After a full day driving 680 km from Warsaw to Prague on the 25th, I had the following day and a half to visit the fantastic Prague Zoo. A map of the zoo can be seen here. I really liked the map actually; it has contour lines to show how steep various bits of the zoo are and I think the balance of clarity and including all of the exhibits is pretty well done. I stayed quite close to the zoo. In fact, the view from the window of my accommodation was of the Indonesian Jungle Pavilion. Allowing me to maximise time at the zoo and minimise the need to get up too early. The first enclosure that I saw upon entering the zoo was the fantastic enclosure for Red Pandas which I thought made good ... read more

I left the UK on the 11th with a channel crossing around midday-ish before driving to Antwerp. The next day I visited Antwerp Zoo and because I had an hour left before it closed after finishing the zoo, I visited Aquatopia as well. Antwerp Zoo I thought Antwerp Zoo was good generally; it had a similar feel to Artis Zoo in Amsterdam which I visited earlier in the trip due to both having the same sort of historical buildings and setting. The zoo was also located very centrally in Antwerp so some of the historical buildings in the city could be seen from inside the zoo. I liked the layout of the zoo which can be seen on the zoo map ZOO map · ZOO Antwerp (Note: the map makes the zoo seem smaller than it ... read more

Rare Species Conservation Centre I spent just under three hours at the Rare Species Conservation Centre and saw two of the shows/feedings – namely the Palawan Binturong Meet and Greet and the Sun Bear Feeding and Talk. Although several particularly unusual species are off-show, the collection is full to the brim with rarities and is a must visit for anyone interested in rarer species – hence the name – however there are a fair few species that act as main attractions for those who don’t appreciated a barely visible ball of fluff that you can just about make out as a Fanaloka. These were Sun Bears, Malayan Tigers, Red-ruffed Lemurs (the only species that I thought was boring) the most active and visible Clouded Leopard that I have ever seen, Smooth-coated and Giant otters. Although these ... read more

Beaver Water World is a very small zoo located in Kent. It is largely a rescue centre with lots of rescued birds and reptiles that are ex-pets. The signage is general was awful with many incorrectly signed things, many signs which were just marker pens on reptile tanks and there were lots of unsigned animals – especially in the bird aviaries where less than half of the animals were signed. The enclosure quality was poor overall; I would say they were all the bare minimum that could be considered acceptable. This is probably the closest place I have heard of in the UK to the roadside zoos of the US. Beaver Water World is located in the Kent countryside, near to the village of Tatsfield. When you drive up, you see a road sign for ‘Reptile ... read more

On the 16th of July (just over a week ago) I visited Birdworld and Underwaterworld near Farnham, Surrey and I quite liked the little collection overall. There were a few rarities in the collection such as White Woodpeckers, Crested Guans Pink Pigeons and few nice Turacos (Black-billed etc.), Splendid Glossy Starlings, Duyvenbode's Lories, Great Bustards, three Rainbow Lorikeet subspecies and more as well as a few more common species (of course it was nothing compared to Walsrode which I had visited not long before). The place was nice looking in general and had some very nice areas such as an area of woodland fenced off with free-roaming pheasants and a nice area with a pond and various aviaries as well as the rather nice temperate house which makes a nice impression when you first enter. One ... read more