World’s best zoos

Going to the zoo is a very different experience from the one with which Baby Boomers grew up.

Gone, for the most part, are the undersized cages filled with drugged-up and unhappy creatures. More and more, animals are housed in something at least somewhat like home, complete with a bit of room to move around. The best of the new generation of zoos are more like theme parks than prisons — a welcome change for animals and animal rights advocates as well.

Forbes Traveler looked around and tried to identify some of the world’s best zoos. Here’s what they came up with:

– Animal Kingdom, Orlando

– Basel Zoo, Switzerland

– Beauval Zoo, France

– Berlin Zoological Garden, Germany

– Bronx Zoo, New York

– Chester Zoo, U.K.

– Prague Zoological Garden, Czech Republic

– National Zoological Gardens of South Africa

– San Diego Zoo, California

– Schonbrunner Zoo, Austria

– Singapore Zoo

– Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C.

– Taronga and Western Plains Zoo, Sydney, Australia

– Toronto Zoo

– Ueno Zoological Gardens, Tokyo, Japan

To read about these, and to see a slideshow, visit Forbes Traveler.

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