Antelope house

Seeing this image is fascinating as in North American zoos this kind of access to indoor housing for hoofstock is almost unheard of. I've been to hundreds of zoos across the continent and only on a few occasions (unless I received a special behind-the-scenes tour) was I ever privy to antelope holding areas.

I too have only seen a few indoor hoofstock areas in North America.

I'm not sure about the exhibit quality but the house itself looks absolutely stunning from this photo

Marvelous architecture. Basel really seems to have a unique charm to it that lacks at many other establishments. If an American zoo nerd were to take a hypothetical trip to Europe in a few years, would it be wise to head to the Czech Republic (Prague, Plzen) or make the longer drive out to Switzerland (Basel, Zurich)?

@pachyderm pro Both! Very different countries, very different zoos. But each country is wonderful, and each of the four zoos you list is tremendous - as are many others in Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

And I agree that this is a beautiful house - from outside as well. On my various visits to Basle, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to go into this house - but it is the retention of such older pieces of architecture, alongside more modern exhibits, that gives the zoo its character, and which, despite its near-neighbour being the “better” zoo if one judges such things objectively, makes me prefer Basle over Zurich.

@snowleopard Giraffes are almost always visible inside, if you are not allowed in the house than at least there are viewing windows to still see them. Only in Rome and Lisbon this was not the case, but there temperatures are high enough throughout the year for giraffes to be outside normally. Indoor viewing for okapi is also common, for antelopes less so, but still not a huge rarity.

@pachyderm pro It depends . Prague and Plzen are two very interesting zoos and between them they have a huge animal collection. Plzen however feels like they have crammed every possible space with another rarity, at the expense of husbandry quality. Prague is however overall one of Europe's top zoos. The two main Swiss zoos are very Swiss in that they go for quality, not quantity. They are two completely different zoos, but both are of very high quality in their own category, Basel is much more a city zoo, whereas Zurich has more room for high quality immersion exhibits. I think I would be in the minority, but I would urge you to come to Switzerland. An important consideration though is that Czechia is about 3 time cheaper than Switzerland in just about everything