To Zoo or Not to Zoo
Why do we visit theme parks over and over again? For some of us it’s for the thrill, for the experience, a chance to get away from the real world. So where do zoo’s fit into things? Do they really have a place in our beloved theme parks?
Lets look at Flamingo Land. The zoo is of a similar size to the theme park and has thousands of different species of animals, all locked away in their own enclosures. Is visitor enjoyment really enough to warrant keeping living creatures in such confined conditions? Personally, I don’t think it is.
The majority of visitors wont even visit the zoo and those that do wont spend that much time admiring every animal there anyway. So why not just have a mini zoo with a few of the most popular animals? I think Flamingo Land’s zoo would be far better if it was more than halved. It would allow visitors to see everything without losing too much riding time and it would allow for bigger, better enclosures for the animals that need them.
What I do think works well with a zoo inside a theme park is the shows. They can be really entertaining, inspiring and most importantly, can be used to educate people more about a certain species. It is this aspect that gives the theme parks with zoo’s that edge over others.
So my opinion is that there is a place for zoo’s in theme parks, but not full size zoo’s with thousands of different species and they really should be put to better use, both for the visitors and for the animals themselves.
How does a theme park zoo compare to the indipendant zoo’s? Make sure you come back tomorrow as we will be taking a closer look inside Blackpool Zoo. You can expect plenty of photos.
What are your thoughts on theme park zoo’s?
