Judging from the thousands of photos that are here on ZooChat, plus countless weblinks and books, in my opinion it has emerged that the Netherlands is easily the #1 European nation for zoos. There are a number of immensely popular, modern, expertly designed zoological collections in Holland, which is shocking for a country that is quite small and has a tiny population. Any disagreements?
I'm surprised you don't say Germany. I used to consider the German city zoos were way ahead of other countries, but perhaps more recently others like the Netherlands have overtaken them. I would still rate German zoos better overall than most of those in the UK though. France could never compare with Germany in the past but in recent years some good new collections have been established there.
One of the main factors (there are of course many others) affecting the quality of zoos in any region is the number of potential visitors and the Netherlands has one of the highest population densitys anywhere in the world. 17m people, 15 major zoos A similar concentration of good & great zoos in a small area occurs in the nearby highly populated Rhine-Ruhr area of Germany.
Pertinax, I owe you an answer, just remembered it. While I don`t think german zoos are that awful (they`re certainly a hell better then zoos in Spain or Italy or Russia...), I am not able to give you a "best", becuase I think all major zoos have big flares. Frankfurt, Zoo Berlin, Animal Park Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, Wuppertal, Hannover, Munich are all big names and they have interesting collections with lots of rare animals, so if you look for rare animals and historic buildings, you`ll be happy. For me, animal welfare is most important, and that`s where the big UK and dutch zoos are way better. All these german zoos still have too many outdated, small, concrete enclosures and - which is worse - too many of the newly built enclosures were horribly expensive and are not designed with the animas needs in mind. Dutch and Uk zoos build a lot cheaper but the results seem to be better then in Germany from the animal`s point of view - more space, less mock rock, better adapted to the animal`s needs. I`d rate all big dutch zoos - Blijdorp, Burgers, Beekse Bergen, Emmen and Apenheul above german zoos for the reasons stated above, with the exception of Artis (too many big animals in too few space). Same for the big UK zoos, with outstanding Chester on top (outstanding, highly interesting collection combined with a huge number of really good enclosures). And maybe I`m more critical on german zoos because I know them a lot better and visit more often!
Almost certainly true! I think most Britsih zoos are pretty awful, but that's because i see a lot of them. I'd certainly put germany above Holland, much as I admire the Dutch zoos - especially Blijdorp. I feel that a lot of Dutch zoos are very commercial and do not feel very scientific. i also feel that Emmen and Apenheul have lost much of what made them special fifteen or twenty years ago. I appreciate that many will disagree. The best german zoos have a rigour, a seriousness, which marks them above the rest in the world. And yes, the enclosures are often small, but at the best places the condition of the animals, and the rapport between keepers and their charges, is second to none. With some very notable excpetions, the average British zoo seems to emply keepers who are young (=cheap) and inexperienced. in Germany there are more experienced people at work, great keepers who have been at their zoos for many many years. What about Switzerland? Two truly stunning zoos, in Zurich and Basle. And I'd vote for Belgium too - but I think I might be in a small minority there!
Why did nobody mention the Czech Republic? One of the best zoo countries: High density, interesting collections and very good enclosures. And I think the UK zoos are overestimated. Many of the enclosure are maybe large and lushy, but not very visitor-friendly, and when it comes down to the indoor enslosures, they rather resemble rabbit stables than the well-developped (and also expensive, that´s true) animal houses in german zoos (big positive exception is Chester)
Regarding the Czech Republic I have heard good things about Dvůr Králové Zoo and Prague Zoo, but I have also seen some very ugly photos of Ostrava Zoo, Liberec Zoo and Hodonín Zoo. That is only two highly regarded zoos that I have heard of... So to nominate the Czech Republic as the best European Zoo Country does not seem right.
Toddy, you are right about Prague Zoo and Dvur Kralove, these are the best zoos in country, I think, Prague is one of the best zoos in Europe with some very rare in zoos seen animals, such brown hyenas, ratels, chinese ferret-badgers, tayras, clouden rats etc, Dvur has the biggest collection of african's subungulates in Europe. Yes, some enclousers in Ostrava and Liberec are very bad, but these zoos have been changing quickly, they make effort to improve as much as possible the condition for animals, all depends on subsidies from EU and town. I think, in the next 10-15 years will have been the czech zoos ones of the best in Europe.
@gibbon: thought also about mentioning the Czech Republic (as well as Austria and Switzerland)-but I have already "promoted" CZ zoos here more than once. Other good Czech zoos, other than the ones mentioned-which definetely prompt CZ to a worthy candidate position: Plsen, Zlin, Jihlava and Chomutov. See: "Journey to the East" thread Like Jakub wrote: most of the Czech zoos try their best to improve. Maybe I really shouldn't post any more pictures of Czech zoo exhibits-as they seem to lead to quite biased results here... @sooty mangabey: You seem to like the "German way"...
Its very interesting that everyone appears to think that some other countries' zoos are better than their own and I feel exactly the same. I wouldn't rate Uk zoos- with the probable exception of Chester- as anything like as good as the great zoos of Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Coln etc + many others) Switzerland(Basel and Zurich) or Netherlands (many very good zoos as mentioned above) I 've heard it said ' the Germans are a nation of Animal Keepers, whereas Britain is a nation of Animal Lovers' and I think that very accurately contrasts, or it certainly used to, the basic differences in their animal keeping techniques and styles of management. I think, despite some old buildings and lack of space in the city zoos, that I would still rate Germany as having the best zoos overall.
I would like to add my comment, I think the german zoos have the best collection of animals in Europe.Though I live in Czech Republic, I have been traveling for about ten years in european zoos to see rare animals which I have never seen before. If I would focused only on the Czech zoos I would not have seen gaur, giant otter, tree kangaros, aye-aye, boto, saiga,langur douc, wombat, Bairds tapir and many other. I think, the conditions for animals are most importent ( enclousers size, welfare etc.), but I visit the zoos owing to animals, I am enthusiastic, when I see rare animals I had never seen before and that is the reason for me, that I consider german zoo to the best in Europe, no country have such a big collection of rare and fantastic animals, though any of theme will be phased out ( saigas, botos ).
@Jakub: It depends a little bit on what species you focus on: for example, in terms of small rodent or tarantula species, no German zoo (in former times: maybe Tierpark Friedrichsfelde) can compete with Plsen. And no German zoo keeps Komodo Dragons, Batagurs or Indian Gharials, Bale Mountain Vervets, Northern White Rhinos or Golden Takins...That's why several German zoo fans always slobber over visiting certain Czech zoos. And it's not just the rare species, but also the presentation and the husbandry that entail positive opinions about those Czech zoos. Indeed, German zoos have some very rare and extraoridinary species at hand; yet it's too sad how many interesting species couldn't establish themselves there. Solenodonts, Resplendent Quetzals, Goliath Frogs-oh my!
I have only visited zoos in Spain (6), France (2), Portugal (1), Austria (2), Czech Republic (1), Italy (1) and Germany (7). If I have to choose one of these countries I'dd choose Germany because in general all the zoos were better than the others I have visited and have good animal collections... but as somebody said before, there have a lot of (very) outdated enclosures. The zoos of Spain have also old enclosures and all of them are very expensive (all of them are more expensive that any other zoo that I've visited). The Prague zoo is also very good. I have been watching photos of the ZooChat gallery and I am surprised with the dutch zoos, specially with the Burgers Zoo. But as I have not visited any dutch zoo, I can't say that Netherlands have the best zoos...
Netherlands is top overall. Next comes perhaps Germany... If Yassa feels that animal welfare should be on top, then perhaps he should point at Switzerland. But it is hard to compare because Switzerland has only three proper zoos.
Just picked up this thread, but I would have to say that the best Zoos in europe are in Germany, with the Netherlands a close second and then possibly you could include France, the Czech Republic and the UK. Germany has some fantastic collections with the two Berlins, Hamburg, Hannover, Duisburg, Koln, Wuppertal, Munich, Heidleburg etc etc.
What I have seen so far from german zoo's is that they can't live up to the quality of most dutch zoo's. That doesn't mean they are bad, however. I only visited one zoo in the UK, London zoo, two if you also count london aquarium as a zoo, but especially london zoo was a bit of a dissapointment. In spain, or better said; tenerife, I visited Loro Parque, which was quite a good zoo. A little bit overcommercialized, but the tropical setting and animal displays made up for that.
I just read through this entire thread once again, as it has been dormant for quite some time. It seems that there is a consensus amongst the ZooChatters from Europe that it is a bit of a toss-up between Germany and the Netherlands for the best country in terms of high-quality zoos. There were many other nations offered up as viable candidates, but those two countries seem to be the place to start if someone was visiting zoos from overseas. While there are lots of countries in Europe with 2-3 top-notch zoological parks, both Germany and the Netherlands seem to have a large number of zoos worth seeing.
Hi folks, I am looking for some help and would be very glad to get some advice. Just planing my trip for the next year, I'm not decisive if to go to the Netherlands or Germany. I have seen Koeln, Wuppertal,Duisburg, Krefeld,Arnhem, Rotterdam and Harderwijk, so there are two other possibilities for me to visit, either Dortmund,ZOOM and Muenster or Apenheul, Emmen and perhaps Amersfoort. What would you recommend to me to go? Thanks for your help
