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How many zoos/aquariums have you visited?

Discussion in 'ZooChat Community & Website' started by Arizona Docent, 9 Jun 2012.

?

How many zoos/aquariums have you visited?

Poll closed 25 Oct 2021.
  1. 1-9

    26 vote(s)
    13.1%
  2. 10-24

    57 vote(s)
    28.6%
  3. 25-49

    39 vote(s)
    19.6%
  4. 50-74

    29 vote(s)
    14.6%
  5. 75-99

    13 vote(s)
    6.5%
  6. 100 or more

    35 vote(s)
    17.6%
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  1. Pootle

    Pootle Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    1,194
    Location:
    Lancashire, UK
    Out of interest, from the 16 new collections visited recently, which two or three impressed you the most and briefly why?
     
  2. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,838
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Alpenzoo - wonderful setting, fantastic collection of European native species, some very nice enclosure design, a LOT of wildlife visible on and around the grounds.

    Wilhelma - beautiful gardens and buildings, some very nice species displayed, combination of zoo and botanical garden is rather appealing.

    Tierpark Hellabrunn - very good enclosure design on the whole, some unusual and interesting species displayed, quite a bit of wildlife visible around the site, just a pleasant feel to the place.
     
  3. Pootle

    Pootle Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    2 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    1,194
    Location:
    Lancashire, UK
    They all sound attractive, albeit all are outside the UK!
    Any UK new collections been impressive? (I have a week off work early September so may get an idea or two and I need to stay UK based then).
     
  4. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,838
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    What with the UK Zoochat Challenge being based on birds of prey, many of the new collections I have visited this year within the UK have been based along these lines. Of these, Scottish Owl Centre is definitely worth a visit - a lot of unusual taxa considering how small and relatively new the collection is. I'd also strongly recommend the Hawk Conservancy at Weyhill.

    In terms of collections I have done this year which were *not* first-time visits, if you have never been down to the Cotswolds I definitely recommend you do some of the following:

    Cotswold Wildlife Park
    Cotswold Falconry Centre
    Crocodiles of the World
    Birdland

    A little further south, and Bristol is improving by leaps and bounds in the past few years :)
     
  5. Javan Rhino

    Javan Rhino Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    15 Jun 2010
    Posts:
    2,136
    Location:
    Cheshire
    My total stands at 119 collections I know I've visited. I was on 104 at the start of 2015 and back then I decided to set a nice round target of 150 by 2020, averaging 10 new collections a year. Already on 16 new collections with potentially more to come, so could hit 20+ for this year. I will be reviewing my target at the start of 2017 to see if it should be increased.
     
  6. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    27 Oct 2008
    Posts:
    5,523
    Location:
    Europe
    Currently standing at 106 (in 16 countries), which is an increase of 30 zoos since I voted in this poll. This year has been a slow year with only 4 new collections and as I will spend the rest of the year, minus 6 weeks, in Africa, I doubt there will be many additions...
     
  7. Tim May

    Tim May Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    16 Nov 2008
    Posts:
    3,172
    Location:
    London, England
    I tend to agree with this; yet another holiday in Berlin, spending two or three days in Berlin Zoo and two or three days in Berlin Tierpark (with probably a visit to the zoology museum too), appeals to me far more than visiting a number of small collections for the first time.

    Of course, I like to visit somewhere new if there are exciting species in the collection or some noteworthy exhibits but I am not really interested in visiting a minor zoo just to add another one onto to the list. I must have visited almost 400 different zoos over the years but it is not very often that I go anywhere new now.

    Like you, I will be Stuttgart this autumn to attend ZooHistorica and, in addition to Stuttgart (Wilhelma) Zoo, I’ll certainly take the opportunity to visit various other zoos in the area. My exact itinerary is still to be decided but I expect that I’ll return to zoos that I’ve been to many times before.
     
  8. squirrelmonkey

    squirrelmonkey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 May 2015
    Posts:
    114
    Location:
    Northern Ireland
    I have visited 14 different zoos but have visited many of them multiple times. I have been to Belfast Zoo over 20 times and Dublin Zoo 5 times. It's hard to visit a lot not being in mainland Britain but will hopefully be going to Whipsnade and a couple of others around there soon. What good zoos are there around Luton as that's were I may be going?

    As well on an off topic note, is there a gallery for Majorca? I can't seem to find it anywhere as i have pictures from a safari zoo in Sa coma.
     
  9. lowland anoa

    lowland anoa Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    29 Dec 2014
    Posts:
    1,120
    Location:
    Nowhere
    I have visited 6 zoos as I just started being a zoo nerd 7 months ago.
     
  10. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    16 May 2014
    Posts:
    2,492
    Location:
    Oxford/Warsaw
    What about your zoo tour, has that not gone quite to plan? ;)
    Because looking at that, you should be on seven with just that trip alone.
     
  11. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,838
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Guessing he'd forgotten that he claimed that was a real thing :p
     
  12. Youssarian

    Youssarian Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    1 Feb 2012
    Posts:
    108
    Location:
    Louisiana
    Unfortunately I've only been to a few. When I was younger I went to Baton Rouge Zoo, possibly Alexandria Zoo, a wildlife park called Gators and Friends, Houston Zoo, Knoxville Zoo. Does Animal Kingdom at Disney count? The only places I've been to recently are a safari park Global Wildlife, my home zoo Audubon Zoo, and I went to the Berlin Zoo when I was abroad in 2012. The main thing limiting me from visiting more zoos is that I'm poor as hell (college student life). One of these days I'm gonna go on a zoo tour!
     
  13. Loxodonta Cobra

    Loxodonta Cobra Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    1 Aug 2015
    Posts:
    901
    Location:
    West Hartford, CT, USA
    Lets see, I've been too....

    Seneca Park
    Bronx Zoo
    Rosamond Gifford Zoo
    Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium
    Phoenix Zoo
    Los Angeles Zoo
    San Diego Zoo
    San Diego Zoo Safari Park
    Seaworld San Diego
    Columbus Zoo
    Cincinnati Zoo
    Toledo Zoo
    Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
    London Zoo
    Paris Zoo
    Menagerie du Jardin des plantes
    St. Louis Zoo
    Zoo Miami
    Jacksonville Zoo
    Santa Fe Teaching Zoo
    Central Park Zoo
    Alligator Adventure
    Cape Fear Serpentarium
    New York Aquarium
    New England Aquarium
    North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher
    Taipei Zoo
    Toronto Zoo
    Monterey Bay Aquarium
    Philadelphia Zoo
    Pittsburgh Zoo
    Mystic Aquarium
    Franklin Park Zoo
    Beardsley Zoo
    Out of Africa Wildlife Park
     
  14. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

    Joined:
    1 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    7,720
    Location:
    Abbotsford, B.C., Canada
    I'm up to approximately 325 zoos all-time. I know that I just toured a lot of rinky-dink little zoos but of all the AZA-accredited zoos in the United States I've already seen about 80% of them.

    U.S.A. - 290
    Australia 18
    Canada - 15
    Switzerland - 2
    Trinidad - 1
     
  15. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    And I don't think that zoo trip even includes some of the 6 zoos he's already been to:p

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  16. Shorts

    Shorts Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    29 Apr 2009
    Posts:
    2,049
    Location:
    Behind You! (to the left)
    Come on, give the guy a break -they made an error of youthful enthusiasm (something I'm sure we've all been guilty of to some extent or another).

    At best yourself and others are just "shooting fish in a barrel" -something I'd hope you'd have the intelligence and dignity to be above. At worst, it's near playground bullying, ganging up on the playground newcomer who's not up to running with the wolves yet -something I'd hope everyone at ZooChat has the intelligence and dignity to be above.

    Feel free to pull him up for any future errors but I think it's time to move along on this one -let's not completely extinguish the enthusiasm of someone who may, in time, become a valuable contributor to the site (we've all seen that story before :)).
     
  17. Crowthorne

    Crowthorne Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Jan 2014
    Posts:
    1,593
    Location:
    UK
    Whipsnade and Woburn are both very close (both around a 40-minute drive, or Whipsnade can be accessed via bus from Luton). London Zoo is very easy to get to by train from Luton too.

    There are also collections nearby in Hertfordshire (Shepreth and Paradise Wildlife Park spring to mind) but I am less familiar with those and how to get there.
     
  18. squirrelmonkey

    squirrelmonkey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    3 May 2015
    Posts:
    114
    Location:
    Northern Ireland
    Thanks Crowthorne! I didn't realise Woburn was so close to Luton.
     
  19. Jackwow

    Jackwow Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    25 Nov 2012
    Posts:
    452
    Location:
    In Scotland at the moment
    Looks like 61 for me.

    UK (38)
    Birdland Park & Gardens
    Birdworld
    Black Isle Wildlife Park
    Blackbrook Zoological Park
    Blackpool Zoo
    Blair Drummond Safari Park
    Bristol Zoo Gardens
    British Wildlife Center
    Chester Zoo
    Cotswold Wildlife Park
    Deep Sea World, North Queensferry
    Dudley Zoo
    Edinburgh Zoo
    Exmoor Zoo
    Five Sisters Zoo
    Galloway Wildlife Conservation Park
    Hawk Conservancy Trust
    Highland Wildlife Park
    Howletts
    Knowsley Safari Park
    Lakeland Wildlife Oasis
    Living Coasts
    London Sea Life Aquarium
    London Zoo
    Macduff Marine Aquarium
    Marwell Zoo
    New Forest Wildlife Park
    Newquay Zoo
    Paignton Zoo
    Paradise Park
    Port Lympne
    Scottish Deer Center
    Scottish Sealife Sanctuary, Oban
    Slimbridge WWT
    Twycross Zoo
    Whipsnade Zoo
    Wingham Wildlife Park
    World Owl Trust

    Middle East (3)
    Al Ain Zoo
    Doha Zoo
    Dubai Zoo

    South East Asia (20)
    Edward Youde Aviary, Hong Kong
    Hong Kong Zoo, Hong Kong
    Ocean Park, Hong Kong
    Lao Zoo, Laos
    Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
    Singapore Night Safari
    Singapore River Safari
    Singapore S.E.A. Aquarium
    Singapore Zoo
    Chainat Bird Park, Thailand
    Chiang Mai Night Safari, Thailand
    Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand
    Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium, Thailand
    Chiang Rai Zoo, Thailand
    Doi Tung Wildlife Breeding Center, Thailand
    Dusit Zoo, Thailand
    Garden Birds of Thailand, Thailand
    Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Thailand
    Korat Zoo, Thailand
    Nong Khai Aquarium, Thailand, Thailand
     
  20. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    Tis a fair enough request:)

    And a very true point.

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
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