No. These are our favourites: a list of the zoos that we think are the best would probably be similar to this one, but I don't think it would be identical. Alan
1. Chester. Love it love it love it. Also Emma and Subis. <3 And the sloths! 2. Howletts. Wonderful place, lots of memories with my other half there. And I love how they giving back to the wild. 3. Twycross. Not a perfect zoo but I go for the lovely hairy people. Particularly the bonobos, I am utterly obsessed with them. Bonobos are just the greatest. 4. Wingham wildlife park, again, go with other half so it has sentimental value. I love the parrots and made friends with one of them, but now the parrot house has changed so I can't tickler her chin any more. 5. Monkey world. Not a zoo as such but I couldn't not include it. It's such a wonderful place and I love the individuals as if they were extended family thanks to programmes like Monkey Life.
I agree, there's no way Dudley would make the top 10 but I think the other 9 collections would probably be up there but not in that particular order.
This wont alter the top 10 much and my No 1 wont be any surprise but here goes. 1 Dudley. 2 Chester. 3 Whipsnade. 4 Cotswold 5 Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
From scanning these posts I see a lot of favourites are possibly the nearest to the poster, so it's hard to agree that the top 10 means they are the 10 best. The only one from the top 10 I haven't been to is Edinburgh (nor the HWP) but the 2 nearest to me wouldn't feature in my top 5 Chester/Colchester/Whipsnade are equal top for me - my memberships allow me to make frequent visits to Whipsnade and Colchester, but Chester is just a little too far to make frequent trips. However, I could imagine going there a hell of a lot more if I lived closer and would buy the membership even if it doesn't give me access to other places like ZSL and Colchester does. The others that I would consider to be in top 5 are Paignton (although, only been once), Port Lympne. Yorkshire Wildlife Park, RSCC and Banham, but i can't decide which 2.
I'm not sure I have a favourite (But it might be Chester!) but my favourrites would be: 1) Chester - a single day just isn't enough to do it justice, although I could spend a day just in the Realm of the Red Ape!! 2) Edinburgh - my local, and perhaps I get a little blase about it because of that. Even allowing for sleepy black and white bears with 10 minute viewing slots, there is plenty to see. 3) Highland Wildlife Park - Great scenery, interesting animals in fantastic enclosures and brilliant food in the restaurant 4) 5 Sisters, West Lothian - a small zoo that grew out of a Garden Centre, they do a great job on a small budget, and are recovering from their devastating fire. 5) Kirkley Hall, Northumberland - a great small zoo to take the kids to, with a better selection of reptiles and acquatics than many bigger zoos!
I agree, I don't think the top 10 are necessarily the best 10 for several reasons: Not everyone has visited every zoo in the UK. I have visited 8 of the top 10 & at least 6 or 7 would probably make my best 10. Everyone has different tastes/particular interests which may make a zoo appeal to them. We were only asked for 5 zoos (although some picked 6or7. There is one glaring omission from this list, which if I'd been there would certainly make my top 10- BELFAST. If everyone thought Belfast was the 6th best, it wouldn't have a hope of making the top 10 with only 5 votes available each.
1. Jersey, for their interesting collections of rare and unusual species, their conservation focus, zoo research and training school. 2. Chester, a large collection with consistently high standards, a commitment to research and conservation. 3. London, A mixed collection with wonderful history, improving standards and the work it does at the ZSL and its conservation. 4. Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge. Wonderful specialist collection and in recognition of their research and conservation work especially some of the recent initiatives, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Common Crane, Madagascar Pochard. 5. International Centre for Birds of Prey, Newent. A world class collection of raptors with a strong emphasis on education and conservation.
I had wondered if Mr Jones was that Carl Jones, but I thought no, it must be another one . Anyway, there's room for all of us on ZooChat (I don't know, maybe I am the only one who just wants to see animals stuffed in cages and doesn't care if they are endangered or not?).
I am not thinking straight, I should have put Paradise Park in there at number 3 for their work with the World Parrot Trust and their interest in making a difference to conservation. Their commitment to Red-billed Choughs is commendable. The big comprehensive collections and the smaller specialist ones are not comparable. I am heavy on conservation because we need a lot more UK zoos to become more involved. There is a lot of talk but we need more action and zoos need to be used more for training and research. We need to move on from interesting collections of animals to look at.
I must be honest and say that apart from a few days spent in Jersey 18 months ago, I have not visited any UK zoos for 15 years, when I did a tour of Britain that included 20 zoos. My favorites are: 1. Jersey, alma mater and inspiration must always be number 1. The lead Jersey has given the world in conservation work is widely acknowledged. There are many zoos around the world clinging to Jersey's coat-tails as a justification for their own existence. 2. Paradise Park, for their work with the conservation of parrots and a delightful collection in lovely surroundings. 3. Chester Zoo, as a child I repeatedly borrowed the book "Zoo Without Bars" from the local library. I really enjoyed my visit and like the commitment to conservation and science. 4. Highland Wildlife Park. Great setting and concept. I was there just as it was being taken over by Edinburgh Zoo and everything I have read seems to indicate it has gone ahead. 5. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis. When I visited I was impressed by what a lot of imagination and hard work can do with a miniscule budget. Starting your visit with the "Beginnings of Life"display is a great idea.
I'd be interested to know if you think Paradise Park should have been allowed to continue with their 'Operation Chough' reintroduction scheme within Cornwall. E.g. do you think it would benefit the current wild population to have the additional genetic input- or not( and in that case, why)? Accepted that they have now recently been able to donate birds to the Jersey scheme instead, though that obviously wasn't why the Project was set up in the first place.
The Cornish situation is interesting. The choughs came back to Cornwall on their own, with birds that wandered across from Ireland. Some choughs were released by Paradise Park to supplement this population. This reintroduction was not successful because they did not release enough birds of the appropriate age. The birds released were largely too old. The Jersey release is using younger birds that are more intensively managed. The Cornish population would in all probability benefit from additional birds adding new genetic material. At the moment the wild Cornish birds are doing ok and the feeling among many is that there is no need to mess with them. Perhaps the approach would be to wait a few years until we have the release and management techniques for choughs well worked out and then review the situation in Cornwall with the relevant stakeholders.
That is just what I think a zoo should be! That is with the added proviso that visitors will hopefully learn something about animals (admittedly when listening to the comments people make during their visits there is little evidence of that having occurred). As I said before though, there is room on ZooChat for a range of opinions. I'd hazard a guess that most members like an interesting collection but are keen on conservation too.
So is Carl Jones the Carl Jones? If so his nomination of Paradise Park is apt for me since one of my zoo-visiting highlights - many years ago - was walking round a corner there and finding a certain island kestrel on display. Never expected to see one in the UK! So thank you!
Don't expect they will ever pop up again in the UK either - no need for them to be kept now! Which is a source of some frustration for me, as I first visited Chester Zoo soon after they went out of the species, and worse still only learned a falconry centre 12 miles from my home held the species when *they* went out of the species roughly at the same time! As such, never seen one and suspect I never will But it is much better to never see one but know they are still around, than to never see one and know no one ever would again as so nearly was the case.
Updated List of 47 Zoos (including all changes and additions during the past week) Chester - 29 Whipsnade - 16 London - 15 Cotswold - 12 Colchester - 11 Bristol - 10 Paignton - 10 Dudley - 8 Edinburgh - 6 Yorkshire Wildlife Park - 6 Durrell - 5 (although technically not in the U.K.) Highland Wildlife Park - 5 Howletts - 5 Twycross - 5 Blackpool - 4 Marwell - 4 Paradise Park - 4 Port Lympne - 4 Knowsley - 3 Monkey World - 3 Welsh Mountain - 3 Africa Alive! - 2 Birdland - 2 Exmoor - 2 Hamerton - 2 RSCC - 2 Axe Valley - 1 Banham - 1 Birmingham Nature Centre - 1 Broxbourne - 1 Curraghs - 1 (although technically not in the U.K.) 5 Sisters - 1 Flamingo Land - 1 Hagley Falconry Centre - 1 Kilverstone - 1 (now closed) Kirkley Hall - 1 Lakeland Wildlife Oasis - 1 Living Coasts - 1 Longleat - 1 Newquay - 1 Sewerby - 1 Slimbridge - 1 South Lakes - 1 Southport - 1 (now closed) Wildlife Heritage Foundation - 1 Wild Wood - 1 Wingham Wildlife Park - 1 Addendum: - Chester is by far and away the favourite (almost double the next contender) - Even though the well-travelled American ZooChatter "Arizona Docent" recently called London a "lousy outdated zoo" it still remains the 3rd favourite zoo in the U.K. (maybe due to its history?) - Yorkshire Wildlife Park has become a rather popular zoo - Variety is the spice of life with 47 zoos represented - Have any of you visited every zoo on the list?
