Bear Castle at Leipzig, 02/09/11

I would also not quite put Leipzig in the very highest tier of my favourites (yet), but can't really explain why.

I think part of the reason is that while it does have have character, it has about four or five different characters so it doesn't settle very clearly in the mind as a whole - a strong contrast with a zoo I have visited this week, Vienna - in many ways the 'ultimate' historic-but-heavily-modernised zoo, which has a very consistent feel almost everywhere. I have a strong feeling of 'Gondwanaland' or 'Pongoland' but not necessarily of 'Leipzig'. Conversely, I have a very clear sense of 'Vienna' but few of the exhibits stand out individually. It does give the zoo a clearer sense of overall quality though.

I don't think that's perforce a particularly rational reason, but I think it's part of it for me.

All that said - with the number of zoos there are in Europe, not being in someone's top 5/10 is hardly an automatic criticism, and Leipzig is a very good zoo.

I'm glad that I kickstarted this discussion as it is refreshing to witness a civil, informative conversation take place rather than some of the banal stuff that gets posted these days on ZooChat.

I find it interesting to compare zoos that have one or two fantastic, knockout exhibit complexes and then some poor sections with zoos that are a little more well-rounded and consistent. In the United States often zoo nerds will praise Omaha's amazing mega-structures, but that zoo also has some detrimental sections that badly need to be updated. Even the "world-famous" San Diego Zoo most definitely has some zones crying out for an upgrade. With a $50 million campaign already begun for an 8-acre African zone that upgrade will arrive before we know it!

American zoos with a high level of consistency are ones like Saint Louis, Sedgwick County, Woodland Park or North Carolina, where there are very few poor exhibits and an overall impressive standard. From what I've heard from several ZooChatters is that Leipzig has several amazing sections but also a handful of enclosures that are well past their due date, while zoos like Prague, Vienna and the two Dutch giants (Arnhem and Rotterdam) are for the most part exemplary. Lastly, Leipzig has modernized at such an incredibly fast rate that it will take time for everything to perhaps come together as a cohesive entity. Maybe by 2020 the zoo will be close to perfection, and I'm sure that attendance will skyrocket yet again.

You're absolutely right, of course - it is a fantastic zoo. The brilliant way in which they have used the older buildings is particularly wonderful. My slight reservation is just a personal thing, really. As Maguari says, it's hard to pin down exactly why it doesn't absolutely click, but this comes close:

Thinking some more, it's also, possibly, the lack of quiet little corners which offer surprises - it's a fairly small zoo (in acreage), and there's a feeling that, the Dall sheep corner aside, there's very little that's low key and reserved. It's all quite in-you-face. Again, though, this is very much a personal response.

Last night I saw Neil Young in concert. It was brilliant in parts, a bit rubbish in others, constantly surprising - and wholly engaging. I think zoos can be like grizzled Canadian rockers: sometimes the lack of perfection is what brings greatness (I don't mean sub-standard horrors like this bear exhibit, or the old leopard enclosures).

Actually, I think Prague, Arnhem and Rotterdam do have their dusty corners alongside their brilliant shiny new(ish) bits - and this is why I, personally, like them so much. Arnhem, for example, has lots of "boring"
aviaries (brilliant!); the ground-breaking Mangrove House is looking a little old; here and there are pockets of sub-Hagenbeck stuff. Prague, too, is not without flaws - which is possibly why it is so perfect.

Very true, I think.

25-minute version of "Cortez the Killer" = Gondwanaland? Massive, over the top, ultimately brilliant......

Nice analogy which probably won't mean a lot to many (but I like it).

As someone who used to own over 40 Neil Young CD's, I appreciated the reference. Some zoos have a Lotta Love, others are Down By The River while the outdated ones are Helpless.

A new exhibit for spectacled bears has already been built off show between Gondwanaland and the elephant exhibit.

IMO the elephant exhibit in Leipzig is one of the best in europe.