Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo are both very dear to me. They're probably the two zoos I've been to the most in my life.
Discussion Thread #1 - What are your favourite real-life zoos?
- Thread starter Eltanin Casciani
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Burger's Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands
I love the biome themed domes in the zoo. There's an actual tropical rainforest you can walk through, and a desert, and a mangrove, among others. They all match the temperature, moisture level, and flora of their respective biomes, and of course the animals! The zoo is divided into several sections based on biomes, and is as much a botanical wonder as it is a beautiful expose of the animal kingdom.
The 'Bush' section that is an actual indoor tropical rainforest, filled with flying birds, ground birds, fish, bats, otters, capybaras, and more.
The 'Ocean' section, with enormous underwater habitats with real coral reef. 'Ocean' takes you from the beach all the way down to the deep ocean floor. You start on the bright beach and you walk further and further down into the depths. It's an amazing feeling. Houses numerous fish species, jellyfish, rays, and more.
The 'Desert' section, housing peccaries, bighorn sheep, snakes, scorpions, and more.
The 'Mangrove' section. When I'm there I feel like I am on the other side of the world. Houses manatees, crabs, numerous butterflies, and more.
Burgers' zoo also has Rimba, Park, and Safari sections in the zoo, housing Asian cattle species, great apes, howler monkeys, elephants, flamingos, meerkats, antelopes, etc.
I love the biome themed domes in the zoo. There's an actual tropical rainforest you can walk through, and a desert, and a mangrove, among others. They all match the temperature, moisture level, and flora of their respective biomes, and of course the animals! The zoo is divided into several sections based on biomes, and is as much a botanical wonder as it is a beautiful expose of the animal kingdom.
The 'Bush' section that is an actual indoor tropical rainforest, filled with flying birds, ground birds, fish, bats, otters, capybaras, and more.
The 'Ocean' section, with enormous underwater habitats with real coral reef. 'Ocean' takes you from the beach all the way down to the deep ocean floor. You start on the bright beach and you walk further and further down into the depths. It's an amazing feeling. Houses numerous fish species, jellyfish, rays, and more.
The 'Desert' section, housing peccaries, bighorn sheep, snakes, scorpions, and more.
The 'Mangrove' section. When I'm there I feel like I am on the other side of the world. Houses manatees, crabs, numerous butterflies, and more.
Burgers' zoo also has Rimba, Park, and Safari sections in the zoo, housing Asian cattle species, great apes, howler monkeys, elephants, flamingos, meerkats, antelopes, etc.
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I really enjoy the San Diego zoo. My mom took me on a special trip there after a really horrible hospital stay as a kid and I’ve gone back several times since. Getting to see the Okapi was really awesome and I appreciate that they’ve worked on improving habitats and that many of the animals have much better spaces than our local zoos.
YES! I totally agree, the jaguar habitat is amazing! I wish we could use desert plants with them in game
Tim Smith
Lead Community Manager
I never visited but from the pictures clearly I should have! I'll put it on the mental checklist for next time I'm in the country
Parc Zoologique Dahlholzli (Tierpark Bern, Dählhölzli + BärenPark)
One of my favorite zoos. Why, because the enclosures are very big for them and it's cool. And the other you have to answer questions but on some animals there are Musk Ox and Leopard and Wolf and Bear and a Cat but I don't know which one. Sorry for the images because they are from the interne
One of my favorite zoos. Why, because the enclosures are very big for them and it's cool. And the other you have to answer questions but on some animals there are Musk Ox and Leopard and Wolf and Bear and a Cat but I don't know which one. Sorry for the images because they are from the interne
One of my favourites too, a really nice place.
My all-time favorite zoo is the Bronx Zoo in NYC. I'm a bit biased because it's the zoo I've gone to pretty much every year since I was a kid but... They have a good mix of outdoor habitats with plenty of space for the larger animals as well as a number of unique indoor habitats - Jungle World that houses a number of Asian rainforest critters, the Mouse House which focuses on small mammals, the Reptile House which focuses on reptiles and amphibians (duh), and Madagascar which houses several lemur species, tortoises, birds, fossa, and hissing cockroaches all native to Madagascar. There are also some areas that are impressively themed including Tiger Mountain and the Congo Rainforest. And the Children's Zoo is worth the price of entry, even as an adult, as it houses a number of unique species you can't see anywhere else in the zoo (fennec fox, various north american wildlife).
TBH, it's because of the Bronx Zoo and the exhibit design there that I was so excited when Planet Zoo was announced. It's the first zoo sim that made me think "Hey, I can probably re-create some of what I've seen at that zoo in the game!" Granted, it's been nearly two years and I haven't attempted that yet....
Roger Williams is probably a close second just because it's right down the street from me. The Columbus Zoo in Columbus, OH; Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago; and Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, GA are up there too but I've only been to each of those a few times over the years so I'm not quite as connected to them.
And my #1 "bucket list" zoo is San Diego, which I'm sure will probably get right up to the top of my list after I get there.
TBH, it's because of the Bronx Zoo and the exhibit design there that I was so excited when Planet Zoo was announced. It's the first zoo sim that made me think "Hey, I can probably re-create some of what I've seen at that zoo in the game!" Granted, it's been nearly two years and I haven't attempted that yet....
Roger Williams is probably a close second just because it's right down the street from me. The Columbus Zoo in Columbus, OH; Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago; and Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, GA are up there too but I've only been to each of those a few times over the years so I'm not quite as connected to them.
And my #1 "bucket list" zoo is San Diego, which I'm sure will probably get right up to the top of my list after I get there.
The Cincinnati Zoo is the one that I've loved for years, though I'm also one that's about the same distance from the Columbus Zoo, but most of my family lives in the Cincy area and I'm down there a decent amount already. The Wilds safari park is also great (it's part of the Columbus Zoo) though there are some of the stops that I wish they'd give some more time in...
With the Cincy Zoo, the prior entrance that they replaced with the Africa upgrade is something I really miss because it felt like something you would see on an adventure as a starting point...and the current entrance replaced the even older back entrance and just feels sterile to me.
There used to be a really nice private zoo/animal sanctuary relatively near me, but that got shut down following a lot of legal messes targeting private zoos after someone died and his moron of an ex wife decided to let all of the animals out. It was also one of the few places where some of the more exotic pets could be turned in if people couldn't handle them which is now a bigger problem in state.
One other zoo that I really liked is up against the great lakes and is a rather small zoo that was slowly removing the larger animals they still had the last time I was there, focusing on higher quality small exhibits or ones where they could have a few compatible animals in it...one of the ones making best use of a really small space.
There was an interesting "private zoo and aquarium" that I'd stopped at when on a trip to Branson a few years back which was kind of interesting, but was extremely strange as a fully indoor thing with a massive focus on, mainly, animals that I think were exotic pets save for their Dingo exhibit and shark tank...that was a really odd one.
I'd like to go back to the Louisville Zoo in a few years with their listed plans, because there was so much open space there when I stopped there a couple times.
I really liked the time I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo a few years back, though parking was interesting.
I'm wanting to go back up to Cleveland to actually go through the zoo...I stopped there, but barely got to do anything on a business trip where the hotel included tickets for their winter light displays.
For aquariums, the Shedd is still the one I've loved the most, followed by the various Ripley's Aquariums (I've been to both US locations a few times each), and the Sea Life Aquarium in the Mall of America was also fascinating. I've only been to the Newport Aquarium just out of Cincy once and that was a while back.
Certain members of my family tend to get annoyed that I like to visit Zoos and Aquariums during trips...
With the Cincy Zoo, the prior entrance that they replaced with the Africa upgrade is something I really miss because it felt like something you would see on an adventure as a starting point...and the current entrance replaced the even older back entrance and just feels sterile to me.
There used to be a really nice private zoo/animal sanctuary relatively near me, but that got shut down following a lot of legal messes targeting private zoos after someone died and his moron of an ex wife decided to let all of the animals out. It was also one of the few places where some of the more exotic pets could be turned in if people couldn't handle them which is now a bigger problem in state.
One other zoo that I really liked is up against the great lakes and is a rather small zoo that was slowly removing the larger animals they still had the last time I was there, focusing on higher quality small exhibits or ones where they could have a few compatible animals in it...one of the ones making best use of a really small space.
There was an interesting "private zoo and aquarium" that I'd stopped at when on a trip to Branson a few years back which was kind of interesting, but was extremely strange as a fully indoor thing with a massive focus on, mainly, animals that I think were exotic pets save for their Dingo exhibit and shark tank...that was a really odd one.
I'd like to go back to the Louisville Zoo in a few years with their listed plans, because there was so much open space there when I stopped there a couple times.
I really liked the time I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo a few years back, though parking was interesting.
I'm wanting to go back up to Cleveland to actually go through the zoo...I stopped there, but barely got to do anything on a business trip where the hotel included tickets for their winter light displays.
For aquariums, the Shedd is still the one I've loved the most, followed by the various Ripley's Aquariums (I've been to both US locations a few times each), and the Sea Life Aquarium in the Mall of America was also fascinating. I've only been to the Newport Aquarium just out of Cincy once and that was a while back.
Certain members of my family tend to get annoyed that I like to visit Zoos and Aquariums during trips...
This looks incredible!Burger's Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands
I love the biome themed domes in the zoo. There's an actual tropical rainforest you can walk through, and a desert, and a mangrove, among others. They all match the temperature, moisture level, and flora of their respective biomes, and of course the animals! The zoo is divided into several sections based on biomes, and is as much a botanical wonder as it is a beautiful expose of the animal kingdom.
The 'Bush' section that is an actual indoor tropical rainforest, filled with flying birds, ground birds, fish, bats, otters, capybaras, and more.
The 'Ocean' section, with enormous underwater habitats with real coral reef. 'Ocean' takes you from the beach all the way down to the deep ocean floor. You start on the bright beach and you walk further and further down into the depths. It's an amazing feeling. Houses numerous fish species, jellyfish, rays, and more.
The 'Desert' section, housing peccaries, bighorn sheep, snakes, scorpions, and more.
The 'Mangrove' section. When I'm there I feel like I am on the other side of the world. Houses manatees, crabs, numerous butterflies, and more.
Burgers' zoo also has Rimba, Park, and Safari sections in the zoo, housing Asian cattle species, great apes, howler monkeys, elephants, flamingos, meerkats, antelopes, etc.
Looking at the name and the style of the zoo this has to be another project of the Bioparc (Rainforest SL) team. All their facilities I've visited (Bioparc Fuengirola, Bioparc Valencia) are of immense quality and I'm sure this one in France and Zoom Torino are the same. Definetely some of the best zoos in terms of immersion.Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine - the most magical and unique place on earth for me
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I only ever visited the Bronx Zoo when I was three years old--my only memory of that trip is the Gelada baboon. Now I'm 25 and I'd like to visit it again if I'm ever in New York again.
It’s just a coincidence about the name. Doué-la-Fontaine is family owned. The same family owns another zoo in France too.
I see, a nice coincidence then. In any case, Bioparc Doué-la-Fontaine goest straight into my bucket list, that's for sure.
It's worth the trip and is an interesting study in an older zoo taking long-standing structures and updating them as the years go on. There's also a large variety of habitat designs from old school ones with moats to more expansive and immersive ones to creative indoor habitats (for example, the amur leopard in Jungle World looks like it's in the same spot as some monkeys--but is quite a way's away). You can spend a solid 5-6 hours there if you want to take in everything.
A fellow Bostonian! Which one of the two would you say is better? Stone is probably one of the last AZA zoo’s in New England I’ve yet to make it to, curious for your take on it!
Franklin Park has a better animal selection IMHO, but Stone Zoo has better looking enclosures for the animals. They're both pretty small but they are good zoos in my opinion
As a Zoo New England membership holder I feel compelled to answer this one. Haha.
Franklin Park and Stone basically operate as "sister" zoos. Stone has animals from regions that Franklin doesn't have with a really big focus on North, Central, and South America. There's a handful of animals from Asian (snow leopard, gibbons, markhor) and Africa (tortoise, hyrax, colobus monkey) but I would say a solid 85% of the collection is from the Americas.
Like somebody else said, though, the enclosures are definitely better than Franklin Park, but with the exception of the rainforest building isn't a high bar. Not that Franklin Park is bad (I love that place) but... It just doesn't feel all that up to date. I think you'd definitely find some good inspiration at Stone! In particular, the Central American section has some really great theming to it. And the new Carribean Cost aviary is great too.
I think they're about equal with Stone wining out in terms of habitat design and just feeling a little more modern. The rainforest building and bird house at Franklin Park are exceptions to this, and both are better than anything at Stone IMHO but... Given that both zoos basically complement each other as far as animal selection goes it's hard to compare.