many others, they are not a very famous zoo country, so I could have letten that country out of the poll.

Here is my list of top zoo countries:

1.United States
2.Germany
3.Netherlands
4.United Kingdom
5.Chech Republic
6.France
7.Australia
8.Singapore
9.Denmark
10.Poland
11.South Africa

And as few people have visited all the major zoo countries in the world, the opinions of the countries can be based only of what you have heard about their zoos.

 

What about the Czech republic?

 

I voted for the United States since we seem to lead in exhibits and do have some nice and rare species but Europe certainly beats us in rarities. Singapore is developing fast in the zoo world and may soon beat both the US and Europe in both exhibits and rarities.

~Thylo

 

Are you certain about this? It could be a case of, "the grass is always greener on the other side". Whilst I'm sure there are lots of species in Europe not seen in the US there's also a lot of things the US have got (particularly herptiles) that Europe doesn't. Personally I don't know the answer.

I think this is unlikely -Singapore is tiny and only has half a dozen (mostly very good I understand) animal attractions. Whilst exhibits might develop well I don't think they'll be the space in such a small number of collections to outdo either Europe or the US for rarities.

 

This could never be a fair vote, as each of us knows only certain zoos from own experience. In my opinion most zoos house winners and loosers among their animals. With only a few outstanding exceptions for the better or worse.
Personally I would never opt for Germany anyway.
And I am stunned that several people here would go for the Czech Republic. While Prague is impressive, Liberec has quite a lot of dark spots and the latter is probably not the only one of its kind in the country.

Singapore: Also it is recommendable to participate in the daily orangutan breakfast
Luckily this misuse is out of practise nowadays. The orangutans forced on the show were kept hungry "to behave" in the right way.