Recommended Zoos / Wildlife Parks

The Biopark in Valencia, and its smaller sibling in Fuengirola.
I considered going that way when I had a week off in December, but it coincided with some crap weather. A trip taking in some more northern european zoos is on the cards this year though.
 
Annual trip to Chester for me, love the place and actively support their Act For Wildlife charity. - Already booking in the next one for April after Thailand as they have just had a 2nd Elephant calf in the space of 12 months overnight :).

Colchester Zoo is amazing though drove down from Sheffield for it and wasn't disappointed
 
Just another heads up -

Dartmoor Zoological Park have a new pair of Cheetahs. 3 year old brothers fresh from a German zoo. Their enclosure is a bit muddy at the moment - I have a feeling that the cats may have arrived a bit sooner than anticipated! They've only been there for a week and on display since Sunday but seem to have settled in well and are fairly relaxed.
 
what kind of lenses do you guys take to the zoo with you?
White ones :D

But more seriously, I love my 70-200 2.8 is MKII its a cracking "zoo lens" great for getting through the wire and in some of the lower light areas.
Occasionally I do find it a little on the short side, but I also have the MKII 1.4 & 2x converters as well.
Others will use the 100-400 MKI or MK2.
 
what kind of lenses do you guys take to the zoo with you?


All of 'em!!! But mainly use an 18-135 and a 100-400 (on a 1.5x crop body), sometimes with a teleconverter fitted.
 
what kind of lenses do you guys take to the zoo with you?

Nikon 70-300mm - I would like something longer but this is a good compromise that I can walk around with easily (I have tiny hands and a dodgy neck).
Also take my Tamron 90mm macro for reptile houses and suchlike.
 
the reason i ask is i feel like a plonker some places with big glass.

for zoos i use a 70-300. i wish the 80-400 nikon lens was cheaper as i think id be happy taking that. the 200-500 is just too big for the zoo i think.
 
the reason i ask is i feel like a plonker some places with big glass.
In that case, I see plenty of "Plonkers" at Whipsnade :D
the 200 maybe a bit long at sometimes, but up to 500, well you can never have enough reach TBH, don't worry about it :)
 
Was up Whipsnade yesterday, and at the Red Panda it may as well have been a forum meet lol.
Plenty of Siggy 150-600's....
 
what kind of lenses do you guys take to the zoo with you?

Generally speaking as other have mentioned a telephoto would be useful. But it really depends on how close you can get. For example at Hawk Conservancy (mentioned in previous page), I have shot BiF with a UWA (16-35mm) :D
 
Was up Whipsnade yesterday, and at the Red Panda it may as well have been a forum meet lol.
Plenty of Siggy 150-600's....
i guess it also depends on the type of zoo. like city zoo's.

Another place i like is slimbridge wetlands center.
 
Back to UK zoos, does anyone know if there is a website offering a list of animals in our zoos and where they are held? Mbuti's comment on the Mandrill thread prompted me to look for a Drill, which I hadn't heard of and I see there are some in Edinburgh. It is indeed a mighty looking beast!
 
Drill, which I hadn't heard of and I see there are some in Edinburgh.
I don't know where you are based, but there are some pretty impressive ones at Colchester too

Mandrill-II
by Chris, on Flickr
 
Hi guys this might not help much.but if you do ever visit kenya.dont forget to pay a visit to tsavo east national.the animals are abit more spread out compared to masai mara but thers much fewer tourist vehicles so there wouldnt be much competing for getting the best spot to get a good photo.and the male lions dont have manes here ok it might be a setback for a good photo but they are unique anyways.plus the scenery is great from open savannah to scub and bushland to mountains.its really great plus you can do self drive safaris which i can only recommend as booking with a tour company is way too expensive.and for adventurers thers a campground too its pretty basic but i think that makes an adventure even better.
 
Back to UK zoos, does anyone know if there is a website offering a list of animals in our zoos and where they are held? Mbuti's comment on the Mandrill thread prompted me to look for a Drill, which I hadn't heard of and I see there are some in Edinburgh. It is indeed a mighty looking beast!

They have Mandrills at Paignton zoo if thats help.
 
New Forest Wildlife Centre:
Pros - large selection of otter species and a lovely big wolf wood area. If the wolves are in the right section it offers some great photo opportunities. This is good to team with Marwell.
Cons - like Wildwood, bits of it are very dark. BWC's indoor barn is much better.
I don't tend to go zoos very often but I was at a loose end on Saturday so I decided to jump in the car and go have a look around. The wolf enclose is nice and has photography potential but does have to be through a fence. Nothing much else struck me as being up to much photographically. The lynx enclosure looks excellent from an enrichment perspective but the views are poor. Headbutting mouflon looks like a possibility. Other than that, headshots of various otters maybe.
 
Back to UK zoos, does anyone know if there is a website offering a list of animals in our zoos and where they are held? Mbuti's comment on the Mandrill thread prompted me to look for a Drill, which I hadn't heard of and I see there are some in Edinburgh. It is indeed a mighty looking beast!

http://www.zootierliste.de/en/
 
the one that really surprised me last year was the south lakeland zoo ,near dalton in furness ,Lake District ,not only is it a nicely laid out zoo with some incredible shooting positions and clear clean viewing glass where applicable ...there was a good range of animals to be seen all look well fed and looked after ,and last year after some bad press out of school holiday periods it was totally FREE no entry charge or car parking fees
 
the other really good and reasonably cheap zoo if your in the area is in Wroclaw ,southern Poland .really enjoyable and I think one of the oldest if not the oldest zoo in Europe
 
This thread popped up in my watch list again. I'm watching with horror as the zoos across the country face bankruptcy due to the Coronavirus lockdown.

There's very little we can do, but what we CAN do is sign a government petition to fund or reopen the zoos, or we can visit our favourite zoo webpage where most have set up emergency crowdfunding donation sites.

edit: after reading this morning's news, seems like they may be allowed to open again on 15 June. I'd still sign any active local petitions you may have... keep the pressure on the government so they understand the depth of feeling on this.
 
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they may be allowed to open again on 15 June. I'd still sign any active local petitions you may have... keep the pressure on the government so they understand the depth of feeling on this.


The goverment have said all zoos and safari parks can open from 15th..no if but or maybe.. So no point signing naything to be fair... nothing more anyone can do..

It's 16 yrs since i visited knowsley safari park... might grab a grandchild or two and go in next week or so :)
 
I felt a little sad coming into this thread for the first time and seeing Matt was the first to post after the op. RIP mate
 
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