Mania of quantifying everything comes. Which are top 10 and top 25 zoos in Europe, you think? Top 10 zoos in Europe: Berlin Zoo Berlin Tierpark Munich Rotterdam Arnhem Plackendael Vienna Chester Praha Beauval Top 25 zoos in Europe: Zurich Dvur Kralove Apenheul Cologne Wuppertal Walsrode Marwell Howletts/Port Lympne ...? I originally wanted to ask top 10 zoos in the world, but too few people have experience over different continents.
My experience is limited but I'm surprised by the omission of Plzen (and maybe Leipzig/Nurnberg, though I haven't been to either). I'm also surprised that Howletts and Marwell make it onto the list.
I'm wondering what both Berlin Zoos, Munich and Planckendaell are doing in the top 10. And would place e.g. Leipzig over there. Also Frankfurt could make it to the top 25.
Planckendaell is in my view not even top 25, Pairi Daiza is currently the best Belgian Zoo in my view. I do miss Oceanario although you could debate if it is a zoo or not.
My guess would be: 1. Leipzig 2. Rotterdam 3. Berlin Zoo 4. Arnhem 5. Vienna 6. Munich 7. Prague 8. Plzen 9. Cologne 10. Beuval 11. Berlin Tierpark 12. Loro Parque 13. Chester
I have far too limited an experience of European Zoos to make a top ten or twenty-five, however I would swap these around, because whilst Loro Parque wins on style, I think the variety at Chester and the overall customer experience is significantly better (Loro Parque is prone to being extremely cramped and loud).
Thanks for the opinions so far! Leipzig, Plzen, Pairi Daiza, Oceanario Lisboa, Loro Parque are definitely good candidates to the top 25 - and there are some spaces left. Any more collections in Spain, France and Britain (Edinburgh?) which could make it into the top 25? Anybody visited the Blue Planet in Denmark?
Hi, thanks for all the comments. I revised the list: Top 10 zoos in Europe: Rotterdam Arnhem Vienna Berlin Tierpark Praha Chester Leipzig Berlin Zoo Pairi Daiza Beauval Top 25 zoos in Europe: Plzen Zurich Apenheul Walsrode Munich Cologne Dvur Kralove Wuppertal Loro Parque Oceanario Lisboa Amneville Plackendael Edinburgh Madrid Hamburg Explanations: I don't rank inside the groups. I may have missed some French, British and Mediterranean zoos. I purposefully ignored zoo history and purely amusement attractions. Many famous old zoos like Frankfurt, London, Antwerp lost their status in 2013. Amusement zoos can be very popular, but many animal enthusiasts find crowds and the noise excessive. This list can change. Wroclaw with Afrykarium, due to open 2015, will be on the list, alas, not yet. Parc des Felines, Whipsnade, late John Aspinall's zoos, Slimbridge, Basel are other near misses.
And I reckon Wroclaw is significantly better than Madrid, and maybe even Edinburgh, even without the Afrykarium.
I don't think I would put Madrid even in my top 25. And Budapest is a nice zoo, which I love to visit, but in my view it is just outside the top 25.
Believe it or not, this is actually one of the threads I have found particularly useful on ZooChat, especially for planning my European summer trip. What changes would people make to this list in light of the past two years?
I would change the last list to this, partly based on personal preference and on what I think is the general opinion: Top 10 zoos in Europe: Rotterdam Arnhem Vienna Zurich Praha Chester Leipzig Berlin Zoo Pairi Daiza Beauval Top 25 zoos in Europe: Plzen Basel Apenheul Walsrode Nuremberg Cologne Dvur Kralove Wilhelma Stuttgart Loro Parque Oceanario Lisboa / Oceanographic Valencia?? Amneville Berlin TP Wroclaw Zlin Lesna /Budapest?? Hamburg It would also be interesting to compile a list of the smaller zoos that are top-notch (at least for zoo-nerds), but are not really able to compete with the big canons. Such a list could include zoos like: Naturzoo Rheine Zoo Magdeburg Tierpark Dahlholzli Bern Alpenzoo Innsbruck suggestions?
Indeed; whenever we try to list the "top European zoos" the issue of collections such as these is always a thorny one. In terms of quality and how much we enjoy visiting them, they could easily merit inclusion within the list, beating many larger collections; however, the small size and often specialised focus means that it is not "fair" to try to include such collections within the scope of such a discussion. For instance, my favorite ten collections are as follows: 1) Tierpark Berlin / Zoo Berlin 2) ------- 3) Wilhelma 4) Alpenzoo / Chester Zoo 5) ------- 6) Tierpark Hellabrunn 7) Bristol Zoo / Cotswold Wildlife Park 8) ------- 9) Zoo Magdeburg 10) ZSL Whipsnade Of these, two are smaller collections which you already highlighted - however despite where I have ranked them, I would not say that Alpenzoo is the equal of Chester Zoo and the superior of Tierpark Hellabrunn; if it were the same size as these collections whilst retaining the same level of quality, it could well be..... but it is not. Another example of a world-class European zoo which is too small and too focused to be suited for a list such as this is Living Coasts.
top 10 Leipzig Rotterdam Berlin Zoo Burgers' Prague Vienna Tierpark Berlin Cologne Wroclaw Hellabrunn top 25 Antwerp Beauval Pairi Daiza Zlin Budapest London Chester Frankfurt Dvúr Králove Artis Nuremberg Sosto Ostrava Alpenzoo Warsaw
