[Moderator note: this topic was split from this thread: ZSL London Zoo - ZSL London Zoo News 2019] For a major National collection it could do a lot better!
I am fully aware London zoo is far from one of the best zoos in the UK my comment was referring to any zoo which is in a counties capital hence London zoo is the National zoo in England whether its good or not is another thing!
Then why is the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth and why is the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham? Answer: because the word 'National' is part of both their official names. That word is not in the name of ZSL London Zoo. Neither England nor the United Kingdom has a National zoo.
As you would know zoos in a counties capital cities are the National zoo of that country hence the Giant Pandas given to the UK back in 1973 went to London and the same in Washinton zoo back in the day, Perhaps the Sealife centre in Birmingham is the main one in the country but at the end of the day I guess zoos can call themselves what ever they want
It's also a zoo and situated in the capital so under Zorro's definition it's as valid as Regent's Park for the title. IMO a national zoo needs some government funding and official recognition to be considered nations. As has been stated, London Zoo ceased to be the national zoo 40 years or so ago.
During the various closure crises of the 1990s it was frequently mentioned that, were Regent's Park to go, it would leave London as the only capital city in Europe without a zoo. At the time, my inner nerd would pipe up, "Battersea, Brent Lodge....", while wondering what zoos I could see in Brussels, Athens, Tirana, Reykjavik, Valletta, Vaduz, Oslo....
In some ways, London Zoo is a perfect metaphor for the UK of 2019: not as grand as it once was, nor as significant; not quite sure what it's doing; a bit dog-eared but, still, with moments of wonderfulness; a deluded sense of its own importance....
No, septic is what's happening across the pond, I believe our country will be fine, probably, well, erm, maybe... I'm an optimist, and I feel we need some of that right now!
The national zoo does not have to be the nation's best zoo. Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. is the national zoo (even before it had that name) but I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who genuinely believes it's the best zoo in the US. I would say that, yes, the London Zoo is the UK's national zoo as it is the major zoo located in the nation's capital. As @gentle lemur points out, however, it is just a name. The National Aquarium, for example, is located in Baltimore* and the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, some nearly 250 miles away from D.C. *The National Aquarium was originally in D.C. and was the nation's first public aquaria. The one in Baltimore was just the Baltimore Aquarium until the National Aquarium in D.C. closed in 2013 and the collection was moved to Baltimore, which renamed itself the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I don't know the story behind the aviary. ~Thylo
