Can anyone come up with some nations of the world, that does not have a single zoo, or make a list of these countries? Does anyone know of any countries with very few zoos, like only 1-3? And can anyone think of any potential cities, towns or other suitable areas in these zoo-free or almost zoo-free countries that need and/or could support a zoo?
Mongolia does not appear to have any zoos, although I found a reference to a mobile zoo at one point. There are many tiny island nations in the Pacific (for example) which lack zoos of any sort.
Niue and Tokelau are self -governing nations (but technically territories of New Zealand) and neither has a zoo. I don't recall Samoa having a zoo either, and I'd be surprised if Nauru had one. The Federated States of Micronesia, Palua and Guam didn't have one when I was there, but that was almost 25 years ago and things might have changed. Hix
Puerto Rico. San Juan has no zoos, only Save-A-Gato Cat Sanctuary/Shelter. SJ has about 390K people. Mayaguez (88K people) has a small zoo.
Niue should have elephants soon, but no zoo per se. Presumably small island nations will account for the majority of zoo-less countries, although Mongolia is a surprising anomaly. Possibly a few African countries may also lack zoos?
Do any of the tiny European countries have zoos? I know Monaco has a small collection but would be surprised if Liechtenstein, San Marino, or the Vatican City had one.
Liechtenstein has some kind of small bird park according to Zootierliste. I haven't heard anything about it, though.
The Vatican does not have a zoo, though the lovely gardens have some koi and swans with a few other waterfowl. After a conference in Rome, an argentine priest who resided at the vatican took some of us latin americans on a inside tour of the grounds and this is how i know about this.
Though not a country, I believe that the closest thing that Saint Helena has to a zoo is the governor's property, where Jonathan (a very old Seychelles Giant Tortoise) lives.
Greenland. Does Iceland's petting zoo count as a "real" zoo? And doesn't Costa Rica want to close all their zoos in the next future?
Iceland has no zoo if I am correct and Malta only has a dolfinarium and an animal collection that is operating without a zoo licence.
DDCorvus, Iceland does have a small aquarium (with a tame puffin) at the Vestmanneyjar and Reykjavik features a small zoo, mostly petting stuff, but also some fish, seals, polar fox and american mink. Several of Malta's collections have been presented recently on zoochat. @Batto, the Costa Rica story only involves the 2 state owned zoos, private zoos stay open.
Thanks Theo, but should we count a private collection that is open illigal (as it has no zoo licence) as a zoo?
I think you are right about Costa Rica wanting to close their zoos. They do have a nice sanctuary near San Jose with native wildlife though.
When visiting the Gambia, I only found one "zoo" at the Abuko nature reserve - some antilopes, lions, hyenas, some birds and althrough I asked several guides and other natives, nobody seemed to know another one.
