I’d say Dublin is a top zoo whilst not necessarily being a top collection if that makes sense. It’s a lovely site to stroll around and there are some great enclosures. Definitely a very rewarding experience for the casual visitor and hard to miss anything out due to a user friendly layout. But it’s very ABC mammal heavy.
Thinking further..... Although I have not visited any of these four - and know little about all but the last - I think that at least one or two of the "dolphin park" type collections could safely be dismissed in favour of somewhere like one of the collections cited by @lintworm below, or indeed Aquazoo Dusseldorf (one of my suggestions). Again, two collections I know little to nothing about and it is nice to know you agree with me with regards to people giving aquariums more sway than they perhaps merit!
I would replace maybe Oceanopolis with Acquario de Genova, it is a fantastic aquarium and one of the only collections in Italy I found worth visiting Amneville certainly belongs on there despite having its EAZA accreditation stripped (the zoo started a Tiger Circus-style show). Mulhouse is also a good zoo. La Palmyre and Thoiry are also very good collections. Hamerton is very interesting and probably should be on the list. Colchester is not fantastic but decent - however nothing is really special as is the case with Hamerton. Madrid and Barcelona have fantastic ABC collections for those who are interested in such things, but I got rather bored in these establishments - there weren't any species in either of them that I hadn't seen before I don't think. YWP has very good enclosures for a few of its animals largely because they have lots of space and raw materials. Lagos is not a great zoo - it now has no more pygmy hippos which were their main attraction species (they have all been shipped out to Beauval I believe). Most of the German zoos in that list are unremarkable and in essence Chester dumbed down. The only one I would consider taking a trip to would be Duisburg uniquely for Baby of course. Of those, if I had to choose, I would go for Amneville, Thoiry, La Palmyre, Mulhouse, Hamerton, Colchester, Faunia Madrid, Zoo Madrid, Zoo Barcelona, YWP, Duisburg, Montpellier, Ostrava, Longleat, Newquay and Santillana del Mar. However, there are also zoos like Bratislava which probably should be there and I think Antibes Marineland and the Dolfinarium in Harderwijk should be replaced with the Genova Aquarium and maybe Aquatis Lausanne as @lintworm suggested
Really? You've presumably seen *dozens* of Iberian Lynx and Montseny Newts then.... Although it's said to be the best Slovakia has to offer, I'm given to understand it isn't actually all that good?
Oh... I forgot the lynx. I didn't get to see the newts for some reason... But the point still remains, it is still a collection largely dominated by ABCs. As for Bratislava, I understood from photos from the gallery that the enclosures aren't bad at all and their collection is quite good as well.
Oh, indeed - as noted upthread I wasn't impressed with Madrid at all myself, and thought Barcelona was a little bit sad to visit.
I rather like Madrid, and would argue that it does belong in a European “Top 100”. It has been derided for being “just” an ABC collection, but the days of such comprehensive collections being commonplace are long gone. To have Giant Pandas, Koalas, Bottle-nosed Dolphins, all in one place, is quite something. The 1970s architecture is fantastic, and while some exhibits are less than optimum they have been improved markedly. The aquarium is very good. And it’s a full day zoo. My opinion is maybe altered by my loving Madrid as a city, and I’d certainly not argue this was the best zoo in Spain, but it is a good place...
So, to take up this challenge... I have visited 351 European Zoos. A large number of these can be discarded straight away, either because they're now closed down (Prague Terrarium, Windsor Safari Park...), really tiny (Zoo am Meer, Bremerhaven; Bentley Wildfowl Park), or really awful (Pecs Zoo, Genk) - with some falling into more than one of those categories. There are also a number of places I've not seen, which would have a good shout for inclusion in such a list - I've not been to Lisbon, to anywhere in Greece or Italy, to Berne or Gdansk, to any Baltic or Scandinavian zoos (apart from Copenhagen). In the former Soviet Union, I've only been to two zoos. In France, I've not yet made it to the Parc des Felins. So, from the places I have been to, here are the 73 I would definitely include: Tiergarten Schonbrunn Austria Antwerp Zoo Belgium Paira Diaza Belgium Planckendael Zoo Belgium Jersey Zoo Channel Islands Brno Zoo Czech Republic Dvur Kralove Zoo Czech Republic Jihlava Zoo Czech Republic Ostrava Zoo Czech Republic Plzen Zoo Czech Republic Prague Zoo Czech Republic Zlin Lesna Zoo Czech Republic Zoo Ohrada (Hluboka) Czech Republic Copenhagen Zoo Denmark Bristol Zoo England Chester Zoo England Cotswolds Wildlife Park England Dudley Zoo England Hamerton Zoo England London Zoo England Longleat Safari Park England Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust England Whipsnade Zoo England Amneville Zoo France Jardin des Plantes, Paris France Mulhouse Zoo France Parc de Cleres France Valle des Singes, Romagne France Zoo Beauval, St Aignan France Zoo de Vincennes, Paris France Zoo Doue la Fontaine France Allwetter Zoo, Munster Germany Augsburg Zoo Germany Berlin Tierpark Germany Berlin Zoo Germany Cologne Zoo Germany Dortmund Zoo Germany Dresden Zoo Germany Duisburg Zoo Germany Frankfurt Zoo Germany Hagenbecks Zoo, Hamburg Germany Hannover Zoo Germany Heidelberg Zoo Germany Krefeld Zoo Germany Leipzig Zoo Germany Magdeburg Zoo Germany Munich Zoo Germany NaturZoo, Rheine Germany Nuremburg Zoo Germany Rostock Zoo Germany Walsrode Vogelpark Germany Wilhelma, Stuttgart Zoo Germany Wuppertal Zoo Germany Budapest Zoo Hungary Dublin Zoo Ireland Fota Wildlife Park Ireland Apenheul, Apeldoorn Netherlands Artis Zoo, Amsterdam Netherlands Blijdorp Zoo, Rotterdam Netherlands Burgers Zoo, Arnhem Netherlands GaiaZoo, Kerkrade Netherlands Opole Zoo Poland Warsaw Zoo Poland Wroclaw Zoo Poland Moscow Zoo Russia Barcelona Zoo Spain Carbarceno Natural Park Spain Fuengirola Zoo Spain Madrid Zoo Spain Valencia Aquarium Spain Valencia Zoo Spain Basle Zoo Switzerland Zurich Zoo Switzerland In response to the discussion, above, about the inclusion of 'mainstream' collections that aren't of the world class quality of a Berlin, Prague or Zurich.... I think @FunkyGibbon is being a little unfair to, as an example, Heidelberg Zoo. Heidelberg is not an 'international' zoo. Apart form Nerds Like Us it's not going to attract people coming to the city specifically to see it, in the manner of a San Diego, Chester or Paira Diaza, nor does it have the quirky specialism of some other mentioned zoos, but it is, nonetheless, an excellent establishment, a really good zoo, with a number of really good exhibits, and I would eb really delighted to be able to visit it, again and again. Opole, in Poland, is another such place - nothing earth-shattering nothing exceptional, just a really good zoo that it is an absolute pleasure to visit. I'd give my right arm to have such a place - or Wuppertal or Krefeld or Brno - as a 'local' zoo.
It's pretty difficult to do a list of the 100 best zoos in Europe (which is slightly smaller than America), also because there are a lot of mediocre/bad/terrible collections. Parco Natura Viva in Italy is pretty good tho.
Bowmanville zoo in Canada impressively completed the accolade of falling into all of those categories a few years ago when it closed down
Having visited both collections within a span of a few weeks back in 2018 I'm struggling to think of much of any cross-over species between the two collections As for Madrid, I find the Iberian section to be mostly pretty great (and definitely filled with several oddities) but after not I can't say much of the zoo impressed me. Their flight show area was pretty cool (and also filled with various rare zoo species ) and it was neat to see dolphins in a zoo (a first for me at the time) but many exhibits aren't the zoo I found to be downright awful. Several of the pinniped exhibits, the baboon enclosure, the horribly overcrowded Barbary Sheep enclosure... The big cat and bear enclosures I found to be ok for what they were, but nothing stellar either. The African area, particularly the savanna, was good, though. In general I'd call Faunia a better zoo and more worthy of inclusion on a top 100 list than Madrid. ~Thylo
Ive been to all the zoos on Sooty`s list bar Valle des Singes...and only Fota and Ohrada genuinely surprise me as contenders.Off the top of my head personally i would add Bern,Parco Natura Viva, Sosto,Chomutov,Odense,Belfast, Attica,Loro Parque....there will be others if i gave it a good think . Aquariums?...Genoa,Brest,Nausicaa,Stralsund perhaps .Then there is the nature of any book..it would be bound to have a personal element - historical significance too - thats the reason we included Central Park in "America`s Top 100" given that it is arguably the U.S.A.`s first zoo...and for same the reason i would leave Cleres and Dudley on the list,and think hard about Rome and Avifauna too. Crocodile zoos... no,not for me im afraid(Protivin would be a candidate for ugliest facility) and there are much better all-round reptile zoos. Things change too - what was great 10 years ago,might not be that good now -for a book its important to be relatively up-to-date. I went to Aalborg Zoo in 1971 ,and ive no doubt its pretty good these days but i wouldnt dare consider it until ive been again. Finally,and rather off-topic..Amur Leopard`s assessment of Bowmanville Zoo in Canda being both tiny and really awful...it was neither of those things when i was there a couple of summers ago.True, it was in the process of closing down,but ive seen much,much,worse over the years - in fact i was surprised how decent it was given all i`d heard.
And I went there in 2016 and it was a horrible, fetid place. I understand it was much worse forty years ago when they gave the children caramels to feed the animals.
Since I've had some time spare today I decided to give my top 100, but I still haven't got to the magic milestone yet. Some of these are definitely not amongst "the best" but would probably feature on a zoo trip due to proximity to other collections or prime places to stay. Examples of those collections are probably Dublin, the two Paris collections, London, Edinburgh, and probably both Madrid collections as well. Also note that I've included specialist collections where I deemed them appropriate as well. UK Bristol Zoo Cotswold Wildlife Park Chester Zoo Colchester Zoo The Deep Edinburgh Zoo Highland Wildlife Park London Zoo Whipsnade Living Coasts Twycross Zoo (Shocker, but I was suitably impressed by recent developments) Ireland Dublin The Netherlands Artis Rotterdam Zoo Burger's Ouwehands Apenheul GaiaZoo Delfinarium Harderwijk Belgium Antwerp Zoo Plankendael Pairi Daiza Spain Cabarceno Bioparc Valencia Valencia Oceanografic Barcelona Zoo Madrid Zoo Faunia Madrid Loro Parque Portugal Lisbon Zoo Oceanario de Lisbon Vasca Del Gama Denmark Den Bla Planet Copenhagen Zoo Jersey Jersey Zoo Greece Attica Zoo Italy Parco Natura Viva Bioparco Di Roma Aquarium Of Genoa Austria Haus Des Meers Tiergarten Schonbrunn Alpenzoo Innsbruck Salzburg Hungary Budapest Sosti Czechia Prague Zoo Plzen Zoo Dvur Kralove Zlin Zoo Ostrava Poland Wroclaw Zoo Warsaw Zoo Poznan Zoo Nowe Switzerland Tierpark Berne Basle Zoo Zurich Zoo France Oceanapolis Marineland Antibes Nausicca La Vallee De Singes Paris Menagerie Zoo De Vincennes Doue La Fontaine Beauval Zoo European Russia Moscvarium Moscow Zoo Estonia Tallinn Zoo Finland Helsinki Sweden Boras Djurpark Kolmarden Norden's Ark Germany Aquazoo Dusseldorf Berlin Zoo Berlin Tierpark Leipzig Zoo Madgeburg Zoo Tierpark Hellabrun Nuremberg Zoo Wilhelma Zoo Stuttgart Hanover Zoo Tierpark Hagenbeck Walsrode Cologne Zoo Duisburg Zoo (but probably only until Baby dies) Wuppertal Zoo Frankfurt Zoo Zoom Gelsenkirchen By my reckoning that should be close to ninety collections.
Yes, you have 13 more spaces. In them I would probably include more French collections (La Palmyre, Amneville, Thoiry etc..)
I thought about including CERZA from France, Fota from Ireland, Hamerton and Paignton from the UK, and Dortmund, Dresden and Heidelberg from Germany but wanted to make sure I had enough space for what I considered to be the essentials. Bratislava nearly got included because it's the only zoo of note in Slovakia but it just wasn't good enough, and I couldn't think of any Norwegian collections that definitely should be on there either...
Basically there`s only one zoo as such in Norway i think..I dont think a book on the top 100 can take a nation-by -nation geographical bias. For instance,i would be slightly dubious about including Attica even though i suggested it initially almost because its Greece`s only major zoo,and i thought Bratislava to be very dull three years ago - there are lots of places better than that particular facility ...
Bojnice used to be the better of the two main Slovakian zoos, but the zoo doesn't seem to be improving in recent years and focus mostly on collecting species. It has a picturesque location next to a castle and the hoofstock area is high quality though.
Finally.. and we all have a different yardstick,granted but Bowmanville ..well,amur leopard, its as if we went to different zoos. For "fetid" read "smelly" and it certainly wasnt that - or tiny for that matter,perhaps it had been tidied up with closure looming.Personally i would go for the old Knaresborough Zoo to fit that category..with a place in Qatar near Al Wabra i cant remember the name of, winning the category of "world `s worst zoo".And,back to topic..no-one`s mentioned Karsruhe in Germany - for sure better than some on either Sooty`s or Brum`s lists? Marineland Antibes? not for me, although i had a great day there,as i did along the coast at La Barben and Montpellier both of which could qualify(Monaco`s Aquarium too..unbeatable for Mediterranean fish).
