The Dublin zoo appreciation thread.

Ghandee

Yeah so I went to the zoo today for probably the last time this year.

I'm not convinced Dublin zoo, and the hard working staff that work relentlessly to keep such a magnificent collection of animals, in some, if not, the most modern and excellently maintained enclosures in the world, survive,and prosper, could ever get enough praise from the general public, on such an excellent job they do.

Imho, Dublin Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world.

What are your experiences of Dublin zoo?

Where To

I've never been in it. Been to Belfast zoo loads of times though, it's class, they have monkeys. No pandas though, which is good. I hate pandas.

Mr. Incognito

Expensive,

Expansive

And okay in general.

Animals all seem a bit sad though. Locking them up deffo drains their spirits and mine

Nodin

Where To wrote: »

I've never been in it. Been to Belfast zoo loads of times though, it's class, they have monkeys. No pandas though, which is good. I hate pandas.

I suspect that they are perverts, myself.

Smidge

Third oldest zoo in the world!

kerry4sam

I've not yet been to Dublin Zoo but it does sound like a place to add to my must-see list though, going by your opening post Ghandee

mikemac1

Where To wrote: »

I hate pandas.

:eek:

That's just impossible

Ghandee

Where To wrote: »

I've never been in it. Been to Belfast zoo loads of times though, it's class, they have monkeys. No pandas though, which is good. I hate pandas.

Well I got to within an inch of a silver back gorilla today.

Bit of glass reflection, but you'll get the drift.

Edit, can't attach pics at moment.

BUBBLE WRAP

Where To wrote: »

I've never been in it. Been to Belfast zoo loads of times though, it's class, they have monkeys. No pandas though, which is good. I hate pandas.

Aw my favorite crustacean.

Where To

mikemac1 wrote: »

:eek:

That's just impossible

They're an abomination, they should be allowed to become extinct naturally.

Bipolar Joe

I love Dublin Zoo. On one trip, I saw several animals peeing, one of which was being drank by another, and a chimp getting oral sex. Good times.

Tombi!

I once saw two animals (it might have been badgers or wolverines or something like that) rip apart a (I assume) dead animal for lunch.
Was on a class trip.

Quite possibly the best trip ever.

Peregrine

Smidge wrote: »

Third oldest zoo in the world!

Why do Dublin people do this? See anything in Dublin and suddenly claim it's the oldest in the world. I've even seen Dublin being claim as the oldest city in the world

Is it really the third oldest?

Stheno

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

Why do Dublin people do this? See anything in Dublin and suddenly claim it's the oldest in the world. I've even seen Dublin being claim as the oldest city in the world

Is it really the third oldest?

Open since the 1830s

Richard Hillman

Id kinda like to go as i have not been since i was about 3-4 and dont remember it. The thing that really holds me back is that i think it would be greatly sad to see Great animals like the Tiger, the Lion and the Snow Leopard caged in. The snow leopard is not an animal you should just pay 15 quid to see. You need to earn the right to see a snow leopard. Its too great and elusive an animal to just be boxed in behind perspex glass.

Its not my cup of tea and I dont like it at all. It would make me very sad to see this.

SeaFields

Fota for the win

dodderangler

It's wayyyyy too expensive and bit boring
For a start the wolves are kept in a small enclosure.... Way too small. They are a pack animal
The Penguins are never there
Last time I was there I didn't see them because a fox was on the loose in the park and they had to put them away
And as a falconer myself the snowy owl is in terrible condition
As for the reptile house the biggest snake was like 5 foot
Come on scare me ffs

AllGunsBlazing

I went to Dublin zoo in the early 80's as a kid and it was a thoroughly depressing experience. My abiding memory was of a polar bear swimming in rank green water that was littered with coke cans.

No doubt they've cleaned the place up a bit since those days, but watching animals wander around aimlessly in an alien environment is not for me.

LiffeyValleyB

It's seriously cruel and unnatural in my opinion. You can almost tell from the animals expressions how upset they are being locked up 24/7.

Tombi!

Don't animals only move from area to area because of lack of food/predators in the current area?

I'm not trying to start anything but it's just something that I thought of.

Kinda like how you could say "it's cruel" to not let housecats hunt birds or rats because it's what they do.

Smidge

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

Why do Dublin people do this? See anything in Dublin and suddenly claim it's the oldest in the world. I've even seen Dublin being claim as the oldest city in the world

Is it really the third oldest?

I never said it was the oldest in the world!!

I think its a great fact about Dublin zoo, that's all

syklops

dodderangler wrote: »

The Penguins are never there

Thats because lads keep nicking them.

syklops

Little known fact:

The lion you see at the start of every MGM movie, was born in Dublin Zoo.

Da Shins Kelly

I was there a couple of times as a child, but I find the zoo incredibly depressing, to be honest.

dodderangler

syklops wrote: »

Thats because lads keep nicking them.

Look
As I told the Garda already
I put the bag down the penguin jumped in to eat my tuna sandwich and I walked out with it
I didn't know it was in my bag

markie29

went back to Dublin Zoo last year for the first time since i was 6 when i was surrounded by a ferocious herd of goats,yes you read it right :P ....they wanted my tayto crisps i just threw them away and ran :P

Lapin

Ghandee wrote: »

Imho, Dublin Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world.

How many other zoos have you been too around the world ?

BUBBLE WRAP

What are your experiences of Dublin zoo?

Hmmm lets see. I hate the zoo and everything about it. Been to it once when I was younger and never want to go again. I was expecting the animals to have a lot more space. I hate how the animals are just locked up and not in their natural habitat. Animal cruelty IMO.

PhlegmyMoses

Crazy how the experiences of internet people differ wildly from my own. So many people here saying they went as kids and found it depressing. When I went as a kid as part of a school trip we all thought the monkey having a drag off a smoke some oul one threw in was hilarious. I was more interested in Tonka trucks than animal cruelty back then, admittedly.

Calibos

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

I love Dublin Zoo. On one trip, I saw several animals peeing, one of which was being drank by another, and a chimp getting oral sex. Good times.

It was the giraffes, wasn't it???

Haven't been since the late nineties IIRC but have heard about the improvements in the last decade and was reminded again recently after catching a few episodes of the Zoo on Animal Planet. Was just saying to myself that I'll definitely visit sometime in 2013

Anyway, last time I was there the male giraffe was drinking the golden 'nectar' of the female After that myself and my brother went to the hippo pond. It was surrounded by a crowd 2 or 3 deep. We couldn't get to the front.....luckily!!
The hippo backed its arse up to the edge of the pond, started to take a piss and flicked it everywhere with its tail. The front row of people in the direction of the backside of the hippo got sprayed with hippo piss. They all screamed in disgust while everyone else broke their sh1tes laughing.

uck51js9zml2yt

AllGunsBlazing wrote: »

I went to Dublin zoo in the early 80's as a kid and it was a thoroughly depressing experience. My abiding memory was of a polar bear swimming in rank green water that was littered with coke cans.

No doubt they've cleaned the place up a bit since those days, but watching animals wander around aimlessly in an alien environment is not for me.

polar bear is gone.
Worst zoo I've been in was in Slovakia.
Like Dublin in the 70's only 100 times worse.
Have an annual ticket for Dublin which is great value.