Twycross Zoo - Pinnipeds - Baikal seals

I remember these from when I was a child, never realised that these would be the only freshwater seals I'd ever be likely to see. Makes me feel lucky to have had the oppurtunity!

where did twycross source there seals from + what happened to them?

Not sure. I recall about this time that a number of zoos in Europe had Baikal seals. I suspect they may have come in via Ravensden Zoological the animal dealers in Bedfordshire. They are very attractive species and of course live in fresh water. Not sure who displays them at the moment. Obviously some Russian zoos or aquariums would but a side from that I don't know.

Ahh, thankyou for the info, I know some japanese aquariums keep them

Having visited over the weekend, I can confirm that Europe's only Baikal Seal is alive and well in Leipzig.

Ahh, thankyou, may I ask a few questions, my dad says he is planning on taking me to germany in the next few years, and I was wondering, it is worth visiting the liepzig zoo Just to see the baikal seals? Because I was thinking of heading to the rhine reigon to see the douc's in cologne + the Boto in Duisburg?, thanks

There are few better zoo trips than to the Ruhr valley region - as well as Cologne and Duisburg you have Wuppertal (a personal favourite), Krefeld, Dortmund, ZOOM Gelsenkirchen, Munster, AquaZoo Duesseldorf and more to choose from.

Leipzig is a long way from these, and pairs up better with Berlin (as we did). That said, Leipzig is very highly recommended - and it wouldn't just be for the Baikal Seal - other highlights include Europe's only pangolins and quolls, as well as Kowaris, Dall's Sheep and Thomson's Gazelles among other things.

And then you have the two Berlin zoos less than 2hr's train ride away...

So basically - definitely go to Leipzig, but it won't easily join up on a trip with the also highly recommended Duisburg and Cologne, so it may be a case of picking a priority!

Thanks for the infomation, are they're anyother rare captive species in the ruhr reigon? Thankyou for the info on liepzig + berlin, however, I don't think as a whole it would be practical to visit liepzig at all unfortunatly, so it seems to be a show down between berlin + the rhineland. Could you name some of the highlights at the two Berlin collections?, because I'm mainly wanting visiting the ruhr for the doucs + the boto

Leipzig zoo is a 10min walk from the main station and there are regular fast trains from Berlin - if you're in Berlin it's no harder than going to the Berlin zoos really.

You're best off putting some of the zoo names into the search box at ZootierlisteHomepage to see what takes your fancy. But I can give a few pointers:

Duisburg - Orinoco River Dolphin, Common Wombat, Koala, Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo

Krefeld - Mountain Anoa, Dall Sheep, Pallas' Long-tongued Bat, Cretan Spiny Mouse, Blue Duiker, Musk Ox

ZOOM - Moustached Guenon

Cologne - Red-shanked Douc, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Venezuelan Red Howler, Grizzly Bear, Blue Coua, Matschie's Tree Kangaroo, Rock Cavy, Ring-tailed Mongoose, Southern Bald Ibis, Siberian Weasel... (lots more besides)

Wuppertal - Baird's Tapir, Yellow-backed Duiker, Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, hummingbirds, Asian Golden Cats, Black-footed Cats, New Guinea Crocodile, Golden-bellied Mangabey, Harpy Eagle, Kagu, Oncilla

The Berlins are absolutely stacked with good stuff. I saw 6 new mammal taxa at the Tierpark this weekend. It's hard to know where to start, but the Tierpark highlights include Marco Polo Sheep, Afghan Red Sheep, 3 subspecies of Takin, a full set of four hyaena species, Bush Hyrax, Malayan Civet, Ratel, Rufous Night Heron, Yellow-throated Marten, Harpy Eagle, Swift Fruit Bat, five subspecies of Red Deer/Wapiti (including Barbary) Mountain Reedbuck, Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby, three pure subspecies of both leopards and tigers, Bharal, Altai Lynx, cock-of-the-rock, Wood Bison... the list really does go on and on. The Zoo adds Giant Panda, Common Vampire Bat, Toque Macaque, Woma, Trumpet Manucode, Baird's Tapir, Kagu, Cretan Wild Goat, Narrow-striped and Ring-tailed Mongoose, Tayra, Fat-tailed Duprasi, Tuatara, New Guinea Crocodile, Springhaas, Pallas' Long-tongued Bat, Gaur, Bearded Pig, five species of ant and four of jellyfish... both are massive animal collections. Between the two thay have every species of bear, flamingo and hyaena. It'd be wise to allow a spare day, as the Tierpark in particular takes a while to see properly.

Wow, that list is MASSIVE. Thankyou so much, really made me re-think my plan. It would still be impractacle for visiting liepzig, due to that we have to allow time for other, non related zoo activities. (Not my choice tho ). But thankyou, looks like berlin it is, gunnah miss out on the amazing dolphin tho, would have to plan another trip to see that, definatly. Thankyou so much for this infomation.