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Europe's 50 must see zoos

Discussion in 'Europe - General' started by lintworm, 10 May 2018.

  1. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I'm truly gutted that this thread has come to an end, absolutely brilliant reading and a great selection of zoos. Thanks for all the effort you put in @lintworm, muchly appreciated!
     
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  2. Okapipako

    Okapipako Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Including your last post, I think this is a fantastic list of Europe's most noteworthy, especially for a beginner to Europe's zoos like me. :) This thread has been a great source of knowledge and discovery, and along with the galleries and Zootierliste it's helped me pinpoint the zoos I'd most like to visit whenever I'm able to travel Europe.

    Thank you so much for all your hard work!
     
  3. Dormitator

    Dormitator Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Superb work Lintworm, this has been an exceptional thread to follow, and will certainly help when I come to plan the next 'big trip'.

    I'm chuffed you've ended with WWT Slimbridge as well, the combination of zoo and nature reserve is unique as far as I'm aware, and one I feel more zoos should try to emulate. Slimbridge is by no means perfect (ideally it would have more ducks) and it has its issues, but the concept of a zoo and reserve in equal measure is sublime.
     
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  4. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Reptilium Landau, Gifttierhaus Eimsheim, Freiland-Aquarium und -Terrarium Stein (all three in Germany), Reptilienzoo Nockalm (Austria)...might be worth considering for another list.
     
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  5. pipaluk

    pipaluk Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    2 more unlucky losers to add to the list- Whipsnade & Copenhagen
     
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  6. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Is Prague's reptile collection really that impressive?
     
  7. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I was aware of those, but I still don't think any of them is good and unique enough as standalone zoo to compete with.

    Copenhagen was never really considered, it is not really a special zoo and very much an ABC zoo. If I would have taken another Danish collection it would have been Givskud.

    I was a bit surprised by how often Whipsnade was brought up. I can understand why on an English scale it might be ranked highly, but it doesn't seem very impressive on a continental scale and especially full of missed opportunities. But I am happy to hear from you why it is actually so good.

    It is quite big and often kept in nice tanks, but the collection is divided between the Cat house, Salamander house, Gharial house, old Elephant house, Africa Rocks, Indonesian jungle and the native species terraria on the hill. Adding it all together makes for an impressive list.
     
  8. Kakapo

    Kakapo Well-Known Member

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    I would say that the behind the scenes list is impressive, but the public reptile collection is not so much. I don't remember a properly reptile house, but instead some reptiles in Africa at Night, and of course the gharial exhibit at other side.
     
  9. Kakapo

    Kakapo Well-Known Member

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    lintworm crossed with me, his reply is much more complete and updated.
     
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  10. Batto

    Batto Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    [​IMG] ;)

    Don't forget the Giant Tortoise House at Prague!
     
  11. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    We all have 167 days to come up with something to prevent Thread of the Year being a complete walkover. Thanks Lintworm.
     
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  12. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    At the moment it's a two-horse race between @lintworm and @LaughingDove, let's see who else can pull something out of the bag! ;)
     
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  13. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Everyone should know, it's better to release an Oscar contender later in the year......;)
     
  14. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I wouldn't rule out the original Zoochat cup by @CGSwans ....

    There is no sequel in the pipeline for now though :p
     
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  15. Rafiaan

    Rafiaan Active Member

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    This thread has been a very nice read. I have followed it with great interest. Thanks, @lintworm.
     
  16. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Is this the biggest exaggeration ever published on ZooChat?
    Hamerton is an interesting little collection, with some very nice species - but want to see far more rare and common species than it will ever hold :)
     
  17. Kakapo

    Kakapo Well-Known Member

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    Yes, I doubt a lot that it will ever hold in it's whole history even a 10% of all the species that appears in "all what a Zoochatter would ever want" thread here: Zoo animals you want to see but haven't yet , particularly from my looong list :D
     
  18. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    It was intended as a hyperbole ;)

    I was going through the thread again to see exactly how many likes each zoo got as I think that in general it is a pretty good indicator of whether people agree with the inclusion (though I feel there is some correlation with the number of zoochatters who have visited).

    17 likes: Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Chester
    16 likes: Cologne, Grafenau
    15 likes: Jardin des Plantes
    14 likes: Nuremberg, Burgers' Zoo, Diergaarde Blijdorp
    13 likes: Alpenzoo, Antwerp, Zoo Berlin, Frankfurt, Magdeburg, Highland Wildlife Park
    12 likes: Plzeň, Prague, Besancon, Zurich, Bristol
    11 likes: Beauval, Cabarceno, L'Oceanogràfic, Bern, Slimbridge
    10 likes: Ostrava, Artis, Boras, Nordens Ark
    9 likes: Nausicaa, Tierpark Berlin, Walsrode, Durrell, Apenheul, Howletts
    8 likes: Duisburg, Leipzig, Loro Parque, Cotswold
    7 likes: Dvur Kralove, Odense, Doué-la-Fontaine, Parc des Félins, Obterre, Hagenbeck, Wroclaw
    6 likes: Pairi Daiza, Chemnitz
    5 likes: Helsinki, Wilhelma, Bioparc Valencia

    In this ranking I am surprised at the low positions of Pairi Daiza, Wilhelma, Doue, Hagebeck, Leipzig and Wroclaw, but for the rest it pretty well reflects my expectations ;)
     
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  19. Okapipako

    Okapipako Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    The Berlins are a lot lower than I'd expected, they always seemed to have legendary status to me. But I figure that's mainly due to collection size and rarities, and I have seen disagreements over things like exhibit quality.

    Not quite as surprising but it's interesting how comparatively low the four taxon-specialist zoos were. Slimbridge is the highest (the conservation aspects are definitely a draw compared to the others), and Walsrode and Apenheul are tied farther down. But then there's poor Parc des Felins at only 7! I guess it's understandable since not everyone will be interested in those specific taxa when other zoos have more variety (I admit I'm less into primates than cats or birds), but I really appreciated the inclusion of them. There are definitely a bigger variety of notable ones than here in the US.

    It does warm my heart that Grafenau is near the top!
     
  20. Brum

    Brum Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I think I liked every inclusion whether I agreed with it or not (I'm looking at you Obterre and Nordens!), just simply because I enjoyed the write-ups and the effort that went in to the thread in general. :)