Inspired by this thread, I have a question for Dopers.
What’s your favorite zoo and why? And what are some good parts of zoos, that might not be your favorite.
Unfortunatly, I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting San Diego, so I can’t count that one.
I liked the Denver zoo because is was laid out well. You could see everything without having to backtrack. A problem in many zoos. Also, they had an exhibit on nocturnal animals where they artificially reversed the clock so the animals would be up during day hours.
The San Francisco zoo had a great big cat collection.
In the Toledo zoo, the lions were only seperated from the vistors by a sheet of glass. One was laying right by the window and started roaring at us. That was freaky.
And gotta put in a bid for the hometown. The Detroit zoo, while falling on hard times several years ago, has bounced back with a wonderful otter exhibit and the Arctic Ring of Life. If you like penguins or polar bears, it’s the place to go.
There is but one zoo, and it is in San Diego. Big, friendly (to both visitors and animals), a marvelous staff, every animal you can imagine, beautiful setting…you can’t say enough about it to do it justice.
I like the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Metro access, free admission and its got a great variety of animals and exhibits. The new panda’s are active and fun to watch while I found the old panda’s didn’t do much more than sleep all day at least while I was there. Rock Creek Park is right there, and is an excellent place for a picnic lunch as the concession prices inside are high. The Baltimore Zoo pales in comparison IMHO although the National Aquarium in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is freakin’ awesome and of course there are so many other things to do while you are downtown.
As a child I loved London Zoo I’m not sure how many big animals they still have - the enclosures were a remarkable archtectural development for their time but ‘their time’ has passed and they are now recognised as being less ideal for the animals than they are for the public. Anyway they are very hot on conservation and breeding programmes. (The big animals were at the grandly named ‘Royal Windsor Safari Park’ but that’s closed so …)
The only real zoo I’ve visited as an adult is Berlin (sorry couldn’t find a decent link in English) and I was blown away. They had a good range of animals, including some gorgeous wild cats of a species I’d never seen before, lots of chances to see animals inside and out and the auqarium was on the same ticket. If I ever get back to Berlin I’d go again in a flash.
I’ll have to vote for San Diego, without a second thought.
I’ve been there several times, but on the last occasion, we didn’t have time to do much except go on the tram ride and have lunch. You wouldn’t think riding the tram is the best way to see a zoo, and it’s not. However, such as it was, it was very enjoyable and we really got to see quite a bit. We did get to see the Siberian tiger in the tiger enclosure, and he was breathtaking. We must have spent 20 minutes just at that one exhibit.
San Diego is worth a special trip just for the zoo and wild animal park.
Seattle has a display of noctural creatures that is really neat, with dim lighting so you can see the them, and the creatures’ day/night cycle reversed so they’re active during our daylight hours.
Singapore Zoo, lots of neat animals, good enclosures and the animals looked content and not stressed out (like at the Dublin Zoo, where I saw a gorilla go Librarian-poo on a gobshite who was taking the piss – ever seen plexiglass bend when a gorilla kicks it?).
Singapore Zoo is also neat because there are lots of interpretive activities and they make to effort to educate as well as entertain. The food is good and relatively cheap, and they sell Tiger beer at various stands. It’s also right next to the Night Safari, a nocturnal make-friends-with-the-animals dealie where you can go on self-guided tours and interact with animals that most people don’t see. They also have a three-in-one ticket that gets you into the zoo, the night safari, and the Bird Park, very cool deal and very affordable.
Brookfield Zoo, outside of Chicago, is the only large zoo I’ve ever been to, but we used to go often when I was a kid, and I’ve seen it change from the typical animals-in-metal-cages type to a much more interactive, educational, environmentally aware place, while still keeping much of its historic flavor.
I’m with Maxx: I’m partial to the National Zoo. It definitely kicks the Baltimore Zoo’s ass. It’s recovering from having Lucy Spellman in charge, and there are a lot of good things about that zoo. (Not the least of which is that I volunteer there sometimes. ;))
Another Chicagoan for the Brookfield Zoo. I’ve been to the SD Zoo, too, and IMO it’s somewhat better than Brookfield, but they’re still comparable. The SD Wild Animal Park does kick ass, though.
The SF Zoo is well worth a visit, but again IMO, I rate just a bit below Brookfield.
The Cincinnati Zoo is awesome , and has a WONDERFUL big cat exhibit , but I have toi say my favorite zoo is the Louisville KY zoo , it is on the small side , but has a nice variety of animals ; their new gorilla exhibit , I believe is rated one of the top 5 exhibits in the nation .
But the reason I love that zoo so much is for their meerkats . Cutest little critters on earth , and they have a oovely exhibit for them ,up close & personal !
I was at the National Zoo about a year ago and, in my opinion, it’s gone downhill in the past ten years. It just seemed kind of dirty and run-down to me (and it probably didn’t help that the entire Great Ape exhibition was shut down at the time due to a tuberculosis outbreak). I definitely think it’s great that it’s still free to enter and I hope it’s been cleaned up a bit since I was there. I know they were having trouble with the head curator at the time and that some animals had died. Since I was born in D.C. and grew up in that area, the National Zoo has always been special to me.
We’re going to the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia ( http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/content/view.asp?id=53 ) in the first week of August. You can rent bikes and bike through it (I think it’s about 13 km). It’s often featured in nature programs about Australian animals, so you’ve probably seen it on the Discovery Channel. It’s also located in my husband’s hometown, so we’ll have visited both our childhood zoos within a year. I can’t wait!
The OKC zoo is one of the few truly great attractions in the state. Not that the rest of the state is a complete bore, but the zoo is a gem. Fortunately, the city is keeping up the investment and it just continues to improve all the time.
Plus, it sits close to several other interesting attractions so it’s a nice place to make a day of.
I haven’t been to one outside of Texas, but the Austin Zoo is my favorite, merely for the atmosphere. There weren’t tons of people in the way, nor oodles and oodles of fencing and cages. Peacocks and chickens roamed free. 'Twas nice.
They have the best orangutan exhibit I’ve ever seen.
I like Denver, of course. (I’ve been a member for over ten years.) Cincinnati’s is excellent. Kansas City is good in the summer when Africa is populated. Omaha has a superb indoor jungle.
I haven’t been to San Diego since 1967, or Toronto since '94, so I can’t comment on what they might be like now.
For a small city, the Pueblo zoo is really quite nice.
Ooh, we love the Austin Zoo too! Most of their animals are owner-released pets or rescues, and they have a great petting zoo. It’s the perfect size for small kiddos who might be overwhelmed and tired-out by a larger (e.g., San Antonio) zoo.
The San Antonio zoo is pretty cool, though. We just visited over the Christmas break and we were impressed by the beauty of the place.