What is the best zoo to visit in the world? I'm planning a list of places to go in life and the biggest/best zoo is on that list. It has to have lions. I want to be able to get as close as possible and actually be able to see the animals.
I really enjoyed the zoo in Köln, Germany... There is also a small zoo in Darmstadt, Germany that was fun (only takes an hour or two to see everything though).
The San Diego Zoo (not wild animal park) is pretty impressive too...
-Christian
If you are ever in Washington, we have 3 pretty amazing zoos. The first is Woodland Park which is pretty big compared to most zoos. You can go on their website and read about their exhibits. I think one of the coolest things is this huge room you walk in and it's basically like a 50,000 gallon vivarium. You walk on this boardwalk (inside!) under trees covered in orchids and there are tropical birds flying all over. They are also building some new amazing exhibit for their sumatran tigers, sloth bears, and sun bears.
The 2nd is point defiance which not only has a lot of the usual animals, they also have an aquarium. So they have polar bears, walruses, Belugas, and a bunch of different sharks. They are also responsible for keeping the red wolf from going extinct.
And the last is north west trek, which is all about animals here in washington. Grizzlies, wolves, woodland caribou, wolverines, etc. It's really neat and you move around on a tram!
Where do you live ? Start closeby first and then do internet research on Zoos.
If lions are your target species and your destination is unlimited (world), then I would have to think that the Dark Continent itself would be on your list.