Whipsnade got here via a comfortable win over Attica, on large carnivores, 7-3 in the lowest-scoring poll so far. Zurich crushed Copenhagen 24-1 on primates, perhaps proving a little lucky to draw a zoo whose major weakness mirrored its own. This time? Birds. Tomorrow: Berlin Zoo vs Cabarceno.
Comfortable win for Zurich with the Malagasy species in the Masoala hall and the high end selection of S-American birds in the Exotarium. They also have more species of birds non-surprisingly than Whipsnade and a higher number of rarities and with the Pitta-like ground roller one of the biggest (and prettiest) rarities in any European zoo. Brolga cranes can't change that
A zoo with motmot, pitta-like groundroller, crested drongo, Monserrat oriole, purple honeycreeper, king pinguin, African and wattled jacana, M-magpie robin and many other Madagascar rarities, several tanager species, etc. is almost unbeatable.
Much as I like Whipsnade, a few penguins, some White Storks and a bird show of variable quality are not going to cut it against the Exotarium - let alone against the rest of the Zurich Zoo. Very one sided....
Yep, agreed - against Zurich on almost any non-mammal category Whipsnade was a pretty much immediate write-off, sadly.
Not been to Zurich, but Whipsnade have very few birds, so I can see this will be a crushing defeat. My vote is for Zurich.
Zurich was lucky it wasn’t ungulates! Whipsnade can only really compete with most major zoos in that or carnivores!
Bristol is already through. Paignton and to a lesser extent Twycross have winnable contests coming up against Paris and Wuppertal, respectively.
With Twycross though it will depend on category , like Whipsnade it is very strong in one but poor in several!
My thoughts exactly - though I haven't been to Whipsnade. In the categories of this cup I would rate Zurich as strongest in ectotherms, then birds, carnivores, primates, hoofstock, and last other mammals (they only have very few, 16, other species). So I wouldn't agree with the oft repeated assertion that primates are Zurich's largest weakness in this competition.
Both: Lesser rhea; European white stork; western cattle egret; bar-headed goose; common eider; white-faced whistling duck; smew; mandarin duck; Indian peafowl; burrowing, Ural and snowy owls Whipsnade Common ostrich; common emu Jackass and northern rockhopper penguins Black-faced ibis; little egret Caribbean flamingo Baer’s pochard; West Indian whistling and maned wood ducks; marbled teal; magpie, emperor, swan and barnacle geese; hooded merganser Bataleur eagle; Harris’ hawk; merlin; European kestrel; lanner falcon Edward’s pheasant Blue, wattled, western black-crowned, eastern grey-crowned and red-crowned cranes; brolga; corncrake Blue-and-yellow, scarlet, hyacinth and green military macaws; Honduran amazon; Mitchell’s lorikeet; Congo grey parrot White-faced scops owl Abyssinian ground, southern Sulawesi and Visayan tarictic and red-billed hornbills Blue-crowned and Sumatran laughing thrushes; British red-billed chough; red-billed blue magpie; Emei Shan liocichla; chestnut-backed ground thrush Zurich Black-necked grebe Humboldt and king penguins Black stork; little bittern; hamerkop; Panama boat-billed heron; Eurasian spoonbill; Madagascar crested and scarlet ibises; waldrapp Chilean flamingo Crested screamer; African pygmy, lesser Magellan, Egyptian, lesser white-fronted, red-breasted and blue-winged geese; Baikal, cinnamon, common, falcated, Hottentot, red-billed and Bernier’s teals; Meller’s, Magellan steamer, South American comb and bronze-winged ducks; Chiloe wigeon; spectacled eider; common goldeneye; northern shoveler; rosy-billed pochard; ruddy shelduck; Bewick’s and black-necked swans Western Egyptian vulture Asian blue quail; crested wood and Madagascar partridges; Himalayan monal; Satyr tragopan; wild turkey Demoiselle and white-naped cranes; sunbittern; red-legged seriema; red-and-white crake Black-necked stilt; Eurasian oystercatcher; northern and southern lapwings; African and wattled jacanas Blue-crowned hanging, greater vasa and black parrots; dusky lory; red-collared, scaly-breasted, rainbow and red-flanked lorikeets; green-winged macaw; sun and lesser Patagonian conure; Lord Derby’s parakeet; Madagascar lovebird Diamond, Madagascar turtle and crested quail doves; Luzon bleeding-heart; Madagascar blue pigeon Eurasian northern hawk and European pygmy owls Green and Senegal turacos Crested coua White-tailed trogon Crowned hornbill; blue-crowned motmot; European bee-eater; pitta-like ground roller Channel-billed toucan African yellow white-eye; bearded barbet; copper sunbird; European goldfinch; northern and yellow cardinals; orange-breasted bunting; red-billed leiothrix; red-throated parrotfinch; red-whiskered and white-spectacled bulbuls; thick-billed and violaceous euphonias; turquoise, Brazilian, flame-faced and black-necked tanagers; white-crowned robin-chat; Bali mynah; blue-backed and Cuban grassquits; crested drongo; Kilimanjaro and Madgascar white-eyes; Madagascan bilbfinch; Madagascar fody; Madagascar magpie robin; Montserrat oriole; plush-crested jay; purple and red-legged honeycreepers; red siskin; red-crested and saffron finches; ultramarine grosbeak Zurich wins as regards variety and number of species, although Whipsnade has a better collection of cranes and raptors.
How much of that Whipsnade collection is on show? There are tantalising glimpses of things as you go past the old children’s farm, but most remains frustratingly out of sight.
You actually included the Voliere Mythenquai in your species lists, Zoo Zurich does not keep Hanging parrots, Coppery sunbirds, Turaco and Black-necked stilts among others....
But I guess you used "Zurich" in the search, rather than "Zurich (zoo)", in that case you will have to watch for which collection the species is listed, as that would have included Zurich (Voliere Mythenquai).... When looking for "Chester (Zoo) " for example, Colchester (Zoo) is not excluded from the search: Chester (Zoo) Zwergotter (Kurzkrallenotter) (Aonyx cinerea (Syn.: Amblyonyx cinereus)) Colchester (Zoo) Afrikanischer Steppenelefant (kein Unterartenstatus) (Loxodonta africana)