Join our zoo community

The German Adventures Of A Tea-Loving Dave - April 2014

Discussion in 'Germany' started by TeaLovingDave, 19 Mar 2014.

  1. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Part IX: Snakes and Crocodiles

    Before we entered the reptile house generally known as the "Snake Farm", we first visited a small greenhouse-like enclosure which contained a mix of Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and African Spurred Tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) - both rather nice species but seeming rather insignificant when compared with some of the taxa I was about to see. The area immediately surrounding the snake farm also contains a large complex of offshow breeding aviaries; these, I believe, are largely intended for the excellent array of species held in the various enclosures of the Tierpark pheasantry. Some of the inhabitants of these aviaries were, I found, visible from the path next to the snake farm, mostly comprising species I saw later that afternoon in the aforementioned pheasantry. However, I spotted one species which I believe is currently not on-show in any fashion, this being the Philby's Rock Partridge (Alectoris philbyi), and as such I would suggest having a look at these enclosures turned out to have been a worthwhile use of a little spare time.

    We then entered the snake farm itself; an area of the Tierpark I had rather been looking forward to visiting. I already knew that the range of reptiles held in the house was said to be of a high quality, but the facet which excited me the most was the number of snake taxa held within the house; most of all the number of venomous taxa. This was, of course, due in large part to the fact that although there are still a wide range of venomous snake taxa held in private hands within the United Kingdom, in recent years the range of "hot" taxa held in public zoological collections has rather declined. As such, prior to my visit to the Tierpark I had only seen something like a dozen venomous species in my life - although I did not know exactly how many species were on display, assuming that some of the taxa held at the Tierpark would be offshow, I did know I was likely to almost double this number in the snake farm alone, before setting foot in any of the other collections planned for this trip.

    At the time of my visit, the following species (with snakes listed separately for ease of reference) were displayed onshow in the "snake farm" - as I rather suspect that the venomous collection will be, as it was for me, of particular interest to many reading this review, I will draw particular focus to these species with an asterisk.

    Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)
    Sambava Tomato Frog (Dyscophus guineti)
    Mission Golden-eyed Tree Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix)
    Chinese Stripe-necked Turtle (Mauremys sinensis)
    Hilaire’s Side-necked Turtle (Phrynops hilarii)
    Taiwan Yellow-margined Box Turtle (Cistoclemmys flavomarginata flavomarginata)
    Borneo Skink (Apterygodon vittatus)
    New Caledonia Bumpy Gecko (Rhacodactylus auriculatus)
    Standing's Day Gecko (Phelsuma standingi)
    South-east Asian Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis)
    Dwarf Crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis)
    Elongated Tortoise (Indotestudo elongata)
    Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria)
    Yellow-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulata)
    Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
    Red-bellied Short-necked Turtle (Emydura subglobosa)
    Mata-Mata (Chelus fimbriatus)
    Red-cheeked Mud Turtle (Kinosternon cruentatum)
    Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)
    Egyptian Tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni)
    Rainbow Mabuya (Trachylepis quinquetaeniata)
    Blue Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus cyanogenys)
    Gidgee Skink (Egernia stokesii)
    European Legless Lizard (Pseudopus apodus)
    Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)
    Morrocan Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx nigriventris)
    Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri)
    Spiny-tailed Monitor (Varanus acanthurus)
    Sahara Mastigure (Uromastyx geyri)
    Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum)

    ---

    East African Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica)*
    Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)
    West African Gaboon Viper (Bitis rhinoceros)*
    Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja)*
    Cape Cobra (Naja nivea)*
    Malaysian Blood Python (Python brongersmai)
    Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida)*
    Black Mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis)*
    Banded Mangrove Snake (Boiga dendrophila melanota)*
    Bismark Ringed Python (Bothrochilus boa)
    Moroccan Cobra (Naja haje legionis)*
    Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca)*
    Arizona Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis pyromelana pyromelana)
    Aesculapian Snake (Zamenis longissimus)
    Common Black Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)
    Dumeril's Boa (Acrantophis dumerili)
    White-lipped Pitviper (Trimeresurus albolabris)*
    Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen)*
    Cane-brake Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus atricaudatus)*
    Uracoan Rattlesnake (Crotalus vegrandis)*
    South American Rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus durissus)*
    Red-tailed Ratsnake (Gonyosoma oxycephalum)
    Royal Python (Python regius)
    Amazon Tree Boa (Corallus hortulanus)

    It bears noting that even when one temporarily disregards the extensive snake collection in this house, a large number of the other taxa held in the snake farm are unusual, in some cases with Tierpark Berlin being their only captive public holding. As such, I quite literally obtained dozens of lifeticks in this house, including a large number of venomous taxa. I rather suspect that many members of the public either are unaware of the snake farm, or stay away from it, as I got the distinct impression that the house was rather less often visited when compared with other areas of the Tierpark; certainly Hel, Markus and myself were more or less the only visitors to the house at the point in time when we visited. This is a shame, as this small house represents the kind of diversity and depth of taxa which I feel is become more and more scarce in reptile collections - and as such I believe it should be appreciated more than I believe it may be.

    After exiting the snake farm, we walked across to the Crocodile House opposite. This house comprises two seperate areas; the first a large walk-through aviary with a variety of turtle species and a number of rather excellent bird taxa viewable from a raised walkway, whilst the second comprised a number of enclosures containing a variety of monitor lizards and crocodilians. Both portions of the house were thickly planted and looked very visually appealing whilst at the same time seeming to be rather good for the species held within; the walkthrough aviary was especially good in this regard, providing as it did a large amount of space for the taxa it held, and a great deal of scope for birds to hide away if they so desired. We spent a long time in this first portion of the house as a result, watching various species and searching for others. The two most elusive species held in this area, of course, were the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruvianus peruvianus) and the Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus), although to be more accurate the latter of these was not incredibly difficult to spot; rather, the difficulty lay in observing the animal for any length of time and attempting to photograph it, so active and fast-moving it transpired to be. It seemed quite confident being held in an aviary with so many larger birds; in point of fact, on a number of occasions we observed it attacking the larger birds when they ventured too close to it. Conversely, the Cock-of-the-Rock was almost invisible even when we searched for it at length, making itself clear purely by coincidence when it ventured into the open briefly after 25 minutes or so.

    The crocodile portion of the house was no less well-recieved by Hel and myself; of the three species of crocodilian held within, both the Sunda Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) and the Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis) are relatively unusual within the UK, and we had certainly never been able to observe either species at such length previously. We were also rather pleased to be able to observe the Sunda Gharial so soon before we were to hopefully see the "true" or Ganges Gharial at the Zoo Aquarium the following day, as this meant we would have the ability to compare the two in our minds with clarity. Another oddity held in this area was the Blue-tailed Monitor (Varanus doreanus), a taxon which although not uncommon in private hands is quite unusual in public collections within Europe.

    We exited the crocodile house, with the plan to next visit the nearby pheasantry enclosures before filling in a few final gaps before the day was out.

    Attached are an example of signage from the snake farm, an example of signage from the crocodile house, a shot of the Ruby-topaz, and a view of Schloss Friedrichsfelde from near the exit to the Crocodile House.
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: 18 Apr 2014
  2. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1 Aug 2010
    Posts:
    4,439
    Location:
    Christchurch, New Zealand
    Awesome review of the Tierpark so far TLD, although I feel you are being a little generous to some of the enclosures! It is great to be able to follow your journey around the zoo, as I have been to the Tierpark and can therefore visualise your path and compare my thoughts with yours. Its also great to note the changes that have occurred since my visit.

    I must say that when I visited I turned left at the entrance, and thinking about this more I realised that I almost always go left at the entrance at any zoo, be it my first time visiting or tenth time. I wonder if this is a thing?
     
  3. devilfish

    devilfish Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    5 Jul 2008
    Posts:
    1,924
    Location:
    Knowle, UK
    A very easy thread to read, TLD. I'm enjoying the enthusiasm which comes across, too. :)

    I've now been round Tierpark starting both ways. (first time, left; second, right.)
    There are pros and cons to both but I chose to go round to the left first time for a variety of reasons.
    1) finish with the reptile & crocodile house early + I can return if the hummingbird/Rupicola were not visible
    2) If I was short on time at the end, I could just cut out the childrens' zoo and bear enclosures (polar bears weren't out when I started with the bears most recently)
    3) I could do some shopping at the kiosk in the childrens' zoo and not be too heavily laden with goodies whilst walking around the zoo.

    I did, however, like both ways, going to the right makes it easier to return to animals which are harder to spot like howlers & echidnas.
     
  4. threeple61

    threeple61 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7 Apr 2014
    Posts:
    121
    Location:
    Great Blue Yonder
    I found the topaz easy to spot but as you said following it was difficult. The cock-of-the-rock female was more visible than the male on my visit, but this was not as exciting as the topaz imo.
    Great thread
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Jun 2007
    Posts:
    23,397
    Location:
    New Zealand
    I just thought I would mention, for TLD, that I have never seen a living hummingbird in my life.
     
  6. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    10 Feb 2009
    Posts:
    7,702
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    At the risk of derailing an excellent thread, I am curious about the right or left thing. I wonder if people from countries that drive on the left (such as UK) are the ones who veer left and those of us from countries that drive on the right tend to veer right?

    Of course for me it is not so cut and dry, because my direction of travel will be whichever one takes me to the cats the fastest! :p
     
  7. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    1,303
    Location:
    everywhere and nowhere
    Maybe TLD can start his own Make-Chlidonias-envious hummingbird list. But aren't there any hummingbirds in Jurong?
     
  8. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Jun 2007
    Posts:
    23,397
    Location:
    New Zealand
    from memory their Jungle Jewels aviary was designed with several glass-fronted hummingbird cases in the entrance, but by the time I saw the aviary the hummers had all died I think and the cases contained other birds instead. There may have been one or two inside the walk-through but I didn't see them. I don't think there are any at the park now.
     
  9. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    I just tend to study the map beforehand and go whichever direction will take me through a given collection with the least amount of backtracking and that's as time conserving as possible.

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  10. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    16 May 2010
    Posts:
    14,735
    Location:
    Wilds of Northumberland
    Hehe, don't worry about it - the matter is worth discussion I feel. Thinking about it, and not counting collections with a set route, here is a list of a small number of the collections I have visited and which direction I tended towards from the entrance:

    Chester: right
    Edinburgh: right
    Bristol: left
    Dudley: left
    BNC: left
    CWP: left
    Hamerton: right
    Berlin: right
    Tierpark Berlin: right
    Magdeburg: left
    Leipzig: left
    Newquay: right
    Paignton: left
    Exmoor: left

    Going by this small sample size, there is a slight bias towards left which may not be significant due to the low sample, but the two seem to be fairly equal.

    It would be a short list, and one unlikely to get any longer :p

    ---

    By the by, as I am now home from my long weekend of zoo-visiting with zoogiraffe, I am now working on the next report post.
     
  11. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    8 Sep 2007
    Posts:
    4,979
    Location:
    South Devon
    Few people have legs of exactly equal length: my left leg is slightly longer so I may have a tendency to turn to the right. In practice my usual policy is to head to the reptiles first, because some may be in interesting poses for photography, and I can try again for other species later in the day.

    Alan
     
  12. zooman

    zooman Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    4 Jul 2008
    Posts:
    1,849
    Location:
    Australia
    Retail rule of thumb is that you will enter a shop a go left 9/10
     
  13. zoogiraffe

    zoogiraffe Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12 Sep 2007
    Posts:
    6,338
    Location:
    Middlewich,Cheshire U.K
    I did Paignton once by going Right first never again the hills at the end of the day killed me!
     
  14. FBBird

    FBBird Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    15 Oct 2010
    Posts:
    3,617
    Location:
    Dorset, UK
    The German Adventures of...

    Just to make the Marsh Tern a bit sick..... In the bad old days of mass importation, you could see at least one hummer at almost any cage bird show here in the UK. I knew a man in Weymouth who had three or four at a time. Obviously, very few were ever bred, and life was far too cheap, but I'm sure I remember seeing some species listed at only a few pounds each.
     
  15. Gigit

    Gigit Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7 Oct 2007
    Posts:
    2,956
    Location:
    England
    Hills? What hills? The zoo is practically flat to us locals.

    ;)
     
    Last edited: 22 Apr 2014
  16. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    10 Feb 2009
    Posts:
    7,702
    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Should I mention that my home region of southeast Arizona has more species of hummingbirds than any place else in the United States? I mean, it is almost impossible to go anyplace outside in Tucson and not see one! :p
     
  17. Cat-Man

    Cat-Man Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    6 Jul 2008
    Posts:
    2,952
    Location:
    GBR
    With the exception of Whipsnade, I think I always go left. San Diego is an exception due to the Panda's (gets busy - often up to two hour waits)
     
  18. DDcorvus

    DDcorvus Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Aug 2008
    Posts:
    1,303
    Location:
    everywhere and nowhere
    At specialised shows you can still see hummingbirds in the Netherlands. They are still bred by some specialists. Keeping them is difficult, but breeding them eve more as they have to be housed individually to prevent pairs of killing eachother. In my region in the Netherlands there was one breeder who has bred at least 8 species (among them several Azalia species,Chrysolampis mosquitus, Colibri coruscans, Cynanthus latirostris, Damophila julie, Florisuga fuscus, and Aglaiocercus coelestis). Unfortunately his collection was broken up as he got too old to manage it.
     
  19. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    5 Dec 2007
    Posts:
    2,933
    Location:
    USA
    I've seen seven species of hummingbird in the wild. I'm sure there are ZooChatters that can beat that, but I figured I needed to add to the Chlidonias jealousy fest. As far as which seven:

    Ruby-throated Hummingbird
    Black-chinned Hummingbird
    Anna's Hummingbird
    Costa's Hummingbird
    Rufous Hummingbird
    Calliope Hummingbird
    Broad-billed Hummingbird
     
  20. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    22 Jan 2007
    Posts:
    1,513
    Location:
    Groningen, Netherlands
    We went to Costa Rica, spotting a huge number of different hummers there is like taking candy from a baby. We saw 8 different species at the hummingbird feeder at Monteverde National Park alone. The whole trip we saw 11 different species, of the 52 species Costa Rica has to offer.

    Back on topic: thoroughly enjoying the read TLD, keep it coming :)