A guidebook, a map and a fridge magnet for me. But only those I have collected on my own visit. Oh and books; I love a 'history of...' book on a collection. What is it about the human instinct to collect. Its very deep rooted!
Do they still do guide books? I looked thoroughly for some in the two Berlin zoos but had no luck. However I have now got a magnet for each! (I should have got one from the aquarium too)
I went a little bit insane / overboard / ridiculous with the Berlin magnets I think I ended up with about eight in total!
I started collecting keychains but not every zoo I went to had keychains. Same with patches. I do actively collect, though, maps, tshirts and hat pins of the facilities I visit. At least 95% of US zoos have at least one of those three. I keep a scrapbook of my zoo trips and put the maps and ticket stubs there. I have a San Diego Zoo/Wild Animal Park safari hat I put the pins on. And I wear the shirts.
Ever since my first zoo, I've always collected a meerkat item as a souvenir. Back then meerkat stuff was rare, nowadays I always have a decent selection to choose from. I have a strong preference for mugs, magnets and soft toys.
Because the key rings I collect are about the memories associated with them, for anywhere that doesn't have them, I make a simple one. I print off the zoo's logo and put it in a key ring blank.
I collect Christmas ornaments from the zoos I visit. I haven’t been successful with all of them, but managed to get a good chunk of them. I have also started picking up a couple pins as well.
I also collect fridge magnets. Unfortunately the quality is less than great these days, so I may have to try something else. Do tee shirts count? I don't really "collect" them, but I have a few. I also pick up postcards, but those get mailed.
I have a rather handsome collection of zoo fridge magnets. Unfortunately because I'm too picky for my own good there are only 4 magnets in the collection: A Steller's sea eagle from Moscow A wisent from the New Forest wildlife park A palm nut vulture from Paradise Park A white rhino from Cotswold which was bought for me because I was told I didn't have enough to call it a collection...
