Discussion Thread #1 - What are your favourite real-life zoos?

[Eltanin Casciani]

Hayo Zookeepers,

Welcome to the first of our new discussion threads here on the forums!

Our team really loves getting to know you and wanted more opportunities to delve into some zoo-themed discussions, so every couple of weeks, we’re going to share a themed thread like this! This will be a place for us to chat more and really hear your thoughts and opinions. However, please do keep in mind that these threads have set topics and refrain from discussions outside of that or they will be removed by the moderators – but don’t fret! We’ll still be keeping an eye on the rest of the forums for your feedback, suggestions, creations, and more, just like we always have!

So, without further ado:

What are your favourite real-life zoos, and why?

 

[RubberKerfuffle]

I haven't been to many zoos in my life (that'll change soon!!) but I absolutely loved Kolmården in Sweden back in May 2019! Such a well kept park with plenty of animals. I love the skyrail that takes you over a lot of animal enclosures.

(I have plenty of pics but I can't post them right now as they're not on my phone)

 

[Leaf Productions]

ZooTampa for the purposes of the fact that it's one of the best themed zoo's I've ever been to. Every single place you turn is themed in such a beautiful way without being too overwhelming. Such a huge inspiration for my building going forward since the day I visited!

 

[Bearcat9948]

Yo, I love this!

That's an easy answer for me, the Cincinnati Zoo! It's my local zoo as I grew up and still live in the metro area (which is like 2.2 million people or something). My family still to this day gets membership passes so I go at least a couple of times a month.

The zoo is the second oldest in the United States, and the reptile house is the oldest standing structure in a zoo in the U.S. It was the first zoo to breed California sea lions, and the last place on Earth to show Passenger pigeons and Carolina parakeets (RIP). It is also the greenest zoo in America (possibly the world), and will be carbon-neutral or even become a carbon-sink, by 2030!

Being that the Cincinnati Zoo is so old and prestigious, I've been fortunate enough to see many species that are rare in other AZA institutions, including tayras and aardwolves....and yes, most amazing of all, the Sumatran rhino. It was very bittersweet when they left the zoo and returned to Indonesia, but I was so privileged to see such a rare and beautiful specimen up close growing up, and I'll always be thankful for that.

The zoo recently built a walkthrough red and gray kangaroo habitat (ahem, can we get that please?!) that also shows little blue penguins, and well as redoing their African penguin cove. Next up is a huge elephant trek for the current Asian elephants, as well as one of the only places in the world you'll be able to see a full, multigenerational elephant herd in captivity. It will also have Asian small-clawed otters and one of the zoo's many gibbon populations will be relocated there, with all 3 habitats looking like the same ecosystem.

After that I think they're planning on expanding the black rhino area and polar bear habitat. I'm hoping someday we get a big South America section because that's basically the only place the zoo is missing at this point. If you're ever in the Midwest, come to Cincinnati!

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

Personally, I really love the zoo in Nürnberg, especially the Mediterranian area that they have as it's lovely, tropical, and fully open so the birds etc fly around you. Plus I love the heat and it was soooo warm haha. Below is a couple of pictures from my visit there!

I really loved this zoo, in particular, because it was so open plan and focused on creating natural environments for the animals, so the layout was really gorgeous! Some of the habitats they have there are beautiful.

Also, I have a huge soft spot for Edinburgh Zoo as I've been visiting it since I was a child, and it's actually where I went to celebrate getting to work on Planet Zoo. Here's a photo of me on that trip, just before I started here!

 

[Aramar]

I have two:

1) Korkeasaari Zoo (Helsinki, Finland)

It is located on an island and nature is everywhere. You can only get there by boat or walking over the pedestrian bridge. It has no themed areas or big modern buildings, but the walk around the island while enjoying a lot of European fauna is priceless. Also, big cats like Siberian tiger, Amur leopard, lynx and snow leopard can be seen often active. The brown bears are probably the stars of the zoo, and they have an important reintroduction program for the forest wild reindeer. They have a big aviary for bearded vultures, and several other aviaries for owls, raven and eagles. Finally, the views from the island towards the city centre are amazing too.

2) Bioparc Valencia (Spain)

Why? Just look how gorgeous everything is:

Edit: I don't know if the video is shown, just in case I add the link here:

Source: https://youtu.be/Y_zmu4IZk1A

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

I haven't been to many zoos in my life (that'll change soon!!) but I absolutely loved Kolmården in Sweden back in May 2019! Such a well kept park with plenty of animals. I love the skyrail that takes you over a lot of animal enclosures.

(I have plenty of pics but I can't post them right now as they're not on my phone)

If you get the chance to post them at any point, I'd love to see them! Also, you said it'll change soon, do you have future zoo plans?

ZooTampa for the purposes of the fact that it's one of the best themed zoo's I've ever been to. Every single place you turn is themed in such a beautiful way without being too overwhelming. Such a huge inspiration for my building going forward since the day I visited!

Where is this? It looks beautiful!

Next up is a huge elephant trek for the current Asian elephants, as well as one of the only places in the world you'll be able to see a full, multigenerational elephant herd in captivity. It will also have Asian small-clawed otters and one of the zoo's many gibbon populations will be relocated there, with all 3 habitats looking like the same ecosystem.

Yoooooooo what? That's awesome! That sounds absolutely incredible, if I ever get the chance I'll absolutely have to visit!!

I have two:

1) Korkeasaari Zoo (Helsinki, Finland)

It is located on an island and nature is everywhere. You can only get there by boat or walking over the pedestrian bridge. It has no themed areas or big modern buildings, but the walk around the island while enjoying a lot of European fauna is priceless. Also, big cats like Siberian tiger, Amur leopard, lynx and snow leopard can be seen often active. The brown bears are probably the stars of the zoo, and they have an important reintroduction program for the forest wild reindeer. They have a big aviary for bearded vultures, and several other aviaries for owls, raven and eagles. Finally, the views from the island towards the city centre are amazing too.

View attachment 256326

Is it just me that thinks this island looks like a turtle, and that that makes it even better? Man, I wish I was in the sun right now haha

 

[FoxyDee]

My local zoo, which I adore is Zoo Zlín, in Czech Republic. They have quite alot of Oceanian animals, something thats not very common in Czech Zoos, such as kiwis, dingoes, keas, emus, cassowaries and wallabies and also some lesser known species which I adore, tamanduas, saki monkeys, geladas, giant otters and a whole alot of more.

They also have some pretty cool themed areas, an African village, South American Ruins etc., in fact alot of the zoo could be recreated with PZ, be it animals or pieces:

 

[[PS4] Filthymick420]

Only zoo I've ever been to was the Pittsburgh Zoo. I was there a few different times as a kid and since have been back as a parent with my children. It's almost exactly the same. Everything is ridiculously overpriced and most of the exhibits were closed for 'reasons'. It was mostly disappointing to me as a child and it felt like a huge rip off as a parent.

 

[Iben]

I think for me it's still Pairi Daiza in Belgium. Eventhough there are still exhibits that I sometimes would like to change, the atmosphere this entire zoo creates is just insane. The immersion is beyond anything else I ever visited so far and it's just a breathtaking zoo. The fact that I actually had to specifically look for pictures with animals in my folder just says it all, because I think that even more than it sells the animals, it sells the scenery so well. The landscaping is amazing.

But man, when I saw a panda for the first time, I legit had tears in my eyes. It has always been a childhood dream of me to see pandas in real life and when I was there I just was overcome with all the emotions of it!

Really looking forward to visiting it again soon!

 

[HeatherG]

I really love this thread. All the pictures and videos are so great!
And that "Island Zoo" must have been amazing to go to @Aramar

 

[Ozric]

I have mixed feelings on Zoos, partly because of my love of the natural world, partly because of the need for education and partly because of my memories when I was young. It is interesting to note I think, that Elephants are set to be banned in all UK zoos, because there is simply not the space to keep them in conditions they need.

My favourite zoo is Colchester Zoo (UK) it is reasonably local to me and I first went about 35 years ago

It was not a good place. As I grew up I heard it had a bad reputation and it was easy to see why because the conditions for the animals were not great and the enclosures were too small, it was only 25 acres at the time. I first went back again about 15 years ago, and the change was huge. They had managed to acquire more land (the site is now 60 acres), rehomed some of the animal species in other zoos, and redeveloped a few of the enclosures. Over the last 15 years it has gone from strength to strength, the education that is provided across the zoo, not just in notice boards at the enclosures themselves, but at various show and tell points around the zoo is great. The enclosures themselves have been improved massively, with a lot of planting native to the animal's natural habitat, and lots of enrichment for the animals too.

They have also have a charity arm called Action for the Wild, which among other things helped set up a Nature Reserve in Africa, which focuses on restoring natural habitat and educating the local population. I think that they are a shining example of how to turn around a bad situation, into one that shows benefits in multiple countries.

All my photos are just of the animals

 

[Tim Smith]

I can't find the name of the place but I once went to a sanctuary/zoo in Cameroon and there was a Gorilla there who loved Fanta. He actually broke out one day, to go get a drink at the shop and went home with it after (much to the relief of everyone!), I just thought that story was so incredible so when I see the subject for this thread that immediately came to mind

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

Only zoo I've ever been to was the Pittsburgh Zoo. I was there a few different times as a kid and since have been back as a parent with my children. It's almost exactly the same. Everything is ridiculously overpriced and most of the exhibits were closed for 'reasons'. It was mostly disappointing to me as a child and it felt like a huge rip off as a parent.

I'm sorry to hear that, that sucks I hope you manage to have better zoo experiences in future!

But man, when I saw a panda for the first time, I legit had tears in my eyes. It has always been a childhood dream of me to see pandas in real life and when I was there I just was overcome with all the emotions of it!

I totally get this - the first time I got to properly see rays and feed a bunch of sting rays I was SO emotional! It's one of my favourite memories.

My favourite zoo is Colchester Zoo (UK) it is reasonably local to me and I first went about 35 years ago

This is near my family, so it's another that was a big feature in my childhood - small world! I haven't seen since I was young, but my strongest memory of it is that one of the only 2 times I've been stung by a wasp was here I was watching the tigers (I think? Them or lions) and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my neck, turns out a wasp had randomly stung me! Luckily a friendly shop merchant taught us that vinegar can help treat it so they gave me some on some tissues and it helped, and now I've never forgotten how to help stings. An educational zoo experience!

 

[Ozric]

This is near my family, so it's another that was a big feature in my childhood - small world! I haven't seen since I was young, but my strongest memory of it is that one of the only 2 times I've been stung by a wasp was here I was watching the tigers (I think? Them or lions) and suddenly felt a sharp pain in my neck, turns out a wasp had randomly stung me! Luckily a friendly shop merchant taught us that vinegar can help treat it so they gave me some on some tissues and it helped, and now I've never forgotten how to help stings. An educational zoo experience!

Well that's certainly one thing to remember a place for

 

[Cocolori]

I was at Edinburgh Zoo last week and I liked their research facilities for their small monkeys (one of those where they only use them in behavioural experiments when the monkey chooses to come into the research section). It's a real mix of old and new enclosures, like their new giraffe house at the top of the hill and was really happy to chat to the keeper who was explaining that they are still testing it so they have a small male bachelor group of young giraffes at the moment because they wouldn't want to put breeding animals or older animals in without knowing that the set up can work for a younger, easier to manage group. Also the Sumatran Tiger dedided to wander over their glass tunnel and pause dramatically at the top in a very striking pose for us.

Have a bit of a soft spot for Chester Zoo because of all the space that offers. Odense Zoo in Denmark is also a favourite.

Edinburgh's new giraffes:

New tree top walk at odense

 

[Leaf Productions]

Another one of my personal favorites is my local zoo, Roger Williams Park Zoo. When I saw NicholasLionRider post about it for the first time on YouTube, I was so surprised to see the fact that my own local zoo represented within the game. After getting to know the chap over the past few months and having him welcome me onto the project, I was so happy I got to represent my local zoo in a very bright light. It's a small zoo, but it's one I like to call home . I have some of my favorite pictures from the place down below:

 

[DarthQuell]

Wow, amazing thread. I don't have any images, but I'm hoping to go to the Houston Zoo again (maybe with some friends, hopefully). I'll take lots of pics (I may even post twice because I haven't figured out how to add more than 10 images per post).

But, a little news is that next year will be the centennial, and we're getting a new Galapagos Islands and Oceans section with tortoises, sharks, rays, seals/sea lions (not sure which), and best of all: Humboldt penguins, a 1st for the zoo

 

[Bearcat9948]

But, a little news is that next year will be the centennial, and we're getting a new Galapagos Islands and Oceans section with tortoises, sharks, rays, seals/sea lions (not sure which), and best of all: Humboldt penguins, a 1st for the zoo

Yeah, even though I'm not in Houston I'm looking forward to that. Houston does a lot of great ecosystem-centric habitats rather than just focusing on the whole biome or continent. Texas wetlands, Pantanal, and now the Galapagos Islands (which btw I don't think I've ever heard of an area specifically themed around them before, super cool). Shame a way hasn't been found to keep marine iguanas in captivity because that's all they'll be missing. I think I read they're even going to have lava lizards and the correct species of crabs

 

[DarthQuell]

Yeah, even though I'm not in Houston I'm looking forward to that. Houston does a lot of great ecosystem-centric habitats rather than just focusing on the whole biome or continent. Texas wetlands, Pantanal, and now the Galapagos Islands (which btw I don't think I've ever heard of an area specifically themed around them before, super cool). Shame a way hasn't been found to keep marine iguanas in captivity because that's all they'll be missing. I think I read they're even going to have lava lizards and the correct species of crabs

I never heard that. I don't know the full roster, I'm just waiting for 2021 to end.

There's a roadmap somewhere about all the future expansions they want to do. If I find it I'll post it here