... that Colchester Zoo is HUGELY overrated?! There is so much hype about it but I just think it isn't all 'that'. To me it just seems that it's all about money and not as much a great deal on animal welfare. Thats just my view.
It seems more commercial, I wouldn't say that they were not looking after animals properly. A lot of people will like the huge glass viewing and animals being visible nearly 100% of the time, well your average zoogoer!
Although I agree that in many respects Colchester is over rated,I personally don`t think its the zoo that is the most over rated in the U.K!
I like Colchester a lot but am aware of its shortcomings, for instance the labyrinthian layout is evil for newcomers and the (over)use of fake rocks is getting absurd. The variety of mammals on display is second to very few in the UK, though the collection lacks a similarly strong variety for non-mammals. Though not professionally qualified to give an opinion, I'm not aware of anything that compromises animal welfare. Yes the zoo is run on a (very) commercial basis, but I don't see a problem in that -it's the world we live in. Also, I believe it's because of this fact that Colchester seems able to continually add new exhibits at a faster pace than a number of other places which have similar or significantly higher numbers of visitors. In summary, I don't think it's particularly overrated amongst informed/balanced zoo enthusiasts (apart from maybe a handful of over-zealous locals, and every zoo has those) and like Zoo Giraffe says there are a few others that are more overrated.
It`s strange how often we seem to agree over something.and on this I`m with you totaly while I don`t particularly like the enclosure design at Colchester the Mammal collection is one of the best in the countryand in this case is no way is it over rated.
I would like to thanks Shorts for typing out all my own thoughts on Colchester to save me having to! Yup - agree with this entirely.
Apart from much smaller zoos (Linton, Shepreth) and London Zoo (which is more expensive and awkward for me to get to), Colchester is my nearest zoo .... and the one I am most familiar with. It's therefore my 'favourite' zoo though I wouldn't claim it's 'the best'. I also totally agree with what Shorts has written !
I hear what everyone is saying... But I suppose what I'm going on about is that Colchester seems so incredibly... Average. I don't deny it has a brilliant diversity of species (especially mammals) and it is obviously a big and popular Zoo, but it just seems SO average to me.
I suppose 'average' is a very subjective term and so far as zoos are concerned, an individual's definition of average will depend on several factors, such as their experience and/or knowledge of other zoos, together with what, for them, makes for a 'good' zoo. Despite the fact that I know Colchester better than any other zoo, I'm not sure I'd agree that there's much 'hype' about it ........ do you mean in the local or national media (press, TV) and/or the opinions of other zoo-goers ?? I know it's been featured recently on Zoo Days but personally, I'm not aware of much other publicity ..... though there's quite a bit of info and publicity out there if you go looking for it - such as the Facebook group. I first became aware of it when we were trying to find something to do and found it relatively nearby on the road atlas !
