America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums

Tried several times to place an order on the izes weblink but it didn't accept my phone number in form whatsoever.

Does anyone know the isbn of this book?

 

Try using another web browser, you are not the first of whom I hear the phone number is a problem, but using another browser was the solution.

 

Here you go:

ISBN: 978-0-9563831-5-0

You can pay via PayPal, debit card or credit card and it should only take around 60 seconds to pay and then within two weeks the book will be in your mailbox.

http://www.izes.co.uk/default.asp

 

I've been meaning to return here with the sad update that my package turned out not to be my book!

 

Or two years in my case.

 

Got the book a couple weeks ago. So far I’ve greatly enjoyed the perspective of all the zoos I’ve not visited before but also enjoy seeing other’s opinions of ones I have visited. It’s sitting on my coffee table in my living room. Hopefully my guests will enjoy it as well.

 

I mentioned earlier that 7 different zoos had ordered at least one copy of the book and now we have received our first aquarium order. Georgia Aquarium has 3 copies on the way!

 

If zoo marketing or development departments were smart, they would order several copies to give away to high value donors.

 

Thank you Snowleopard, I will try it again directly on izes, and if that doesn't work out, I order it by a local editor.

 

I've given up. I think I was swindled. After 4.5 months, I'm going to try izes or TinoPup's mother...

 

Where did you order it from? I thought IZES was the only place you could.

 

I just tried to order this from IZES. Put all my details in including payment, selected pay now and then nothing happened. ☹️

 

All ordered it didn’t like me using a card but was happy with PayPal . Looking forward to reading

 

I have just finished reading the book, I took a period of about 3 weeks to carefully read all of it a little bit at a time. I am happy to report I loved it! I have been to 66 of the 100 featured facilities, so I look forward to trying to visit some more of them. I also enjoyed the additional list of 'Top 20 Specialist Collections and Smaller Zoos' and I have only been to 5 of those, it is quite an eclectic selection. I appreciate that there was no ranked list of best zoo or aquarium, I think it is fun for us to do that here on Zoochat but it would be too subjective for a book that will stand as the authority on the subject for a long time to come!

 

Having only ordered it on Wednesday, my book arrived today It looks fantastic. Thoroughly looking forward to reading it

 

Thank you @Echobeast and @geomorph for your kind comments and I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the American zoo book. One really nice thing about the book is that since the Christmas rush has died down I've received emails from people mentioning that they've been getting their copy in the mail in a week or less, much different from the pre-Christmas period where there must be millions of shipments of merchandise all around the world. Publishers consistently push to get books out before the holiday season in order to capitalize on the Christmas buying period, but in terms of postage and ease of shipping our book has been arriving in homes far faster post-Christmas. It is satisfying to hear about people such as @cmrButton5 (living in the UK) who received the book in 3 days!

Yes, @geomorph we decided in the end to not have any kind of ranking system and I'm glad that you appreciate that decision. Tim and I discussed that idea at length near the beginning, but eventually abandoned the notion and we never really addressed it again. I was thinking it would be nice to have a few pages at the back of the book focusing on what I'd personally choose as 5 clear zoos above the rest (San Diego, Omaha, Saint Louis, Columbus, Bronx) and 5 aquariums above the rest (Shedd, Georgia, Monterey Bay, Tennessee, Baltimore), but in the end the book ended up being a hardcover, 368-page publication and we had to draw the line somewhere.

One great thing about the book is that it is hopefully going to be a wonderful reference guide for those that have purchased a copy. It is not a book that is read a single time and put away forever, but it's the type of book that can be pulled off the shelf every once in a while when someone is planning a trip or wants to look at some zoological information. If @geomorph has been to 66 out of the 100 zoos/aquariums, I wonder how many zoo enthusiasts can top that number? There's a famous American zoo director, now retired and not ever on ZooChat, who I think is probably cursing Tim and I because he emailed us to say that he's been to 90 out of the 100 zoos...and now what should he do? Make the effort to tour the final 10 to complete the book? Ha! It's not an easy decision, as the ones that he is missing out on are perhaps far apart from each other and a big U.S. zoo trip can cover a lot of land due to the immense size of the country.

 

I received mine yesterday and read the introduction and first few reviews today. I am going to thoroughly enjoy this book and I cannot imagine any regulars on this site who would not want it. I agree a ranking would be useless. The 100 facilities are listed in alphabetical order for ease of reference. (Another way to do it would be to list by state or list geographically, eg north to south, but each method has its pros and cons).

As stated in the introduction, the authors do not bother with details such as driving directions or opening times or ticket prices, since these are all now available online and subject to change. When I did my 2014 book Zoos of the Southwest I included all of this, but now realize it was likely unnecessary - I should have just pointed readers to the zoo website.

Each of the 100 reviews is short - two or three pages in most cases - but this makes it quite readable. I suppose many of us would like our favorite zoo to have a longer writeup (and more photos), but then the book would be unwieldy and some of us would get bored with the sections we are less interested in.

Some people report issues with ordering. As has been stated you need to order it from IZES. It may redirect you to a PayPal page but you can still use that even if you don't have a PayPal account (just enter your credit card number like any online transaction). The price will show in British Pounds but your credit card company will convert it to your local currency (possibly with a small foreign transaction fee of a couple bucks). It's worth the effort - just get it!

 

I have planned something similar to this after A-levels which may take around 40 days
Zoos/Aquaria visited would be: Bronx, Philly, National, Cincinnati, Shedd, Lincoln park, Brookfield, Omaha, Monterey Bay, SDZ, SDZSP, San Antonio or Houston (though probs not both), Audubon, Atlanta, Georgia aquarium.

Potential collections could include: Indianapolis, Denver, Hogle, Living Desert, LA, El Paso, Reid park.
Other animal related stuff: Field Museum and AMNH as well as maybe quick whale watching trip in Monterey.
And an added bonus - it's all via Amtrak

Obviously this is all very sketchy and I'll have to get a tonne of funds, but I reckon it's not impossible, although I'm still 3 years away. I'm not sure which of the potentials are worth it. At any rate, it's all very far away and I'll probably mention it again in a year and a half's time, but that's the dream

Just in case it's relevant, the route would be fly to NYC, then take Cardinal route to Chicago, getting off at Philly, DC and Cincinnati, potentially Indianapolis if it is worth it. Then California Zephyr to San Francisco, getting off at Omaha and potentially Salt Lake city and Denver. Then Coast starlight to LA, getting off at Monterey Bay, and then Pacific Coastliner to San Diego. Then Pacific Coastliner back to LA, and Sunset Limited to New Orleans, potentially getting off at Palm Springs, Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio or Houston. And finally the Crescent line back up to NYC, getting off in Atlanta but otherwise direct

I'm also going to get the book as soon as this pandemic is over. It should be very helpful in a number of respects and I look forward to owning a copy

Would someone who has actually visited these facilities or planned a trip like this do it similarly or have I got it all wrong in terms of time, scale and price?

 

You are (maybe) going to Reid Park Zoo, which is a decent zoo (but not outstanding), yet while in Tucson you have no plans to visit the truly outstanding Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum? For most ZooChatters the Desert Museum is the ONLY reason they visit Tucson, and they throw in Reid Park as an add-on just because they are in the area. It is true there is no public transportation to the Desert Museum, which I feel is a problem they need to address. However I am very happy to take you out there, as I did recently with CGSwans while he was visiting from Australia.

 

Sorry I accidentally put Reid park instead of the ASDM, which is the collection I actually meant. Of course if I were to stop in Tucson then that would be where I would be going, just missed it off. Thanks for the offer, although it is quite a way off even being a concrete plan, let alone something that could actually happen - it would be an honour to go with such a great photographer!
I've calculated estimated cost, which is really quite eye-watering at this stage, but I'll see how far a part-time job and a bit of art can get me and then we'll see I guess. I have to make the rather hard decision between St Louis and Georgia aquarium (+Atlanta), and Columbus is not served by Amtrak, so those two top 10 collections are out. Otherwise, I guess it's fun to have a goal, and thanks again for the offer, if I ever find myself in the area, I would love to meet you!