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European zoos listed after their animal-rarities

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by Nasua, 18 Nov 2014.

  1. Nasua

    Nasua Well-Known Member

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    In this thread, I'd like to present my results after a long research at ZootierlisteHomepage . I made a special list which says which zoos keep the most rare species (rare in zoos, not based on wild population), (just Europe).
    Well, it's a bit complicated... So, I gave 10 points to a zoo if the zoo is the only one keeping this species in Europe (eg. chinese pangolin -> 10 points to Leipzig). If there are two zoos keeping a species, then I gave them 8 points (eg. spotted-necked otter -> 8 points to Belfast and Valencia). Three zoos -> 7 points and so on... 1 point if there are 9 zoos keeping the species. All species that are kept more than 9 times are not considered in this list because I just wanted the very rare kept species in european zoos.
    This list is ONLY about MAMMALS, maybe I'll start to make the same with birds, reptiles...!
    The VALUE behind the zoo is NOT the number of considered species of the zoo or something like that, it's just the summary of all points the zoo got in my calculation. (by the use of this value, you can imagine the gaps between the zoos a lot better, and yes the 270 points between P1 and P2 are A LOT, the first 5 zoos are playing in a own league!)
    I used to do this list between the last 3 months ( regarding the actuality...).


    So here are the Top 30 european zoos with the most rare kept and very rare kept species (see explanation above):

    1. Plzen Zoo - 581 points
    2. Moskva Zoo - 310 points
    3. Praha Zoo - 289 points
    4. Berlin Tierpark - 273 points
    5. Arabia's Wildlife Centre Sharjah - 229 points
    6. University Zoo Tel Aviv - 127 points
    7. Poznan Nowe Zoo - 125 points
    8. Novosibirsk Zoo - 123 points
    9. Berlin Zoo - 122 points
    10. Rare Species Conservation Centre Sandwich - 107 points
    11. Haifa Educational Zoo & Botanical Garden - 94 points
    12. Frankfurt Zoo - 90 points
    13. Al Ain Zoo - 85 points
    14. Wroclaw Zoo - 82 points
    15. Schönebeck Tierpark - 76 points
    16. Cologne Zoo - 73 points
    17. Arnhem Burgers Zoo - 72 points
    18. Leipzig Zoo - 70 points
    19. Bojnice Zoo - 69 points
    20. Antwerpen Zoo - 65 points
    21. Duisburg Zoo - 63 points
    22. Howletts Wild Animal Park Bekesbourne - 62 points
    23. Besancon Zoo/Citadelle - 60 points
    24. Port Lympne Wild Animal Park - 59 points
    25. Tallinn Zoo - 59 points
    26. Leningradsky Zoopark St Petersburg - 57 points
    27. Yaroslavl Zoo - 56 points
    28. Budapest Zoo - 55 points
    29. Sochi Monkeys Nursery - 55 points
    30. Wuppertal Zoo - 55 points


    If you'd like to know another zoo's place or have question, write it down :)
     
  2. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    I'd argue that quite a few of the collections listed do not count as European collections - in the case of one collection (Novosibirsk) it is nearer to Beijing than it is even to Moscow!

    As ZTL lists some but not all countries in the Middle East, rather a lot of the oddities held at collections there are rather less odd than they seem, too.
     
  3. Nasua

    Nasua Well-Known Member

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    I know Novosibirsk is far from Europe but when I count Moscow, St Petersburg (which are obviously european) and company, then I feel like counting whole Russia.
    You're right about the Middle East. I included all of the countries ZTL lists. But if you want I can post another list just without those countries, just with real european (where we'll have another problem with Turkey or Georgia)...
     
  4. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Omitting Turkey wouldn't be too problematic, as the only zoo listed on ZTL which is located in East Thrace - the European portion of Turkey - is an aquarium with a handful of fish. Probably Georgia would be best omitted in such a list too.

    The main complication in coming up with a Europe-only list like this would be the need to manually work out the "score" for species where not all ZTL holdings are valid for the purposes of the list. Just as a test, I am now working out a Europe-only list fitting the above specifications for carnivore species to see how tricky this is.
     
  5. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

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    Very good idea to do a point system for zoos like this. It must have taken a long time but it gives a good idea showing which zoos have the most rare species. Thanks for posting it is very interesting.
    :)
     
  6. devilfish

    devilfish Well-Known Member

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    A very interesting list, Germanzoofan, thanks!
    Would you happen to have a further break down (e.g. how many species Plzen scored 10/9/8... on)?
    I'm also pleased that I've been to 4 out of the top 5 :)
     
  7. vogelcommando

    vogelcommando Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Must realy been an enormous job ! Thanks for doing this ( and sharing it with us ! ).
     
  8. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    This is really cool GermanZooFan, must have been a lot of work!

    Like Devilfish, I'd love to see further breakdown of the results too! :cool:

    I've been to 7 of the top 30, but I suspect I missed a number of the rarities as at many places many of the rarest species are kept off display (Plzen), while others I was unable to spot (Leipzig's pangolin).
     
  9. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Very interesting! Can you list us the species and their individual points for each zoo?

    Strange that none of bigger zoos in Britain or France made it to the list!
     
  10. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    I was thinking that too - at least about the UK zoos. And the two British zoos that do appear on the list are not particularly highly ranked on the "Top 5 British Zoos" list (neither are in the top 10 - https://www.zoochat.com/community/posts/828577), which is odd given how excited zoochatters get about animals that are rarely held in captivity.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 21 Oct 2016
  11. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Here are the top 25 European collections for carnivore rarities - omitting collections in the Middle East, Russia and Near-Asia - scored along the same points scheme as that devised by GermanZooFan.

    For instance, African Wildcat is held by 3 collections on ZTL but as one is in Russia and another in Georgia, the third holder in the UK receives 10 points.

    1) Tierpark Berlin (Germany) - 80 points
    2) Zoo Plzen (Czech Republic) - 76 points
    3) Zoo Praha (Czech Republic) - 52 points
    4) Zoo Poznan Nowe (Poland) - 42 points
    5) Rare Species Conservation Centre (United Kingdom) - 39 points
    6) Zoo Nikolaev (Ukraine) - 31 points
    7) Parc des Félins (France) - 30 points
    8) Dierenpark de Paay (Netherlands) - 27 points
    9) Hamerton Zoo (United Kingdom) - 26 points
    10) Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) - 26 points
    11) Zoologischer Garten Magdeburg (Germany) - 25 points
    12) Howletts Wild Animal Park (United Kingdom) - 24 points
    13) Exmoor Zoo (United Kingdom) - 23 points
    14) Zoo Wuppertal (Germany) - 23 points
    15) Kiev Zoopark (Ukraine) - 22 points
    16) Zoo Heidelberg (Germany) - 20 points
    17) Zoo Berlin (Germany) - 19 points
    18) Belfast Zoo (United Kingdom) - 17 points
    19) Les Loups du Gévaudan (France) - 17 points
    20) Zoo Dortmund (Germany) - 16 points
    21) Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens (United Kingdom) - 16 points
    22) Wingham Wildlife Park (United Kingdom) - 16 points
    23) Parque Biologico da Lousa (Portugal) - 15 points
    24) NaturZoo Rheine (Germany) - 14 points
    25) Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (United Kingdom) - 14 points

    It is worth noting that Port Lympne would have been much higher in the rankings mere months ago, as it has recently lost two species (Blackfooted Cat and Indian Desert Cat) which would have earned it 10 points each - and moved it up to 6th place!
     
  12. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    This is the primate score, also omitting Middle-East, most of Russia & near Asia.

    1. Howletts Wild Animal Park (UK) - 47 points
    2. Apenheul (Netherlands) - 41 points
    3. Twycross (UK) - 41 points
    4. Montemor o Velho (Portugal) - 36 points
    5. Praha Zoo (Czech Republic) - 35 points
    6. Mulhouse Zoo (France - 32 points
    6. Saint-Martin la Plaine (France - 32 points
    8. Port Lympne (UK) - 30 points
    9. Antwerp Zoo (Belgium) - 27 points
    10. Berlin Zoologischer Garten (Germany) - 26 points
    11. Plzen Zoo (Czech republic) - 24 points
    12. Faunia Madrid (Spain) - 23 points
    12. Cologne Zoo (Germany - 23 points
    12. Los Cristianos Monkey park (Spain) - 23 points
    15. Usti nad Labem Zoo (Czech Republich - 22 points
    16. Burford Cotswold animal park (UK) - 21 points
    16. Romagne Vallee des Singes (France) - 21 points
    16. RSSC Kent (UK) - 21 points
    19. Wingham Wildlife Park (UK) - 20 points
    19. Zoo Zurich (Zoo) - 20 points
    21. Belfast Zoo (Ireland) - 19 points
    21. Moscow Zoo (Russia) - 19 points
    21. Paignton Zoo (UK) - 19 points
    21. Paris Zoo des Vincennes (France) - 19 points
    25. Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) - 18 points
    26. Besancon Zoo/Citadelle (France) - 17 points
    26. Lisboa Zoo (Portugal) - 17 points
    26. London Zoo (UK) - 17 points
    29. Colchester Zoo (UK) - 16 points
    30. Avintes (Portugal) - 15 points
    30. St. Petersburg (Russia) - 15 points
    30. Tallinn Zoo (Estonia) - 15 points
    30. Wroclaw Zoo (Poland) - 15 points
     
  13. Nasua

    Nasua Well-Known Member

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    I'll try to work it out for the Top 5 at first. ;) I didn't register the number of every single score for every zoo, so I need to work it out. (it would have been too time-consuming to register it for every of the 479 (!) zoos that handled to get in this list)
     
  14. zooboy28

    zooboy28 Well-Known Member

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    Interesting to see how much better the UK zoos score with rare primates, making up almost a third of the top 30. How come the UK does so well with primates? And not other mammalian orders?
     
  15. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Considering the fact that my list shows the UK contains 8/25 of the top collections for rare carnivores - again almost a third of the total - I'd argue this is another mammalian order where we acquit ourselves well.

    As 9 of the original 30 collections listed by GermanZooFan are ineligible by the stricter standards of mine and lintworm's lists, as are holdings of ineligible collections, it will be interesting to discover if a similar all-mammal-taxon list following these standards still shows a lack of UK representation.
     
  16. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    A top 10 of European collections in terms of monotreme and marsupial rarities......

    1) Zoo Plzen (Czech Republic) - 34 points
    2) Zoo Budapest (Hungary) - 25 points
    3) Rare Species Conservation Centre (United Kingdom) - 23 points
    4) Zoo Frankfurt (Germany) - 21 points
    5) Zoo Praha (Czech Republic) - 20 points
    6) Dierenpark Planckendael (Belgium) - 19 points
    7) Kobenhavn Zoo (Denmark) - 18 points
    8) Zoo Duisburg (Germany) - 18 points
    9) Tierpark Berlin (Germany) - 16 points
    10) ZooParc de Beauval (France) - 12 points

    Beyond this point the list becomes somewhat misleading, with collections holding multiple rarities (such as Leipzig) getting less points than collections that hold only a single rarity (such as Wroclaw and Terarium Dubec) of higher value.
     
  17. Norwegian moose

    Norwegian moose Well-Known Member

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    It looks like Plzen is the overall leader when it comes to rare mammal species in Europe.....
     
  18. Nasua

    Nasua Well-Known Member

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    Yes, except from primates, whales or ungulates, they're quite good everytime. Especially the keeping of marsupials, bats and, above all, rodents includes many many rarities. Unfortunately, some of the species are kept off-show.
     
  19. Nasua

    Nasua Well-Known Member

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    I finished working out the Top 5's single scores...

    The difference between this points and the points in the list is because the zoos give away and get other species and because not involved zoos got a species, so the score for this species changed...

    Plzen Zoo (CZE)

    10 points 15x
    08 points 18x
    07 points 11x
    06 points 10x
    05 points 10x
    04 points 11x
    03 points 10x
    02 points 07x
    01 points 05x
    = 574 ( - 7 points)

    Moskwa Zoo (RUS)

    10 points 14x
    08 points 06x
    07 points 05x
    06 points 06x
    05 points 04x
    04 points 03x
    03 points 04x
    02 points 01x
    01 points 04x
    = 309 ( - 1 point)

    Praha Zoo (CZE)

    10 points 02x
    08 points 10x
    07 points 09x
    06 points 06x
    05 points 07x
    04 points 04x
    03 points 04x
    02 points 02x
    01 points 03x
    = 269 ( - 20 points!!)

    Tierpark Berlin (GER)

    10 points 07x
    08 points 05x
    07 points 07x
    06 points 07x
    05 points 07x
    04 points 06x
    03 points 01x
    02 points 04x
    01 points 05x
    = 276 ( + 3 points)

    Arabia's Wildlife Centre Sharjah (UAE)

    10 points 10x
    08 points 07x
    07 points 04x
    06 points 03x
    05 points 03x
    04 points 01x
    03 points 00x
    02 points 00x
    01 points 00x
    = 221 ( - 8 points)


    At the moment, Tierpark Berlin moved to place 3 and Praha to place 4...
    Very interesting is Sharjah's point allocation and, of course, Plzen's with many big scores.
     
  20. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Of course, Sharjah is one of the collections which a strict interpretation of Europe would exempt.

    Bloody nice collection though - I'd love to visit.