Hi, I'm new to Zoochat and this is my very first thread (I'm very excited!) In your opinion what would you say the worst zoo/animal park is in UK at the moment for the quality of their enclosures for the animals. You can also pick rescue centres (like the Animalarium (shudder) and zoos that have recently closed (Mole Hall etc.) Please explain why you have made this choice-mine would be The Jungle in Cleethorpes-small Raccoon and Monkey enclosures with concrete floors and a couple of small poles for so-called 'enrichment'! Thanks!
From what I've seen in my short visits to the UK, and especially the many photos and descriptions on this site, you will have many candidates for this "award!" Before I get attacked as a jingoist, I will concede an equally numerous field could be assembled of terrible US/North American institutions.
I think one of the main problems is that many of the best zoos in America (San Diego, Bronx etc.) are so absolutely fantastic that nearly all zoos will feel inferior to them in terms of quality. But there are still many great zoos in the UK thankfully and a few bad ones as well (like the US)
And there's the scary massive number of big animals in private hands (& small cages) in the States, I don't think there is quite so big a problem here. Thankfully I've not visited any of the terrible places so can't make a proper judgement.
Welcome to zoochat willtheman45 Molehall was the worst zoo we have visited, I came home and cried It was the chimps in that awful cage, just sitting there and some of the otters in concrete pit like waterholes ! It all looked so sad and neglected.
Animalarium would be the worst of the ones i've visited I do however think that many downplay how many great zoos we have in this country. The ratio of awful UK zoos is certianly no larger (if anything, smaller) than the ratio of awful US Zoos.
A "worst zoos" list shouldn't be too hard to come up with, as the ZooChat gallery is littered with horrible little parks that should really be closed down. Cefn-yr-Erw, Amazona Zoo, Battersea Park Zoo, South Lakes, Dartmoor, Five Sisters, Animalarium, Mole Hall, RSCC, Southport (it's thankfully closed, right?), Shaldon, etc, etc, etc. Great zoos in the United Kingdom? From thousands of photos, books, fellow ZooChatters, etc, I'd say that Chester looks to be fantastic and the one truly world-class zoo out of the 200 or so in the U.K. Chester can compete with the big guns in other nations, but after that...? Maybe Edinburgh...and is that it? There are some that would argue that the privately-owned facilities Howletts and Port Lympne (even with all that ugly wood and wire around 98% of the enclosures) are top notch so I'll include those and that brings the list up to 4. I'm not talking about average establishments that are more country garden estate than zoo (Cotswold), collections that are impressive but exhibits that are at times horrendous (Twycross, Bristol), or even Durrell Wildlife Trust (which could arguably be on a list of greats simply for its conservation work). London Zoo is puny in size (35 acres), has perhaps not a single great enclosure (only good ones), and almost closed down not too long ago but must be at least average compared to some of the U.K.'s other collections. However, is London Zoo even above average, let alone truly great? Monkey World, Marwell, Whipsnade and Longleat (quite popular) are probably decent and it is interesting that out of the 200 or so zoos in the U.K. only 2 have over a million visitors a year. The United Kingdom has over 60 million people and lots of average to below average zoos, but is it really going to offend someone if I state that the excellent Chester Zoo is the one and only zoo that can compete with any of the top 20 in the United States? I am not American so there is zero patriotism involved, but several times already on this thread there have been comparisons between U.S. and U.K. zoos. There are plenty of small, crappy zoos in the U.S., but to be honest many of them have been shut down over the last couple of decades. Both the U.K. and the U.S. have lots of disappointing animal menageries, but surely Chester is the ONLY British establishment that is even in the same league as the big guns in the United States. What other zoo is as impressive? You'd have to venture farther afield (Germany, the Netherlands) to find the other great European zoos. Top Six List (in the U.K.): is this accurate? 1- Chester Zoo (world-class, but all by itself) 2- Edinburgh Zoo 3- Howletts 4- Port Lympne 5- Jersey 6- Whipsnade
Snowleopard, You have said many things I argee with, yet some I do not. One thing Chester world Class? Not completely sure on that I suppose other world class zoo must have exhibit's that need improving.
i like snowleopards list, but people have been recently saying chester is losing its conservation value, is this true?
What's wrong with Shaldon? It's a lovely place. And i wondered how long it would be before someone brought up Cefn-yr-erw. It isn't that bad in my opinion, and going on what i've read is certainly better than where some of the animals came from.
whats wrong with bristol, my canadian friend? Marwell is great, is there anythig you particuarly like/dislike
I think I agree with you Snowleopard on pretty much everything. But I do think Shaldon is a lovely little place - the enclosures are fine , its a nice setting. Chester is great, but I think Marwell, Edinburgh and (if it had more mainstream species) Jersey could scrape into America as well. And to be honest, if I looked at America's galleries I would probably have a much longer list of bad zoos!
There are very few actually appalling zoos in the UK, some may not be more than a few acres in size, some may not have any major exhibits made for more than a few quid. But very few are really bad or fall under "worst". Just because the enclosures are cheap and not particlarly breath-taking do not make them 'bad' exhibits.
Ive heard very good things about Shaldon actually , Pictures dont seem to do that place justice but i think it looked very good. Dartmoor is definately improving with new yards and enclosures etc and filling up empy enclosures as Red Foxes and Corsac Foxes are now rotating round the Old Tiger Mountain and it looks great. Im not going to comment on the RSCC issue but all i will say is all the enclosures are very modern and good but the only major issue is the size of the place. I agree with Foz just because the enclosures are done cheaply, and quite alot of them are good enclosures but dont have the same price tag as many other major zoos does not make them poor zoos or poor enclosures.
Id say i agree with 50% of snowleopards post there. Chester is certianly world class, but there is nothing wrong with Shaldon at all.
