Well if your favorites are Polar and Brown then I can certainly see why YWP would appeal more, especially with them having such an odd subspecies of Brown. Shame you didn't get a chance to see Chester's bears, I managed both species and the cub my last visit. ~Thylo
I was very pleased to see all six bears (pair and a youngster of each species) on my last Chester visit - a new personal best for bears at Chester*! I think now Whipsnade are down to one Sloth Bear plus the Europeans that means YWP have the most bears of any zoo in the UK with 7 (3 Ussuri, 4 Polar). *Chester had no bears at all for 12 or so years during my formative years so they are still a novelty for me even after the Spectacleds have been there what, 14 years now? I saw Brown/Polar on the very first visit I remember but then the decade gap still weighs heavy. It'll be the same if/when they get hippos back!
Was just talking to my partner about this tonight after our first trip around Berlin Zoo. 1.Bristol- I understand theres not really a show stealing species but the layout along with the different houses and some of the best close up encounters with animals I've gotten just puts this Zoo number 1. 2.Chester- I haven't been since the lemurs opened this year which removes one of my gripes with the zoo. Everything positive has been said a million times on this forum, just a very good zoo. 3. YWP- Went for the first time last month, some highlights and what they have they display well. Looking forward to see what they do moving forward. 4. Paignton- I enjoyed this a lot at the time, however in hindsight it was very mazy, then there was long stretches of nothing. I did like the crocodile house, it did a great job of showing people the differences between species. 5. Edinburgh- Almost ranked this lower but being fair I'm judging it based on a cold windy February day. A lot of species I was interested in, especially the Australian creatures. Felt disappointed upon leaving. 6. Twycross 7.Blackpool 8. WMZ 9. Newquay- The penguin exhibit when I went had no water in it. I spoke to a keeper who just informed it was being cleaned however those penguins were melting in the heat and were desperate for a swim. Didn't include them but both Living Coasts and Blue Planet aquarium are very good and I would recommend
A visit to Exmoor, and other zoos in the west country has changed my list 1 Chester 2 Whipsnade 3 Hamerton 4 EXMOOR 5 Colchester 6 Yorkshire Wildlife Park 7 Port Lympne 8 Cotswold W P 9 Bristol 10 Howletts Of the other new zoos I've visited, Newquay would make the top 20, not far behind London, Living Coasts was great, but not enough there to be regarded as a top zoo for me, better than any sealife I've been too which is a fairer comparison. Paignton falls out of the top 10 (it was 5th only a while ago) mainly because I failed to see Bruce for the first time ever (6 visits) now they've moved him to the nocturnal house!!
