How many zoos have you visited? (poll 2)

Thanks for the info @TeaLovingDave I'll look up your directions now

 

Great stuff thanks, I definitely wouldn't have spotted that! Can wait to visit, so many amazing animals and some will be firsts.

 

I can now add 3 more zoos to my life list after a short 7 day road trip to the US.

Columbus Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

 

I've joined the 100 club! Great trip to Germany, though I didn't see the Himalayan Masked Civets at Dortmund (despite multiple visits to their enclosure), but I did see the short-tailed opssum and two oncilla. Duisburg for me was a mixed bag, but finally seeing Baby was a treat, as well as watching Apari (the wombat) following around and playing with his best friend Lizzy, the young Swamp wallaby - it was so cute. Zoom Erlebniswelt was probably my favourite of the three it had some great exhibits (and some not so good). I could have spent all day in the tropical house watching the Orangs. Seeing my first dwarf polar bear was also a highlight, Antonia is such an adorable old lady, I instantly fell in love with her!

 

Finally joined the Hundred Club!

 

Update: I forgot to put Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Center and Agroventures Adventure Park (does that count?) on my visit to New Zealand in June 2018.

I'm also gonna visit Bali Safari & Marine Park in 14th May during my school trip to Bali.

 

As of now (April 2019), the first groups all the way up to 100-199 are pretty evenly split and represent the majority. The last two groups, 200-299 and 300 plus, are the elites (I am not among them). They have currently six votes and eight votes respectively.

 

I am currently stuck on 95, I have 2 new zoos definitely planned over the next 3 months, a trip to the far west of England may take me past the 100

 

The median is in the 25-49 range, that is more than half the members have visited fewer than 50 zoos. So anybody who has visited 50 or more zoos are in the minority. Yes those how have visited 200 or more are an elite, though!

 

Very few adds, only two new facilities since I voted on the old thread with a total of 58 now.

Spain:

Zoo de Barcelona
Aquarium de Barcelona
Parc de les Aus (now closed)
Marineland Costa Brava
Marineland Mallorca
Aviario de Mallorca (now closed)
Safari de Mallorca.
Acuario de Porto Cristo
Zoo Aquarium de Madrid
Zoo Parque Grande (now closed)
Faunia
Mundomar Benidorm
Rioleón safari
L´Oceanogràfic
Zoo de Valencia (now closed)
Bioparc Valencia
Jardín del Papagayo
Zoo de Fuengirola
Selwo Marina
Zoo de Jerez de la Frontera
La Cañada de los Pájaros
Zoo de Guadalajara
Aviapark La Muela
Acuario de Zaragoza
Minizoo del Ebro (now closed)
Zoo Koki
Zoo de Santillana del Mar
Cabárceno
Acuario de San Sebastián
Parque ornitológico Los Molinos (now closed)
Senda Viva

France:

Zoo d´Asson
Parc Animalier des Pyrénées
Museé de la Mer Biarritz
Zoo Labenne

Portugal:

Zoomarine
Zoo de Lagos
Zoo de Lisboa
Oceanario Lisboa

Netherlands:

Veldhoven Papegaaienpark
Apenheul
Harderwijk Dolfinarium
Avifauna Vogelpark
Burger´s Zoo
Artis Zoo (including Micropia)

Belgium:

Pairi Daiza

Germany:

Duisburg Zoo
Weltvogelpark Walsrode
Berlin Zoo & Aquarium
Tierpark Berlin

Czech Republic:

Prague Zoo
Plzen Zoo

USA:

Bronx Zoo
Central Park Zoo
Prospect Park Zoo
Queens Zoo
San Diego Zoo
SeaWorld San Diego

 

I have currently visited 47 zoological collections in five countries.

While I have not visited nearly as many zoos as some people on here have, judging by the poll I've visited a pretty normal number of zoos for members of this forum as well as a pretty decent amount. I also believe that amongst these collections I have seen some of the top collections in Northwestern Europe as well as some smaller places and admittedly a few not not quite so great ones.

I decided to mention collections by their current name and to mention if the name has changed since my (last) visit. I will list closed facilities in italics as well as add (closed) and list them at the bottom of each country's list. I also choose to list facilities with their names in the original language, but with some explanations/translations where I believe they are appropriate).

The facilities are not listed in any particular systematic order of time, preference or geography.

Some of these facilities I visited quite some time ago (in some cases like two decades ago) so I do not have vivid memories of all of these facilities, but of those I visited in, say, the last decade to decade and a half I do, and in most cases also have pictures, and in many cases very many pictures.

Belgium (16 facilities)
1) Zoo Planckendael (My first "local" zoo, the one I have definitely visited the most - probably well over 100 times by now - one that I still love and that I have had a membership for for over 20 years - i.e. about three quarters of my life.)
2) Zoo Antwerpen (My second "local" zoo and as it also belongs to the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp I've had also had a membership there for over 20 years.)
3) Olmense Zoo
4) SeaLife Blankenberge
5) Serpentarium Blankerberge (small herpetological collection, now also belonging to the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp.)
6) Pairi Daiza
7) Monde Sauvage
8) De Zonnegloed Sanctuary (While they have an official Flemish zoo license* and I am counting them in for that reason, amongst others, this place, as they themselves also indicate, isn't really a zoo, but more like a sanctuary/animal rescue that is open to the public, as they rescue and house animals and educate rather than breed. This was a new facility for me in 2018.)
9) Wildpark Domein van de Grotten van Han (Wildlife park on the domain of the caves of Han-sur-Lesse)
10) Bellewaerde (Theme park also housing an animal collection that while smaller than that of most zoos, does include some charismatic megafauna like elephants, lions and tigers.)
11) Familiepark Harry Malter (Relativaly small family recreational park including an animal collection. I visited as a school kid and have not been there since. At the time conditions were pretty poor for the animals and the attractions included elephant and camel rides, which I sadly participated in. I didn't hear much good about the park later on, although not very recently, but they have discontinued elephant rides at least and I hope they have improved. Last I heard they were working on that.)
12) Insectarium Lieteberg (Small insect museum on the edge of one Flanders' largest nature reserves, the Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen, that houses a small living insect collection and an outdoor facility with captive native butterfly species, which I have not seen elsewhere so far and found the most interesting part of this not very impressive facility)
13) Vlindertuin Knokke-Heist (Butterfly greenhouse in Knokke. Closed. There was a pop-up butterfly house in Knokke more recently but that one has also been closed.)
14) Vogelpark Zwin (Closed. It was a small and pretty outdated bird park with mostly native birds, next to a large nature reserve. The bird park has since closed and been demolished to be replaced by a new education center and the "Zwin Nature Park", a nature experience park with tidal and dune landscapes. The nature reserve still exist and has in fact been substantially expanded recently).
15) Aquatopia (Closed. The former location of Aquatopia within the Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel Antwerp, which is in fact located on the same square as Zoo Antwerpen, has now become a chocolate museum).
16) Museum Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen (Museum of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, our national natural history museum. The museum still exists, but to my knowledge and research there are no living specimen exhibits currently. It used to house some aquaria and a vivarium room with mostly invertebrates in their entomology and malacology halls, but these have been definitively closed as part of the museum's ongoing renovations. With this and the ending of a temporary exhibition on toxic animals including living specimens they don't currently display living specimens, although they likely do have some, somewhere.)

* Flanders is the Northern Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Full list of Flemish facilities with a zoo license: Erkende dierentuinen
List for the southern, French-speaking region of Wallonia:
http://bienetreanimal.wallonie.be/files/documents/BEA-zoos-agrees.pdf
I could not find, nor know of any facilities currently falling under this legislation in the Brussels Capital Region and I believe the two that previously did (Brussels Aquarium and KBIN) have either closed completely (Brussels Aquarium, which I never did visit) or no longer display live specimens.

Netherlands (22 facilities)
17) GaiaZoo
18) Burgers' Zoo
19) Safaripark Beekse Bergen
20) Diergaarde Blijdorp - Rotterdam Zoo
21) Natura Artis Magistra - Artis Royal Zoo
22) Ouwehands Dierenpark
23) Dierenpark Amersfoort
24) Vogelpark Avifauna (Bird Park Avifauna.)
25) AquaZoo Leeuwarden (Called AquaZoo Friesland at the time of my visit.)
26) Zoo Parc Overloon
27) Apenheul (Primate park)
28) Dolfinarium Harderwijk
29) Dierenrijk
30) Zoo Veldhoven
31) Kasteelpark Born (Kasteelpark = Castle park.)
32) Mondo Verde (Not only a zoo but also botanical and landscape gardens and some fun fair attractions on park grounds. This was a new addition to my list in 2018.)
33) Het Arsenaal (Maritimine museum and attraction including some aquaria.)
34) Reptielenzoo Iguana (Reptile zoo in Vlissingen, the town where Het Arsenaal is also located.)
35) Zie-Zoo (The newest addition to my list and the only new collection I've so far visited this year.)
36) Kasteeltuinen Arcen (Back when it was owned by the now defunct Zodiac Zoos and housed more animals then it does today, but I believe this park, which is mostly botanical and landscaped gardens, still houses some animals including exotics, so it might still be counted as a zoo, although they don't currently have a zoo permit.)
37) Dierenpark Emmen (The old, now closed Emmen zoo that was replaced by Wildlands, which I have not yet visited.)
38) Dierenpark Wissel Epe (Closed after the bankruptcy of Zodiac Zoos.)

List of the biggest Dutch Zoos, belonging to the NVD (Nederlandse Vereniging van Dierentuinen, Dutch Association of Zoos).
Dierentuinen « NVD Dierentuinen
Facilities with a zoo permit in the Netherlands
Dierentuinvergunning - Wikipedia

Germany (6 facilities)
39) Zoo Duisburg
40) Kölner Zoo
41) Zoo Wuppertal
42) Allwetterzoo Münster
43) Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Named Vogelpark Walsrode at the time.)
44) ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen

France (2 facilities)
45) Nausicaä - Centre National de la Mer (Nausicaä National Sea Center. Large aquarium, although I visited long before the large expansion that opened last year.)
46) Zoo de Maubeuge

United Kingdom
47) Sea Life London Aquarium (Before it was purchased by the owners of the Sea Life chain. At the time it was just named the London Aquarium).

 

Just joined the 4.3 percent of 200-299. At 201

 

My list now stands at 39

Facility's Name - Visit Date (Not Necessarily Most Recent Visit)

1. Animal Ark - ?
2. Aquarium of the Bay - ?
3. Aquarium of the Pacific - ?
4. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - June 28, 2017
5. California Academy of Sciences - ?
6. Cameron Park Zoo - July 6, 2017
7. Clearwater Marine Aquarium - ?
   
8. Disney’s Animal Kingdom - ?
9. Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary - January 21, 2019
   
10. Franklin Drive Thru Safari - April, 7 2015
11. Honolulu Zoo - ?
12. Houston Zoo - ?
13. Lindsay Wildlife Experience - ?
    
14. Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens - ?
    
15. Mandalay Bay Aquarium - ?
16. Memphis Zoo - ?
    
17. Monterey Bay Aquarium - September 29, 2018
    
18. National Aquarium D.C. (closed) - ?
    
19. National Zoological Park - ?
20. Oakland Zoo - July 24, 2018
21. Ocean World - ?
22. Oregon Zoo - August 11, 2018
23. Ostrichland USA - ?
    
24. Pacific Marine Mammal Center - November 11, 2018
    
25. Sacramento Zoo - August 26, 2019
    
26. San Diego Zoo - October 6, 2018
27. San Francisco Zoo - December 31, 2018
28. Santa Barbara Zoo - ?
29. Sea Life Park - ?
30. SeaWorld San Diego - October 7, 2018
31. Sequoia Park Zoo - April 25, 2019
32. Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden And Dolphin Habitat - ?
33. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom - June 20, 2019
34. Scipio Petting Zoo - ?
35. The Marine Mammal Center - ?
    
36. The Seas with Nemo & Friends - ?
37. Utah’s Hogle Zoo - ?
    
38. Waikiki Aquarium - ?
    
39. Wildlife Safari - April 24, 2019

 

I've not yet hit 500, but in case it pushes you on I thought I might list those which have taken me from 450 to the current count of 492. With no plans to visit anywhere new before August there's a chance you'll overtake me. We'll see if any spontaneous trips pop up before the summer.

450. Dortmund Zoo (I realised that I hadn’t counted Stratford butterfly farm previously)
451. Aquazoo Dusseldorf

Scotland:
452. North East Falconry (Huntly falconry)
453. Macduff Marine Aquarium
454. St Andrews Tropical butterfly house
455. Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary (now closed)
456. Fife Zoo
457. Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World
458. Highland Wildlife Park
459. Landmark Forest Adventure Park
460. SEAR (Scottish Exotic Animal Rescue – still not entirely comfortable counting this one)

South Africa:
461. World of Birds
462. SANCCOB
463. Reptile World Cape Town
464. Two Oceans Aquarium
465. Sun City Aviary
466. Crocodile Village
467. Rhino and Lion Park
468. Johannesburg Zoo
469. National Zoological Gardens of South Africa
470. Montecasino Bird Gardens
471. Lory Park Zoo
472. Mitchell Park Zoo
473. Dangerous Creatures
474. uShaka Sea World
475. Umgeni river bird park

UAE:
476. Al Ain Zoo
477. Wasit Wetland Centre
478. Sharjah Aquarium
479. The Green Planet
480. Ski Dubai

Uganda:
481. UWEC (Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre)
482. Uganda Reptiles Village
483. Kavumba Recreation Centre

Egypt:
484. Cairo International Garden Zoo

England:
485. ICBP (International Centre for Birds of Prey)
486. Monkey World

Spain:
487. CRAM (Centro de recuperacion de animales marinos – Fundacion para la conservacion y recuperacion de animales marinos)

Ireland:
488. Tayto Park
489. Sea Life Bray
490. Dublin Zoo

England:
491. Tropiquaria Wildlife Park
492. Exmoor Zoo

 

From my last trip:
113 (US 58). Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
114 (US 59). Zoo Atlanta
115 (US 60). Georgia Aquarium
116 (US 61). Chattanooga Zoo
117 (US 62). Tennessee Aquarium
118 (US 63). Nashville Zoo at Grassmere

~Thylo

 

I've visited 28 zoos, aquariums, and insectariums in my lifetime, plus four nature/science museums, one conservation center, and one theme park that keep live animals and could potentially be considered zoos. I've listed these facilities by the most recent year I visited them.

Zoos
1. Cougar Mountain Zoo, Issaquah WA (2002)
2. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Tacoma WA (2002)
3. Racine Zoo, Racine WI (2003)
4. St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis MO (2005)
5. Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden, Las Vegas NV (2009)
6. Oregon Zoo, Portland OR (2013)
7. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle WA (2013)
8. Henry Vilas Zoo, Madison WI (2016)
9. Louisville Zoo, Louisville KY (2017)
10. Milwaukee County Zoo, Milwaukee WI (2017)
11.Toronto Zoo, Toronto ON (2017)
12. Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Baltimore MD (2017)
13. Denver Zoo, Denver CO (2018)
14. Central Park Zoo, New York NY (2018)
15. Bronx Zoo, New York NY (2018)
16. John Ball Zoo, Grand Rapids MI (2018)
17. National Zoo, Washington DC (2018)
18. Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield IL (2019)
19. Cosley Zoo, Wheaton IL (2019)
20. Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago IL (2019)
21. Potter Park Zoo, Lansing MI (2019)

Aquariums
1. Seattle Aquarium, Seattle WA (2013)
2. National Aquarium in Baltimore, Baltimore MD (2016)
3. New England Aquarium, Boston MA (2017)
4. Ripley's Aquarium of Canada (2017)
5. Downtown Aquarium, Denver CO (2018)
6. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago IL (2019)

Insectariums
1. The Butterfly House, St. Charles MO (2005)

Museums
1. Museum of Science, Boston MA (2017)
2. Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons Island MD (2018)
3. National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (2018)
4. Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago IL (2019)

Conservation Centers
1. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal VA (2008)

Theme Parks
1. Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg VA (2011)

 

Any interesting animals at these places?