ZooChat Challenge UK 2017

And now for something completely different.......

I thought it would be nice this year to simpifly things a little:

-to avoid potentially complex debates on species/sub-species and identifications;

-to eliminate concerns about whether a species is visible when you visit a collection;

-to side-step debates on what constitutes a collection for the challenge, and;

-to eliminate the “luck of the draw” randomness of some poor soul traipsing somewhere to discover that a species is temporarily off-show (or, conversely, finding out some lucky sod visited less than 24 hours later to witness something new on-show).

Whilst all these elements do add complexity, interest and (possibly) fun to the challenges they are double-edged swords and I though it would be nice to have a year without them and roll back to the pure, simple, joy of visiting a zoo (especially those first visits).

So this year's challenge (drum roll for effect) is to visit as many of the following 35 “old” collections as you can in 2017. These collections represent 35 of the oldest collections in the UK (with Curraghs squeezed in as a guest spot for a little spice and to annoy the pedants). Note that these collections are not the (definitive) 35 oldest collections in the UK*, though I'd be happy to debate/discuss the accuracy/whimsy of my selections, but a fairly close selection which also comprises a nice mix of famous/obscure, near/far and general/specialist collections. So without further ado here are the collections for the challenge (with my best researches of their first year of opening to the public in brackets):

Bristol (1836)
London (1847)
(Sea Life) Brighton Aquarium (1872)
Edinburgh (1913)
Paignton (1923)
Drusillas (1926)
Chessington (1931)
Chester (1931)
Whipsnade (1931)
Belfast (1934)
Dudley (1937)
Slimbridge (1947)
Battersea Children's Zoo (1951)
Isle Of Wight Zoo (1955)
Beale Park (1956)
Birdland (1957)
Jersey/Durrell (1959)
National Seal Sanctuary (Gweek) (1959)
Flamingoland (1960)
Colchester (1963)
Twycross (1963)
Welsh Mountain Zoo(1963)
Paradise Wildlife Park (1964)
Shaldon (1964)
Curraghs (1964)
Skegness Natureland (1965)
Bentley Wildfowl (1966)
Hawk Conservancy (1966)
ICBP (Newent) (1967)
Banham (1968)
Birdworld (1968)
Camperdown (1968)
Linton (1969)
Newquay (1969)
Suffolk (AA) (1969)

Looking at the list it's interesting to consider what conditions conspire to enable collections to survive in the long-term. A quick review seems to indicate that, while driven and competent founders/owners/management are always essential, geography, the relative cheapness of keeping birds and cross subsidisation from associated businesses/benefactors are also possible key elements.

Hopefully those taking part will enjoy this challenge and I'd suggest reseaching the history of places a little before visits might add to your enjoyment (I'm always fascinated to look at an enclose, or remnant thereof, and consider what I know was once kept there, e.g. at Camperdown you can see three areas, including the current one, where bears have been kept). In the spirit of learning I'd be happy if this thread was used by members to gather information before a visit and/or reporting back after (there's a number of collections on the list I've not had the pleasure of visiting and I'd appreciate peoples views on them).

For clarification, the trimmed down rules for this year's challenge are as follows:

1. Proof of visits is not needed, your word is your bond;
2. Report/update your progress on this thread as you go along (let's say mandatory reporting from four collections and above);
3. The winner will (obviously) be deemed to be the person who's seen the most at 31st December 2017. If tied (in terms of equal collections visited) the winner would be the one who reached their total first;
4. My (final) decision is final -though I struggle to see where it'll be needed this year.

Right, get your atlases out and Satnavs/smart phones set, go (from 1/1/17)!!

I suspect the winner will be someone who visits somewhere between 25 and 30 of the collections listed and am certain no-one will visit all 35 (who with the time and resources to visit Belfast, Curraghs, Jersey and the Isle of Wight in a year would do so rather than going to Europe or further afar?).


*partly because it starts getting murky working these things out (when having to consider, and how to classify, collections that have moved location or been took over or temporarily closed for a while), partly because I've tweaked the list a little to add variety and reduce the amount of “zoo plus attraction” collections by two and also to avoid people having to visit a zoo that claims it isn't one.

 

Off the top of my head:

Longleat -given it's a safari park there's not really much history to see, and it's ridiculously expensive;
Drayton Manor -although there's quite a bit of history to see the list already had too many (usually expensive) theme park/zoo combinations;
Monkey Sanctuary (Looe) -didn't think it'd be much fun to visit a zoo with a scant handful of specimens (and species) and is anti-zoo;
Dartmoor -again not the most interesting place to visit (species wise), I want the challenge to be fun, not a chore;
Birmingham Nature Centre (arguably) -given it closed between it's previous incarnation (Birmingham Zoo, opened 1964) and current one and also changed from private to municipal ownership it seemed to lack sufficient continuity to include as open (since 1964).

 

Manchester Museum Vivarium is another iffy one, yes it's in the same place but it's within a different part of the building. Also, doesn't the same apply to Liverpool Museum and its aquarium? Arguably the oldest aquarium building in the world but a completely different set of tanks in a different area. (I'm fairly sure that's correct but I'm also pretty sure someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong... Bloody pedants! )

And boo to Shorts for taking out BNC as I could've possibly taken the lead on day one!

 

I was aware of Manchester Museum Vivarium (but somehow managed to overlook Liverpool's). I left it out because it didn't really feel "zoo" enough (other opinions are available).

 

I agree, a few vivariums in a museum doesn't constitute a zoo for me!

 

Can I propose a tweak, or perhaps an additional competition that might enable those of us from outside the UK to play? How about the most visits to collections that are 50 years or older (that is, founded in 1967 or earlier), anywhere in the world?

 

I'm quite happy (not that my permission's needed) for others to run parallel threads for other countries/continents/the world (much as KevinVar did in 2016).

It did occur to me, when I set the 2017 challenge, that it's probably the most transportable of the ones I've set so far.

 

Vision and I plan on creating another ZooChat Challenge for 2017. Since this year was mainly an experiment to see if there was any interest in such a challenge for the mainland, the range will be bigger this year so people from all over Europe will be able to join if they want to. However, because of this larger scale we'll probably not follow the UK theme of this year. Even though it would be very interesting to see, I think there's an awful lot of historic zoos in the whole of Europe!

 

It's interesting, I thought there was hardly anywhere left for me to visit in the UK, but from this list I think I only went to 12 this year & another 3 in 2015.

So 20 new places for me, I might manage around 10 of those, but there is no chance of getting all 35, though I managed 36 different collections in 2016! I'd never even heard of Bentley and had to look up where it is. Looks like in summer 3 in a day is very possible.

Curraghs, Gweek , Jersey, Camperdown, no chance. I've always wanted to go to Belfast and Newquay though. I don't think the IoW is worth the effort either probably from what I can see.

I'll set myself a target of 25, but I know there's no way that will be enough!

 

Frankly, I'd have to agree re Isle Of Wight Zoo -basically all collections on the island are worth a visit if you're taking a holiday on the island but, unless you're fairly local, it'd be hard to justify nipping over for the day -perhaps different in the past when Amazon World kept more obscure creatures (though not particularly well).

Belfast is definitely worth a visit if you can make it. Lovely zoo, lovely staff, stupid local council.

 

This is my local "zoo", although I can't say that I am a regular visitor; in the past, I believe that it held a collection of wildfowl that was up there with a WWT place, and, in addition, it had a pretty impressive set of cranes. I think this collection is now somewhat diminished - and, instead, it's the sort of place around which one walks dreaming about what might be done with a big lottery win (lots!). As a footnote, before writing this I looked the place up on Zootierliste, and it doesn't appear to be listed - which is highly unusual.

It's only about 10 miles (and past my front door!) from Bentley to Drusillas - another place which I manage to avoid visiting most years. It's a very well-run place, but, of all the zoos I have ever visited, it is the one wherein I feel out of place, being neither a young child nor, any longer, the parent of a young child.

....and then Brighton Aquarium is only another half an hour west! (Althouch you will need several weeks and, very possibly, a new mortgage if you are looking to park in Brighton).

Who would have thought East Sussex was such a zoo-hotspot?!

 

Thanks for the information. I also couldn't find Bentley on zootierliste and their website isn't very helpful either.

Drusillas isn't somewhere that I've ever been that desperate to visit, though if it was nearer to home I probably would have done. I didn't realise it had been open so long! These zoos aimed heavily at children are a bit of a problem, particularly as I did the vast majority of my visits alone last year. I have occasionally been surprised to see couples or groups of adults without children at similar places though.

Thanks for the warning on Brighton, that could be an expensive hour (which is all most Sealife visits are likely to take!).

 

I don't really know much about the place but included it in the challenge on the basis that Tim Brown's (2009?) IZES guide said it had 110 species and their own website claims "around 2000 birds of 130 species from around the world" (compared with 188, per Zootierliste, for Slimbridge) -which I thought makes it worthy of a sniff if anyone's in the area.

Strange that it doesn't have a Zootierliste entry, it seems so unloved -hopefully that'll change an iota or two this year.

It's about the only major area (when stretched to include Chessignton & the British Wildlife Centre) in the UK whose zoos I've never visited. Basically, it's too far for a day trip and whilst there's probably enough to justify a short break it'd always be behind Kent or Norfolk/Suffolk in that queue.

 

Proud Sussex-man though I am, I think your decision is probably the right one - although we are, of course, only next door to Kent, and thus it is only an hour or so from Port Lympne to the zoological heavyweights that are Bentley and Drusillas....

Chessington suffers from the Drusillas-syndrome, too, but is obviously much nearer to being a proper zoo; BWC is an excellent place. And in West Sussex is the rather charming Arundel Wildfowl Trust.

Blimey - does an open-air production of Romeo and Juliet count? The last time I went round the bird bit was more than a decade ago. All I really recall is being attacked by a "friendly" Cape Barren goose. Maybe 2017 should signal a return visit (although if I do have a free day, I think i'd probably rather make it up to London.....).

 

So after a visit today, I can start of 2017 with..

1) Chester Zoo