Zoos of the world

[flowerfluff]

Hi everyone, hope you're all surviving the school break 😂

My dd2 who has ASD is hugely obsessed with animals, wildlife and nature. I genuinely think she would live outside if she had the chance! She's 7, and we have literally been to all zoos and nature reserves within the UK. We flew to Scotland before the giant pandas left Edinburgh Zoo and that was her first flight, she loved it and she's got the flying bug now.

My eldest is going on a school residential and needed her passport renewing, so I thought I'd just get passports out of the way and got dd2s first passport too.
She has always said she wants to travel purely to see the different animals and nature of the world, and trying to narrow my search down to 'the world' is proving kinda difficult.

She isn't able to deal with loud noises and crowds very well, however we are able to self adjust and move her away or pop her ear defenders on until away from the noise. She knows that sometimes it can't be helped but trusts us to get her to a 'safe place' asap.

I guess my question after that huge ramble is really that has anybody got any amazing recommendations for zoos or nature reserves around the world? They don't have to be ASD friendly however if they are this would be a giant bonus, but as above we are able to help her whenever we need to.
Her favourite animals are snow leopards, cheetahs and red pandas. She will never touch any kind of animal so sadly zoo keeper experiences are out.

Not abroad, but the Yorkshire Wildlife Park has red pandas and cheetahs for a more local trip.

Fota Wildlife Park near Cork city in Ireland is wonderful. Fota link

In the UK, Chester Zoo is amazing. Outside the UK the best Zoo I went to is Prague zoo but that was some years ago.

Woburn safari?

A bit far but best zoo I've been to is Sydney.

Just to add to my above post, Fota have had a highly successful cheetah breeding programme for many years and zookeepers are always happy to stop and have a chat with kids.

Burgers Zoo near Arnhem in the Netherlands is one of my favourite ever zoos. We've been to lots too for similar reasons. I don't even particularly like animals but I loved that zoo. Particularly the aquarium

How about a safari!

Oh yes, we've been here too. It's really spacious and never feels too crowded. I loved the giraffes here. And they have red pandas too

Would she like a one to one experience, maybe where the keeper was explaining but she didn't have to touch?

Am thinking of one of the falconry experiences but without her having to fly the bird personally.

Bat walks would work as it's a small group, you have to be quiet and obviously there is no bat handling.

I loved Prague zoo, would definitely recommend.

Also jersey zoo (Gerald Durrell’s zoo) if you want a flight but a short one

Toranaga in Sydney and Singapore.

Also the Night safari in Singapore- it’s a zoo alongside the day zoo but you go at night and the animals are more active.

Singapore is a long flight and very hot and humid.

Sydney is two long flights, winter is like a uk spring.

Maybe ones to aspire to in the future?

Have you been to Hamerton Zoo Park?

It's only busy in the shop and specialises in big cats.

Thank you so much there's already so many suggestions! I've got some researching to do!
We're more than happy to fly, short or long haul. We'd just incorporate it into the holiday. The only thing that's stopped us before is her refusal to have her picture taken so she's only just getting her passport now, skies the limit!

I was going to say Fota at Cork, you could combine it with a trip to Dublin Zoo as well

San Diego zoo - really good! (For a zoo…)

https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/

We visited a fantastic big cat sanctuary in South Africa called Tenikwa. Lots of wonderful opportunities for different animals and safaris along the garden route from Cape Town to Eastern Cape. We self drove very easily.

London Zoo

Would recommend San Diego zoo also.

Singapore Zoo! I went on a night safari some years ago, with a small group in an open trailer with seats. I will never forget the shining eyes of the elephants in the half light. They then fed the flying foxes, they are bats so big that you could feel the change in air pressure as they flew silently overhead.

Singapore. No question. Both day and night zoos.

BioParc https://www.bioparc-zoo.fr/en/your-visit/ in the Loire is the best zoo I ever visited. It's built within a former quarry, so you can wander amongst the animals/birds in many sections. Port Lympne in Kent is good also for a more natural, open experience.

Zoo Parc de Beauval in France is amazing. Huge and they have on site themed hotels.

Innsbruck. It's primarily an alpine zoo (but I think it does have red pandas and lynx are local), so you could incorporate it with some trips up the ski lifts to try to see the same animals in the wild. Chamois and marmots should be pretty much guaranteed. Otherwise Zürich is the best zoo I've been to.

Another vote for Port Lympne in Kent. They have snow leopards and red pandas. You can book experiences with the animals but they are no touching as they want to allow the animals to live as naturally as possible.

I love the Apenheul in the Netherlands. Every kind of primate you can imagine.

And of course further afield Singapore Zoo and Singapore Night Safari.