Coming from an Australian rules background, I don't really understand this consolation round for 3rd place thing: in my sport once you're out you're out, and that's that. But why not. Tonight's play-off features one category from each of the zoo's losing semi-finals. Chester was knocked out by Prague 26-11 on primates and miscellaneous mammals, while Burgers fell to Berlin, 21-15, on ectotherms and ungulates. Tomorrow: the big one.
Miscellaneous mammals is not where Burgers' strength lies and I feel it stands no chance against Chester. For Ungulates and allies they have a much better chance. Though again with less species they have some of the better enclosures and a big bonus in the form of Manatees in a huge tank.
However, miscellaneous mammals is also the area which cost Chester the match against Prague..... This is going to be a tough one.
I feel for both zoos to get this far is a great achievement seeing as they’re not the top 4 seeds, and should have lost in the last 8 if seeds mean anything which in this competition they’ve certainly not. I feel this will be a great match, can’t wait to here the arguments for both sides.
Ungulates Both: South-East Asian elephant; Rothschild's giraffe; Myanmar thamin; Eastern bongo; Javan banteng; roan antelope Arnhem Asian elephant West Indian manatee Grant`s zebra Southern white rhinoceros Northern warthog Collared peccary Reeves' muntjac; common hog deer; Eurasian forest reindeer California bighorn; common waterbuck; beisa oryx; eastern white-bearded wildebeest; western blue duiker Chester Onager; Grevy's zebra Malayan and Brazilian tapirs Eastern black and greater one-horned rhinoceroses Red river hog; Negros warty pig; common warthog; Sulawesi babirusa Balabac chevrotain Okapi Indian muntjac; Visayan spotted deer; southern pudu Kirk's dik-dik; lowland anoa; red buffalo; western sitatunga; red duiker Arnhem has a manatee and a peccary; Chester has tapirs and a chevotrain. This is a draw on family diversity. Chester has more horses, rhinoceroses, pigs and giraffes and wins on species. Other mammals Both: Aardvark; Rodriguez flying fox; Seba's short-tailed bat Arnhem Swamp wallaby Merriam's kangaroo rat; Cactus deer mouse; hispid cotton rat; capybara; common Rock squirrel Lyle's flying fox Chester Dusky pademelon; Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo Lesser hedgehog and lowland streaked tenrecs Round-eared sengi Cape hyrax Linnaeus' two-toed sloth; giant anteater Belanger's tree-shrew Giant jumping rat; Asia Minor spiny mouse; Northern Luzon giant cloud rat; Cape porcupine; naked mole-rat; capybara; Azara's agouti; Sumatran Prevost's squirrel Chester has tenrecs; a sengi, a hyrax, a sloth and anteater and a tree shrew and wins on order diversity. Chester wins overall.
This is tough, the best zoos from both of my home countries against each other. Though Chester may have more variety than Burgers’, Burgers’ slays Chester in exhibitry (that manatee tank, plus Safari and the mixed exhibit in Rimba). Given that Burgers’ also has more rarities than Chester in both categories (rock squirrel, kangaroo rat, manatee, Beisa oryx etc.), I’m going with Burgers’.
I have visited neither zoo, but am going with Burgers'. Having read travel reports and looked at gallery pictures and contemplating, where would I rather go see 'ungulates and misc. mammals' Burgers' elicits a level of curiosity in me that Chester simply does not: with Burgers' i genuinely wonder how its enclosures might be like, whether this is the savanna or the manatee house (which both seem to get a lot of praise), or the sheep in the desert (which get mixed reviews). Even with misc. mammals where I don't think I've read anything on Burgers' enclosures, I am curious as to how they might exhibit them to a level I simply am not with Chester. I might be assessing this unfairly and - good arguments provided - may yet revise my vote.
FYI, since this is close. I will not be conducting a re-match if this game is tied. Both zoos will be considered to have finished in equal third place.
Other mammals is probably Burgers' weakest point. For a zoo that is arguably among the best zoos in Europe, the lack of xenarthrans, hyraxes, sengis, tree shrews, insectivores and tenrecs, as well as low numbers of marsupials, means a huge gap in the collection. Although they are often not the easiest species to add to an ecodisplay, I think the rodents in the Desert show it is not impossible. What Burgers' does it does good, and ever since the legendary first match, Burgers' has always won on exhibitry until it met its match in the form of the truly excellent Berlin Aquarium and ungulates buildings. If Burgers' wins, it will win on exhibitry and not collection. @Dassie rat, Burgers' does keep capibara!
