Come on everyone.. We all have them. That animal you want the photo of but because of the way the enclosure is it is difficult to get the shot you want. The enclosures are not built for photographers but there are some better for photographers than others. Let everyone know which you like the most or the ones you hate. I love the lynx enclosure in Dudley Zoo because the big glass viewing window but dislike the geoffreys cat enclosure as the mesh is just far enough away so it is next to impossible to get round it.
I think that a good zoo enclosure to make pictures is a mix between an area not too distance between the public and the animals,without windows and other part with glass in order to best make-ups, where the sun and the cleanliness of the glasses leave us ...
I enjoyed taking photographs at Valencia Bioparc. I photographed mostly of all the zoo species without any problem.... no problems with fences, glasses and sun reflections and the animals were not far from the visitors (I had enought with my 150mm zoom to photograph all the animals)
I think that the best zoo-photos are the ones where you can't see that you are in a zoo. Either open exhibits for glass windows without reflection work best for me. A good example is Pongoland in Leipzig.
I think Whipsnade is Brilliant for pictures, very natural looking and very open. The worst is Howletts as all the animals are behind thick mesh, and they're the unusual ones you want photos of Although they do have the new open enclosure design used for the Baboons and that, so it might get better in time.
Some small wildlife parks let you photograph deer, wolves and lynx in completely natural woodland. No way of knowing its a zoo. Also I took some almost-ideal argus pheasant in Berlin and capuchinbirds etc in Veldhoven. Unless you are really good plant expert, they look like in Malayan or Venezuelan rainforest.
The Miami Metrozoo is packed full of moated enclosures, meaning that there is barely any glass, wire or steel in the entire zoo. Almost all of the great apes, carnivores, hoofstock and pachyderms are seen with zero barriers in large paddocks. Even most of the birds are exhibited in a brilliant walk-through aviary (Wings of Asia) and thus I've found this zoo to be perhaps # 1 for lack of photographer obstacles. The massive open-range zoos (San Diego Wild Animal Park, Monarto Zoo in Australia) also have few barriers for photos.
My favorite would be Werribee open range zoo in Victoria. I'm yet to see the wild dog and serval enclosures but all of the exhibits that I have seen are excellent and they don't seem to have a problem with the tour buses not staying long enough. And there is a photo safari tour that you can take where you are in an open sided truck.
I know a lot of people despise glass but I don't--I find it easy to shot through. What I hate are wires (like the snow leopard exhibit @ Bronx) that makes it impossible to get a decent shot without KNOWING your in a zoo and so is this animal.
In the UK, I think my favourite is Cotswold Wildlife Park - good range of animals and almost all the enclosures reasonably workable. My least favourite (I know you didn't ask, but I have to say it) is Howletts - I have to agree with ashley-h. I think the elephant enclosure was designed by an evil genius - how else could they have made it so ******* difficult to photograph a ********* elephant! Alan
