Congrats! You've certainly made your way around the state! Part of the crux of this tally challenge is determining what to count or not count as a zoo, but even if I stretched the definition of zoo to include a single turtle tank and some cockroaches at a nature center (I know there have been at least one zoochatter to count things like this ), I'd still only tie you! However, I can confidently say I won't consider Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary, having turtles and cockroaches, a true zoo, giving you a narrow win in Massachusetts. Normally nowadays when talking about zoos I've visited, I talk strictly since I started keeping track on my lifelist in 2020, which in this case would mean I've been to eight Massachusetts zoos: 1. Capron Park Zoo (2020, 2021) 2. Stone Zoo (2020) 3. Franklin Park Zoo (2020, 2022) 4. Southwicks Zoo (2021) 5. Buttonwood Park Zoo (2021) 6. Animal Adventures Family Zoo (2021)- you're lucky for not hitting this one! 7. Boston Museum of Science (2022, 2023) 8. New England Aquarium (2023) Of course, I'd visited a bunch of other facilities in childhood, but haven't been to since before starting to keep track. You've been to four facilities I've never been to, however: Blue Hills Trailside Museum, Butterflies of Cape Cod, Springfield Science Museum, and Wolf Hollow. For zoos only I have been to, there's Animal Adventures, Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary (debatable if it counts seeing as emus are the only non-domestic), and Lupa Zoo (although I barely remember it). As of now, I have no plans to visit any new zoos in Massachusetts, although I would like to get back to Franklin Park to see some of the new additions. In other news, I might need to visit more New York facilities as I am now one short of tying @CuseZoofan for the New York title, having visited: 1. Rosamond Gifford Zoo 2. Aquarium of Niagara 3. Buffalo Zoo 4. Hawk Creek Wildlife Center 5. The Wild Animal Park 6. Utica Zoo 7. Bronx Zoo 8. New York Aquarium 9. Prospect Park Zoo 10. Queens Zoo 11. Central Park Zoo 12. Staten Island Zoo
Thank you! I’ve had to deal with issues of deciding what does or doesn’t count as a zoo as well, lol. I actually have been to Oak Knoll once (I visited on the same day as three of the Rhode Island aquariums since I was going to pass Attleboro on my way back to MA), and I agree that it doesn’t really count. I did see a wild river otter on the wetlands nature trail there though, which was really memorable. Of the MA zoos that you’ve visited and I haven’t, Animal Adventures is the one that I plan to never check out unless things drastically change. There are 5 remaining MA zoos that I am considering: Lupa Zoo, the Zoo in Forest Park, Look Park Zoo, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, and The Butterfly Place. There’s also Maria Mitchell Aquarium if I ever decide to spring for a ferry-ride to Nantucket, and the Berkshire Museum which is near the New York border, but those two are more out of the way and seem very small so I’m not sure the long trips will be worth it.
I went to 9 in 2022 Didn't get around to a few notables. 1. Stone 2. Franklin Park 3. Museum of Science 4. New England Aquarium 5. Southwick 6. Animal Adventures 7. Ecotarium 8. Forest Park 9. Lupa
Updated Connecticut=3 D.C.= 3 Florida=7 Georgia=1 Kentucky=1 Maine=3 Maryland=2 Massachusetts=5 New Hampshire= 1 (Seacoast Science Center) New York=14 North Carolina=1 Ohio=3 Pennsylvania=4 Rhode Island=1 South Carolina=3 Virginia=5
Yeah, when I'm back home in Massachusetts these days I tend to be too busy to head to zoos, lol. I'm also not that interested in visiting low-quality zoos any more (the four I've been to in recent years have been plenty, imo), which is why places like Lupa aren't really on my list of places I want to go. In 2023, I only visited two zoos in MA- NEAQ and the Science Museum (twice- once was the same day as the aquarium!), and in 2022 I only made it to Franklin Park and the Science Museum, both of which were prior to starting college in Buffalo. Nowadays, I tend to frequent a few upstate New York zoos (Buffalo for research, plus Rosamond Gifford and Utica at least once or twice a year, each), and travel when possible to slightly more distant places.
Mine was more jam-packed, I didn't want to spend time with family (lol) for the main week and for some, I wanted to visit places I went to when I was little. I like documenting places, as you know, but I will prioritize some places based on species/quality or pick others based on being near those - ex. Animal Adventures was easy to do with Southwick, vs Buttonwood being further away and not so easy to combine except maybe for Capron, which was low on my list, so I didn't make it there. Capron was skipped again after Roger Williams in favor of visiting the undocumented smaller aquariums in RI. Lupa and Forest Park were done when I was pet sitting in Hartford and could leave for a few hours but not much longer than that, so places that were bigger/further weren't possible. I did the NEAQ and Science Museum in one day, as well - we parked at the museum and ubered between. I'll eventually make it up to Buffalo! Rosamond I've done twice, with Wild Animal Park, but it's a push for me to do that in one day and I won't let myself go further than that (as hard as that is...)
You've done Rosamond Gifford as a day trip?! That's what, five hours each way for you? Typically, Rosamond Gifford or Utica are stops I make when driving between Buffalo and Massachusetts, as they are good locations to break up the drive and get some fresh air. I did Wild Animal Park once this way as well, but the seasonal openings make it tough (and I wasn't a fan of the place, anyways). At some point I'll probably try somewhere new and go to either the aquarium in Schenecdaty or Little Ray's Nature Center in Syracuse, but the two zoos tend to be my go-to. Better you then me with documenting places . It's important work, but I am so not a fan of visiting lower quality places. I'm thankful of people like you and @snowleopard who document places so the rest of us can make more educated decisions about where to support. Even AZA vs. non-AZA isn't always a good indication- as amongst the worst facilities I've been to is an AZA one (Aquarium of Niagara), and while I haven't visited any non-AZA zoos that genuinely compete in terms of quality with many of the AZA ones I've been to, I have been to some (Southwick's and Bird Kingdom) that I certainly wouldn't categorize as bad either.
Twice! Yes, it's a bit over 5 hours, just like Pittsburgh is. Wild Animal Park has cheetahs and all of the big cats, and has a lot of changes going on; it also opens earlier than the zoo. Actually the first time I did those two, I also did Animal Adventure Park on the way home (before they added the drive-through part). I was going to add Little Ray's last year, but the darn place was closed that week because they were moving location in the mall. For some non-AZA, it's not necessarily what guests see / the overall quality, but what goes on behind the scenes, where animals come from, things like that.
Definitely sounds like long days. I'm not a big cat person (I know you are though), so it makes sense you enjoyed Wild Animal Park more than me. There were some exhibits too that, while bigger than many unaccredited zoos, I still felt were too small and/or too barren for their inhabitants. Not to mention seeing a staff member quite literally throw a live chicken! While it may open earlier than the zoo, Wild Animal Park is only open seasonally, and I'm not normally driving through and able to stop in the seasons they are open, meaning even if I wanted to it'd often be a moot point! Agreed, a lot of the issues I have with Wild Animal Park stem from looking into the owner, as well as some questions about where they are sourcing all these big cats from.
My tallies thus far, but planning on adding at least 2 more zoos from 2 states this year... Alabama- 0 Alaska- 0 Arizona- 0 Arkansas- 1 California- 3 Colorado- 0 Connecticut- 0 Delaware- 0 Florida- 2 Georgia- 0 Hawaii- 0 Idaho- 0 Illinois- 3 Indiana- 0 Iowa- 0 Kansas- 0 Kentucky- 0 Louisiana- 1 Maine- 0 Maryland- 0 Massachusetts- 0 Michigan- 1 Minnesota- 1 Mississippi- 0 Missouri- 1 Montana- 0 Nebraska- 0 Nevada- 0 New Hampshire- 0 New Jersey- 0 New Mexico- 0 New York- 0 North Carolina- 0 North Dakota- 1 Ohio- 1 Oklahoma- 0 Oregon- 0 Pennsylvania- 0 Rhode Island- 0 South Carolina- 0 South Dakota- 1 Tennessee- 1 Texas- 3 Utah- 0 Vermont- 0 Virginia- 0 Washington- 0 West Virginia- 0 Wisconsin- 11 Wyoming- 0
Updated totals. Florida = 60 (63, if I count visit to Monkey Jungle years ago and 2 very small nature centers I don't think qualify) Georgia = 16 New York = 14 (15, if I include one very small nature center) New Jersey = 11 North Carolina = 11 Alabama = 9 Maryland = 8 Connecticut = 7 South Carolina = 6 Pennsylvania = 5 (6, if I count visit to ZooAmerica from years ago) Arizona = 4 California = 3 Mississippi = 3 Massachusetts = 2 Rhode Island = 2 DC = 1 Delaware = 1 Louisiana = 1 Nevada = 1 Virginia = 1
Here’s all the states I have been to zoos/aquariums/nature centers in! California- 8 Connecticut- 3 Delaware- 1 Florida- 6 Georgia- 0 (soon to be 2) Maine- 2 Maryland- 2 Massachusetts- 6 New Jersey- 8 New York- 20 Ohio- 1 Pennsylvania- 4 Rhode Island- 1 Texas- 1 Vermont- 2 Washington, D.C. - 1
What two facilities are there in Vermont? I know of one, ECHO Leahy, which is barely an aquarium, but where else?
Echo has quite a nice little collection of animals actually! The other is Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) with a very nice collection of rescued raptors and a handful of reptiles. Their exhibits are beautiful!
For a third "zoo" there's also the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum, which seems to have around 20 species of birds, reptiles, and invertebrates.
*Denotes a zoo I was too young to remember Alabama - 0 Alaska - 0 Arizona - 0 Arkansas - 0 California - 5 (San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, SeaWorld San Diego*, Living Coast Discovery Center*, Santa Barbara Zoo*) Colorado - 1 (Cheyenne Mountain Zoo) Connecticut - 0 Delaware - 0 Florida - 2 (Zoo Miami, Gulf Breeze Zoo) Georgia - 1 (Georgia Aquarium) Hawaii - 2 (Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Aquarium) Idaho - 0 Illinois - 0 Indiana - 0 Iowa - 2 (Blank Park Zoo, National Mississippi River Aquarium) Kansas - 0 Kentucky - 0 Louisiana - 0 Maine - 0 Maryland - 3 (Maryland Zoo, Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo, the National Aquarium) Massachusetts - 0 Michigan - 0 Minnesota - 3 (Minnesota Zoo, SEA LIFE Aquarium Bloomington, Como Park Zoo) Mississippi - 0 Missouri - 1 (Kansas City Zoo) Montana - 0 Nebraska - (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo) Nevada - 1 (Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay) New Hampshire - 0 New Jersey - 0 New Mexico - 0 New York - 2 (Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo) North Carolina - 8 (North Carolina Zoo, Grandfather Mountain, Tregembo Animal Park, Lynnwood Park Zoo, North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, Cape Fear Serpentarium, Western North Carolina Nature Center) North Dakota - 0 Ohio - 0 Oklahoma - 0 Oregon - 0 Pennsylvania - 2 (Philadelphia Zoo, ZooAmerica) Rhode Island - 0 South Carolina - 5 (Alligator Adventure, Ripley's Aquarium, South Carolina Aquarium, Wacatee Zoo, Brookgreen Gardens) South Dakota - 0 Tennessee - 5 (Zoo Knoxville, Nashville Zoo, Bright's Zoo, Rainforest Adventures Discovery Zoo, Bay's Mountain) Texas - 0 Utah - 0 Vermont - 0 Virginia - 0 Washington - 0 West Virginia - 0 Wisconsin - 0 Wyoming - 0 American Samoa - 0 Guam - 2 (Guam Zoo, Underwater World) Puerto Rico - 0 Northern Marianas Islands U.S Virgin Islands - 1 (Coral World Marine Park) Washington D.C - 1 (Smithsonian's National Zoo)
Congratulations. I've been to 28 zoos in Wisconsin and so you've pulled clear of me and I'll never catch up as it's unlikely that I'll be in that neck of the woods ever again. (Although you never know!) You must be tempted to visit the remaining Wisconsin zoos to see them all.
