We will have to back date this to the1st January just curious who as visited what collection this year. Might also be interesting to keep a score through out the year . I'm afraid I haven't been anywhere so far this month but will be kicking off my visits starting April
Colchester x2 Whipsnade x2 Hamerton London Linton Shepreth Dudley (1st visit) Wild Place (1st visit) Bristol Banham Several more to follow over the next couple of months hopefully
Gauntlet Birds of Prey World Owl Trust, Muncaster Cheshire Falconry Chester Zoo x2 The Falconry Centre, Hagley Twycross Zoo The Raptor Foundation, Woodhurst
Aquarium of the Lakes Birmingham Nature Centre Cheshire Falconry Chester x 4 Dudley Duncombe Flamingoland Gentleshaw x 2 Hagley Lakeland Oasis Muncaster Reaseheath Rodbaston Scarborough Sealife Centre Twycross West Midlands Safari Park 17 collections
Whipsnade Linton Bristol Dudley Paradise Wildlife Park Colchester Helsinki Tropicario (Helsinki) Copenhagen Skansen Skansen Akvariet Tallinn
January : West Midlands Safari Park Hagley Falconry Centre February: Dudley Zoo Birmingham Nature Centre National Sea Life Centre Birmingham Cotswold Falconry Centre Birdland Crocodiles of the World Cotswold Wildlife Park Raptor Foundation Hamerton Zoo Park Linton Zoo Shepreth Wildlife Park March: British Wildlife Centre Tilgate Nature Centre Huxley's Bird of Prey Experience Eagle Heights Sea Life London Aquarium Lakeland Wildlife Oasis Lakes Aquarium World Owl Trust South Lakes Wildlife Safari Disney's Animal Kingdom Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Epcot (with living seas aquarium) Seaworld Orlando Aquatica Orlando Zoo Miami Jungle Island Seaquarium Miami
Sorry to go off the topic of UK zoos...tho the thread doesn't indicate that the subject be restricted to suchlike.To Devilfish....I was in Miami in February and visited the Seaquarium,Monkey Jungle (which isn't too far from Zoo Miami actually) and Jungle Island(former Parrot Jungle) for the first time.Isnt Jungle Island absolutely awful?They have a lemur encounter that shouid be closed down,some roadside zoo-type monkey cages,a poor, dark, reptile house,a pathetic penguin pond,clipped parrots galore(including both Hyacinthine and Blue-throated Macaws).And they obviously have money,just look at the entrance complex..its like a university building.Surprisingly shabby overall.Dont know if you bothered but just down the road from the Seaquarium are the remnants of the old Crandon Park Zoo...at least four or five old sets of cages/aviaries,whether suitable or not ,that was quite a setting for a zoo.
We didn't get the chance to visit Monkey Jungle or the nearby Alligator Farm - Zoo Miami took a lot longer than expected (even then, I'd have preferred an hour or so more in the Wings of Asia aviary ). I actually spent the day with zooman; we had bumped into each other in Animal Kingdom by coincidence and decided to match up a zoo visit later in the week. I was very surprised by just how poor Jungle Island is. Some absolutely terrible enclosures, and a lot of unpleasant practices. I don't think I'd ever seen a mixed white lion & white tiger enclosure before. There were a lot of repeated species (like common marmosets & lar? gibbons) consistently in poor enclosures - zooman highlighted that this gave the impression of an exotic pet farm. I don't remember seeing the lemur encounter - perhaps it was too late in the day? One of the things I absolutely couldn't stand was that at the end of the Jungle Show (featuring 6-month-old tiger cubs, an adult wolf and a gibbon in nappies), a young tiger cub was brought out. It was claimed to be 6 weeks old but frankly I'd be surprised if it was any older than a very generous 21 days. Eyes barely open, and held around for paid photos. On questioning, the handler stated that she was 'the mommy' for all of the cubs at the park, that way they survive, whereas they wouldn't if they were left with tigers. A futile conversation. There was so much that was wrong with this place. As you say, they obviously have the funds, and it was very busy during our visit at the end of the day. It's hard to understand why it's so amateurish throughout. Pros: Flamingo pool was a decent size, and the 'tame' cassowary in the parrot show was a highlight (that show was better than expected). Another interesting point was that the signage for white tigers was much more scientific and more informative than I expected. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the Crandon Park Zoo site. My entire visit to the Seaquarium was quite limited because we had to drive back to Orlando for our afternoon flight back to London. I spent a fair amount of time being denied access to the Orca stadium (as I was unable to stay for the show). I can imagine what an amazing setting for a zoo those Keys are.
oh my goodness, how did you know? Did you look sideways at each other, each thinking "is he a Zoochatter?", then casually ask "say, do you know the name of the first gorilla displayed at London Zoo?" just so you could be sure?
Hahaha, actually we'd met each other before in Bristol, so it wasn't too difficult. I had only booked tickets a couple of days before travelling and had long shifts at work. I was under the impression that zooman's trip was ending so although I meant to send him a message on here, I didn't manage to. Luckily fate almost walked us into each other.
Yes, it is frustrating when cetacean facilities are not generally open other than for shows.You will know that the Killer Whale "Lolita" shares the facility with Pacific White-sided Dolphins,it isn't a very large facility as you will be aware but it struck me that the whale was in excellent condition with a totally erect dorsal fin(not something you often see)...shes the second oldest Killer Whale in captivity as far as I know ...again this isn't the place for a debate but anyone with a view on captive Killer Whales really should read"Killing Keiko"by Mark Simmons for the polar opposite view to "Blackfish".Its a sobering overview of how sentiment can get in the way of pragmatism,even kindness...that particular whale liked humans, not other whales,and ,however perverse that circumstance was,a principle was forced upon the animal that probably made it unhappy and certainly killed the animal prematurely.With friends like these....
