A Guide to the Rarities of Europe

I have decided to split the next country into three, since it appears to be slightly longer than I thought. I have almost completed the entire country, but I will let you analyse it for yourselves for now - the 'trend' within this country will become more apparent when I have shown the map, as it isn't immediately obvious where each of these are located. I will say however that in the course of doing this I did find out about several nice little collections I didn't know of before.

As a side note, I noticed a mistake in ZTL - Graested is not the only holder of Subtropical cacique in Europe, Montpellier still has them, I saw them last summer.

However, onto le Pays des Baguettes :

France

Aquarium des Tropiques, Allex

A fairly small collection with not very many tanks, but a good number of rarities for its size, all fish as you would imagine.

Fish: Barred splitfin, Black-winged hatchetfish, Blue Victoria mouthbrooder, Burton's mouthbrooder, Clown killi, Coatzacoalcos cichlid, Fenestratus cichlid, Hogaboom's cichlid, Lyretail panchax, Redtail nothobranch, Rock kribensis, Shortnose gar.

Zoo D'Amiens

A decent zoo, with a nice Asian complex, a few nice enclosures and a couple of rarities.

Birds: Collared lory, Dark-bellied brent goose, Indian red-bellied red magpie.

Reptiles: Green crested lizard, Three-banded geckolet.

Zoo d'Amnéville

A fairly large zoo in the context of France, Amnéville is nonetheless punctured with poor exhibits and at times overdone theming. It also sticks to ABCs, with only a few rarities. It had its EAZA membership stripped when it refused to close down its tiger show, which still happens goes on to this day. So all in all, a zoo that has a fairly patchy record with the public and enthusiasts alike.

Mammals: Syrian rock hyrax

Birds: Colombian green military macaw, Yellow-cheeked tit.

Reptiles: Bocourt's mud turtle, Cook's tree boa, Striped mud turtle.

Aquarium d'Amnéville

The much less (in)famous collection in Amnéville, the aquarium actually has more rarities. Nevertheless, I would probably still say the zoo is more worth visiting.

Fish: Arabian picassofish, Black piranha, Blackspot piranha, Blue velvet angelfish, Broomtail wrasse, Hawaiian butterflyfish, Longnose surgeonfish, Masked puffer, Redback sand tilefish, River stingray (Mantilla ray), Rivulated parrotfish, Titan triggerfish, Vermiculate river stingray, Violet squirrelfish, Weedy scorpionfish (aphaeus).

Marineland Antibes

One of the (very) few remaining SeaWorld-type collections in Europe, Marineland Antibes is one of only three collections on the continent with orcas, but are, as is the case with virtually every collection holding cetaceans, under pressure to stop holding them. Other than the main attraction, Marineland has a few other species, but is not terribly special.

Mammals: Orca, Steller's sea lion

Birds: Western rockhopper penguin

Fish: Bartlett's anthias, Blubberlip snapper, Cuban basslet, Five-banded butterflyfish, Javanese cownose ray, Leopard whipray, Lubbock's wrasse.

Parc Animalier d'Auvergne - Greater mouse-eared bat, Lesser horseshoe, Transcapian urial.

Parc Animalier des Pyrenées

Actually a really interesting collection. Formerly holding a great collection of South American passerines, but still retaining some of its former collection in that field, with caciques, oropendolas and jays. However, the park is also great for European mountain fauna, with a walk-through caprid exhibit and multitude of other odd ideas. I thoroughly recommend the place.

Mammals: Pyrenean chamois, Pyrenean red squirrel

Birds: Common tern, Crested oropendola, Great crested grebe, Plush-crested jay, Yellow-rumped cacique.

Parc de l'Auxois, Arnay-sous-Vitteaux - Baird's rat snake.

Zoo d'Asson

Again in the Pyrenees, this place has a few nice species that you wouldn't expect to find here, a bit like its nearby counterpart.

Mammals: Philippine porcupine, Plantain squirrel, Southern African spiny mouse, Western blue duiker.

Donjon des Aigles, Beaucens - Augur buzzard, Wedge-tailed eagle.

Alligator Bay, Beauvoir - Black-headed royal snake, Bocourt's mud snake, Ethiopian mountain adder, Moroccan ocellated lizard, Olive python.

Zoo Citadelle de Besancon

One of the zoos of France with the most character, entirely set in a medieval citadel setting. Holds some intriguing small mammal species along with a fairly large ABC collection.

Mammals: Common hamster, Common red-backed vole, Crowned sifaka, Francois' leaf monkey, Greater bamboo lemur, Mound-building mouse, Yellow-necked field mouse.

Fish: Rhone streber.

Aquarium de Biarritz - Goldentail moray, Scalloped hammerhead, Streaked gurnard, Striated frogfish.

Nausicaa

An interesting, half-modern, half-old aquarium, with notably the only giant manta rays in Europe. Other than that massive rarity, lots of other fish rarities.

Reptiles: Lowland corn snake, Pasteur's day gecko.

Fish: Bicolor cleaner wrasse, Blotched fantail, Blue and gold fusilier, Blue jack mackerel, Boomerang triggerfish, Brick soldierfish, California sheephead, Dory snapper, European pilchard, False herring, False eye speroides, Filament-finned prawn goby, Giant manta ray, Greenbanded goby, Humpback unicornfish, Lori's anthias, Segmented blenny, Speckled blue grouper, West Atlantic devil ray, Western wobbegong, Wide-banded hardyhead silverside.

In summary, 23 rarities, of which 7 are unique in Europe and a further 7 are only found in couple of the continent's collections.

Océanopolis Brest

Another large aquarium, this time in Brittany. The place hold a number of Arctic seal species, making it a must if that is your thing, but also an impressive number of fish rarities.

Mammals: Alaskan sea otter, Arctic ringed seal, Bearded seal.

Birds: Western rockhopper penguin.

Fish: Blackfin snapper, Bluespotted angelfish, Bluestriped angelfish, Caribbean sharpnose puffer, East Atlantic red gurnard, Flagtail shrimpgoby, Golden sweeper, Freshwater sawfish, Hawaiian butterflyfish, Japanese bullhead shark, Leopard whipray, Lesser weever, Moroccan white seabream, Orange-dotted tuskfish, Pacific lumpsucker, Pilotfish, Rainford's butterflyfish, Redtail parrotfish, Ruby cardinalfish, Shoulderbar soldierfish, Speckled blue grouper, Spinefin goby, Spotted-gill cardinalfish, Streaked gurnard, Tawny nurse shark, Yellow-edged lyretail, Yellowbelly hamlet, Yellowtail tubelip.

In summary, 32 rarities, of which 10 are unique in Europe and a further 6 are only found in a couple of the continent's institutions.

Ferme exotique, Cadaujac - Finlayson's squirrel, Mallee ringneck.

Aquarium du Cap d'Agde - Greyface moray

Village des Tortues, Carnoules - Forest hingeback tortoise

Parc Animalier Casteil - Pyrenean chamois

Parc de Clères

An interesting place in that its focal point is a chateau, surrounded by free-ranging flamingos and other birds, along with an excellent dove collection in particular.

Birds: Bar-shouldered dove, Bare-faced ground dove, Blue-headed wood-dove, Brown-capped emerald dove, Brush bronzewing, Grand eclectus parrot, Greater Brazilian teal, Greater upland goose, Greenland white-fronted goose, Scarlet-headed blackbird, Yellow-naped parrot (NS).

In summary, 11 species, of which 1 is unique in Europe and another 1 is only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Marinarium de Concarneau - Giant goby, Rusty blenny, Shore clingfish, Sand sole.

Parc Animalier de Courzieu - Upland buzzard

Parrot World - Belize yellow-headed amazon, Hispaniolan amazon, Picazuro pigeon, Yellow-naped amazon (NS).

Le Pal - White-collared brown lemur, Chimango caracara.

Bioparc Doué la Fontaine

Pretty definitively the most interesting zoo in France, Doué has a few massive rarities but not much beyond that. They are primarily a bird and mammal park, with not much depth beyond that in terms of collection. However, the collection is thoroughly bolstered by some of the most spectacular exhibits in Europe, but also some of the oddest exhibits mixed in with them. The two stand-out gems are the South American and Okapi aviaries, both holding a multitude of species of different classes under massive canopies of mesh. The biggest rarities at Doue are however their Peruvian and Brown pelicans along with a Javan leopard.

Mammals: Red-faced black spider monkey, Hamlyn's monkey, Javan leopard.

Birds: African green pigeon, Bolivian green military macaw, Eastern brown pelican, Goliath heron, Peruvian pelican.

Jardin Exotique de Folembray - Tonkean macaque

Zoo de Fréjus - Chestnut-mandibled toucan, Kori bustard, Lesser white-fronted amazon.

CERZA - Eastern ring-tailed vontsira.

Zoo de Jurques - Ornate spider monkey.

A bit like Denmark, France has a large number of collections with 1,2, even 3 rarities. But the number of zoos that exceed 15 rarities is disappointingly low - not even a single one in this first third. Their zoos are good in general, but not good enough to be standalone attractions (other than a few exceptions), meaning they are trying to generate profit off the back of nearby tourist attractions more often than not, and therefore cannot afford to house rarities of any sort.

Aquaria on the other hand are a different matter, and the only aspect in which France outdoes Czechia or Germany for example. Several large aquariums are peppered along the coast and in the large cities, which is immediately apparent when one puts them in a different colour to zoos on the map, as I will when I post it in due course.

It is certainly an odd creature, a country filled with decent zoos but without enough local visitation and the interest to justify bringing in rarities. But the odd thing is that a few hundred years ago, French zoologists were bringing rarities back to the country at a prolific rate - the likes of Cuvier, Lacépède, Grandidier, Lamarck, Milne-Edwards, the list goes on. La Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes held one of the most impressive collections on the planet, with Le Musée d'Histoire Naturelle holding a vast array of taxidermies from all over the planet.

However, it has not lasted. France, particularly the South-Western area of the country, follows a similar pattern to countries like Italy, Spain and Greece - that of having sparsely-sprinkled zoos across the country, but only as the side-show - never as the main attraction as is the case in countries like Czechia or even Germany to an extent. And while I'd say the quality of the exhibits for the inhabitants of French zoos is better than the Southern European countries mentioned above, they have taken similar paths.

Could it be to do with the people's attitude towards zoos? Or the lack of demand for zoos in places where there is enough tourism? Or perhaps there are so many attractions in places like Paris that zoos are less frequented than they otherwise would be? Who knows.

Anyway, apologies for that lengthy reflection, next two posts will again be more of teh same from France, and then onto Europe's zoo juggernaut - Germany.

 

Zoos in France are generaly privately owned. Land near the bigger cities (and tourist hotspots) is more expensive and therefore often unaffordable for the privates. There are of course exceptions, but that explains why most of the french zoos are in fairly remote areas.
Then, unlike in Germany where everything seems reachable with public transports, it gets way harder to get to those remote places in France using trains. You can reach the smaller towns if they have a trainstation, but it's not half as fast and efficient as in Germany, at least from my experience.

Also, speaking of "trends", it seems like every french zoo has lemurs, and that very few of them keep smaller bird species.

 

Oh, I remember the Pyrennes Animal Park. I went there...must have been ten years ago now or something. I remember getting to feed their tame marmots.

 

I have a candidate in February to the Best thread of 2021 vote, which is this thread You did (and doing now) an incredible work @amur leopard

 

I agree. The same problem is UK. But on the other side, like Germany, also Czech zoos are very public transport friendly.

@amur leopard I enjoy your project. All this data will be a precious part of preparations for my future zoo tours!

 

It is indeed striking to notice that most heavy French collections are close to tourist places or routes (Coast, Vallée de la Loire, Rhone Valley) while in Germany they are located close to where people actually live. It says a lot about the visiting pattern, the approach each country have of the zoo and partly explain differences in collection plan and design. An entertainment park for some, a urban facility bringing wildlife close to people for others.

 

Sorry for the pause, been working on another project for another thread recently, but back to this now! Here is the second installment of France.

La Ferme des Reptiles

A collection I had previously not heard of but in fact holds a fair few rarities, with a couple of unique species in there as well. The place does not seem terribly developed however - it appears to be a barn with a few rows of small terraria with little privacy, and is located fairly far from larger collections. However, that may be an unfair judgement as I have not personally visited.

Reptiles: Banded water snake, Calabar burrowing python, California red-sided garter snake, Chinese habu, Chinese tree viper, Coastal carpet python, D'Albert's python, Diadem snake, East African sand boa, Eastern kingsnake, Eastern sand boa, Frog-eyed sand boa, Horseshoe whip snake, Huachuca mountain kingsnake, Middle Eastern mountain kingsnake, Mueller's sand boa, Nelson's milksnake, North Philippine temple pitviper, Pacific boa, Puerto Rico boa, Red-spotted garter snake, Rough-scaled sand boa, Ruthven's kingsnake, Stripe-necked leaf turtle, Texas indigo snake, Western whip snake.

In summary, 26 rarities, of which 2 are unique in Europe and a further 6 are only found in a couple of the continent's institutions.

Éco-musée Vivant de Provence - Mediterranean tree frog

La Londe

An interesting collection of birds, with a single unique species, but not much in other classes. A particularly good African hornbill collection.

Birds; Eastern grey-cheeked hornbill, Blue-cheeked amazon, Northern pied hornbill, Southern pied hornbill, Razor-billed curassow, Western grey-cheeked hornbill, White-throated magpie-jay.

Aquarium du Grand Lyon

A small aquarium in Lyon, one of the larger French cities.

Fish: Arctic char, Caribbean sharpnose puffer, Oaxaca cichlid, Oriental butterflyfish, Reticulated puffer, Rivulated parrotfish, Siberian sturgeon (NS), Tawny nurse shark, Threeband pennantfish.

Aquarium de La Rochelle

From one aquarium to another - La Rochelle is a famous port on the West Coast of France, and as such kind of has to have an aquarium. However, it is a fairly mediocre place fromm what I have heard and seen, with a decent collection but nothing too special.

Fish: Barred thicklip, Bastard dory, Black velvet angelfish, Blacktail butterflyfish, Clarion angelfish, Commerson's frogfish, Cortez angelfish, European pilchard, Fingered dragonet, Flowery flounder, Green razorfish, Klunzinger's wrasse, Longnose surgeonfish, Portuguese blenny, Queensland yellowtail angelfish, Saddle wrasse, Sargassum triggerfish, Slender-spined porcupine fish, Slippery dick, Snooty wrasse, Spotted parrotfish, Striped cowfish, Web burrfish, White-barred boxfish.

In summary, 24 rarities, of which 6 are unique in Europe and a further 5 are only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Zoo de La Teste - Syrian striped hyena

Zoo de Labenne - Brolga, Buff-necked ibis

Domaine de Pescheray - Crab-eating raccoon, Pyrenean chamois

Aquarium Le Croisic - Venus tuskfish, Vermilion rockfish, Pacific cod

Seaquarium du Grau du Roi

A medium-sized aquarium not far from Montpellier, this place has a couple of rarities and a good shark collection.

Fish: Black-saddled coralgrouper, Blacknose shark, Bluefin trevally, Bullseye puffer, Cobia, Crested bullhead shark, Giant trevally, Gray smooth-hound, Japanese bullhead shark, Orangespotted filefish, Sailor's grunt, Speckled catshark, Tasselled wobbegong, Western wobbegong, Titan triggerfish.

In summary, 15 rarities, of which 1 is unique in Europe and a further 5 are only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Parc de Branféré - Barking deer, White-breasted cormorant

Zoo du Reynou - Southern white-cheeked crested gibbon, Tonkean macaque

Domaine des Fauves - Australian magpie, Lesser yellow-headed vulture

Grand Parc du Puy du Fou - Augur buzzard, Chimango caracara, Lappet-faced vulture, Northern crested caracara, Southern yellow-headed caracara

Zoo de la Palmyre - Hamlyn's monkey

Zoo de Lille - Cape eland, White-winged dove.

Parc Animalier du Marais

A very interesting collection, and one which has a seemingly similar interest to Plzen in that it has a accumulated a vast number of subspecies of the Ring-necked pheasant. It is probably one of the better collections in Western Europe for pheasants.

Birds: Bianchi's pheasant, Chinese ring-necked pheasant, Khivan pheasant, Korean ring-necked pheasant, Manchurian ring-necked pheasant, Mongolian ring-necked pheasant, Persian pheasant, Sichuan pheasant, Taiwan ring-necked pheasant, Southern white-cheeked pintail, Zarudny's pheasant, Zerafshan pheasant.

In summary, 12 rarities, of which 5 are only found in a couple of collections in Europe.

Grand Aquarium de Touraine - Northern rock bass

Zoo de Lyon - Fat sand rat, Greater bamboo lemur, Grey-cheeked mangabey, West African crocodile, Gold-tailed tetra.

SeaLife Val d'Europe - Bicolor cleaner wrasse, Blue runner, China rockfish, Spotted torpedo, Yellowtail rockfish.

Naturzoo de Mervent - Malayan tiger

Zoo de Montpellier - Cape eland, Syrian brown bear, Greater Brazilian teal, Subtropical cacique, Tabasco mud turtle.

Aquarium Mare Nostrum (Montpellier)

A fairly large aquarium, just with fairly bog-standard exhibits. A surprisingly deep pool for penguins, a large shark tank and a nice coral display with viewing from above are the highlights of this fairly small establishment.

Fish: Blacknosed butterflyfish, Blue runner, Blue-spotted jawfish, Bluefin trevally, Burrito grunt, Compressiceps dwarf pike cichlid, Cortez anglefish, Cortez rainbow wrasse, Giant trevally, Freshwater sawfish, Kelber's peacock bass, Long-headed eagle ray, Mexican frogfish, Pacific creole-fish, Picarel, Rock wrasse, Round sardinella, Senorita wrasse, Silvergrey grunt, Spangled emperor, Starry grouper, Stocky hawkfish.

In summary, 22 rarities, of which 9 are unique in Europe and a further 5 are only found in a couple of the continent's institutions.

Domaine du Bois aux Daims - Christy's cichlid, Malawi trout, Mistle thrush, One-spot eartheater, Orange-tailed pike characin, Spotted pike-characin.

Zoo de Mulhouse

A fairly large place with a nice collection with a few rarities.

Mammals: Barren-ground musk ox, Crowned sifaka, Hamlyn's monkey, Southern white-cheeked crested gibbon.

Birds: Golden-fronted parakeet, Kuhl's brown-necked parrot, Peruvian thick-knee

Reptiles: Pygmy leaf chameleon.

Aquarium de Nancy - Aba, Itaituba freshwater stingray, Pastel ringwrasse, Yellow kribanis, Yellow-breasted wrasse.

Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Nantes - Lataste's viper, Persian rat snake, Thai bamboo ratsnake.

Parc des Félins

The most comprehensive collection of felids on the continent and likely also the world, PdF holds a stunning 29 species in the Felidae, 3 leopard subspecies and 3 tiger subspecies. They are pretty much all housed in massive exhibits, which at times makes it difficult to see the inhabitants but is great for the cats. This results in the potentially few actual views being all the more rewarding.

Mammals: Central Asian lynx, Gordon's wild cat, Malayan tiger, Oncilla, South-East Asian golden cat, Southern tigrina, Tibetan golden cat.

Parc Phoenix, Nice - Yellowtail damselfish

Sealand Aquarium, Noirmoutier - Rusty parrotfish, Saddle wrasse, Similar damsel.

Espace Animalier de La Haute Touche

The PdF of deer, Haute-Touche combines a wonderful collection of cervids and massive enclosures, making it an intriguing collection, and worthy of a visit if you are in the area (visiting Beauval and Doue?)

Mammals: Barking deer, Malayan sambar, American moose, Northern white-tailed deer, Nubian ibex, Taiwan sika seer, Thailand brow-antlered deer.

Birds: Little bustard.

And that is the second installment done! Third and final installment will probably be up tomorrow or Saturday, featuring Paris, Beauval and the rest of France! Beyond that is Germany.

 

Montpellier zoo is a firm favourite of mine, I wasn't aware they held subtropical cacique though - are these a recent addition?

 

It happens to be my 'home' zoo . The subtropical cacique are on-show in the tropical hall (free flying) and I saw them last year - ZTL has ignored them due to lack of sightings I think . It is quite a nice rarity though.

 

La Rochelle is anything but mediocre, you should read my review...

Eland are no longer at Lille and Pyrenean Chamois no longer at Pescheray, but I see I never got round to update the last few zoos I visited last summer on zootierliste...

 

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but what are the guidelines for designating rarities that are not in bold or underlined? Some of them are indeed quite rare - like Tonkean Macaque with 6 holders - but then you have Malayan Tapir which has 24 holders.

Enjoying the thread by the way, and looking forward to seeing Germany in particular - I'm currently in the process of identifying target species to see there myself. This list will likely help me out a lot with herps, since I'm not sure what species are considered rare or unusual over in Europe.

 

That's strange, looking back I did indeed write Malayan tapir, but that was intended to be a Malayan slow loris - no clue how that happened, apologies. I definitely am not counting Malayan tapirs as a rarity . Unfortunately, typos are rather easy to make and unavoidable when the posts get past a certain length .

Generally, any taxon with 5 or fewer holders is a rarity. Beyond that, a species with up to 8 or 9 holders can be a rarity depending on how unique it is, which class it is in (generally I place less importance on fish to reflect people's interests) and in rare instances how endangered it is. Sorry for not explaining earlier.

Glad to know it will come in useful - have you been over in Europe before or will it be a first?

 

Just my luck that would be the one my eye picks up then

No worries, thanks for the explanation. Now that I understand the logic behind it I think that kind of flexibility makes sense.

My only European experience thus far has been layovers in the Schipol Airport but I've been entertaining thoughts of a German-based zoo trip for a while now. It is still hypothetical/years out at this point, but I figure the more planning I do now the more determined I will be to actually do it at some point

 

And here is the final installment for France, featuring all the Paris collections, Beauval and the rest of the country not already covered. This post includes the largest of the country's collections.

Aquarium de la Porte Dorée

Paris's largest aquarium in terms of species also holds by far the most rarities. This place lacks a large, centrepiece tank but makes up for it with hundreds of individual tanks, displaying vast numbers of species, and as a result holds far more rarities than Paris Cineaqua, its more shark-oriented and mainstream counterpart in the city. The individual tanks are generally nice but tend to look fairly barren and boring due to the lack of larger tanks. The aquarium focuses almost entirely on tropical fish, mainly saltwater species.

Reptiles: Northern redbelly turtle.

Fish: Aba, American white-spotted filefish, Amapa cichlid, Agnes's tetra, Apare jelly catfish, Belted cardinalfish, Bearded ghoul, Black-axil chromis, Blackbarred limia, Blacktail chromis, Blue tilapia, Blue unicornfish, Bucktooth tetra, Bump-head garra, Checked swallowtail, Chevron snakehead, Clarion angelfish, Cutter's cichlid, Drape-fin barb, Eastern rainbow fish, Ferox betta, Flame goby, Fourspot butterflyfish, Geisler's lizard tetra, Grandider's Malagasy cichlid, Guinean tilapia, Honeycomb filefish, Griffis' angelfish, Guianacara cichlid, Inca stone cichlid, Indigo hamlet, Laboute's wrasse, Lined buttferflyfish, Lubbock's wrasse, Mangrove rivulus, Orangefin coppery carp, Panda loach, Phoenix tetra, Pi betta, Pike-characin (pantaneiro), Pindu, Pink-lipped moray eel, Pygmy gourami, Queensland yellowtail angelfish, Rainbow goodeid, Red-spotted cichlid, Red-striped eartheater, Red-tailed freshwater barracuda, Redeye krobia, Red-spotted hawkfish, Regan's pike cichlid, Regan's mouthbrooder, Reticulate knifefish, Richardson's reef damsel, Rio Atrato freshwater goby, Rock kribensis, Sailfin blenny, Shortnose gar, Sierra Leone dwarf characin, Similar damsel, Sixray corydoras, Spangled cichlid, Spotted damba cichlid, Spotted shovelnose, Spotted arowana, Striated wrasse, Tail spot ctenopoma, Teles Pires royal pleco, Thollon's tilapia, Top minnow, Trahira, Tropical gar, Tucano tetra, Vermiculate river stingray, Violet goby, West African freshwater goby, Whitebarred wrasse, Whitespotted devil, Wolf cardinalfish, Xingu pike cichlid, Yellow teardrop butterflyfish.

In summary, 81 rarities, of which 31 are unique in Europe and a further 17 are only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes

One of the oldest zoos in the world, Paris Menagerie has housed a massive collection over the years despite being quite small itself, leading to a lot of outdated exhibits. However, a bit like Vienna, it has managed to use this somewhat to its advantage by accomodating smaller animals and renovating the existing exhibits. However, there remains several sub-standard exhibits - particularly those for orangutans, leopards and arguably the hoofstock exhibits. Despite this, it has an interesting collection, with the only Houbara bustards in Europe and a few other rarities.

Mammals: Common rock squirrel, Transcapian urial.

Birds: Houbara bustard, Dunnock, Little bustard.

Reptiles: Elliptical-eye skink.

Amphibians: Rococo toad.

Zoo de Vincennes

Another collection with a fairly lengthy history, the zoo was renovated for 6 years between 2008 and 2014, now featuring a large tropical greenhouse as well as all new exhibits. The collection is also quite nice, with the only Chilean cougars in Europe, a fabulous collection of South American passerines and a broad selection of lemurs (though the collection isn't quite what it once was in this sense).

Mammals: Black-bearded saki, Chacoan peccary, Chilean cougar, Crowned sifaka, Greater bamboo lemur, Guianan brown capuchin, Northern bamboo lemur.

Birds: Black-headed grosbeak, Blue grosbeak, Golden-naped tanager, Lazuli bunting, Painted bunting, Paradise tanager (NS), Red-headed barbet, Rose-breasted grosbeak, Thick-billed euphonia.

Reptiles: Green vine snake, Madagascar girdled lizard.

Amphibians: Baron's mantella, Betsileo Madagascar frog, Macedonian crested newt, Pinchincha poison frog, Trinidad leaf frog.

Fish: Bluespotted maskray.

In summary, 24 rarities, of which 8 are unique in Europe and a further 3 are only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Paris Cinéaqua

The more 'mainstream' Paris aquarium, with a large shark tank etc., but as a result a smaller collection. However, it still has a fair few rarities, about on par with Vincennes. However, for a fish enthusiast with only a day in Paris, Porte Dorée is the better collection. For those who are not counting fish, Cinéaqua will likely be the more enjoyable visit. A bit like Georgia vs. Shedd but on a much smaller and less good scale .

Fish: Banded butterflyfish, Black surgeonfish, Blackstriped cardinalfish, Blacktail snapper, Blue-striped dottyback, Bluefin trevally, Broomtail wrasse, Bynoe goby, Camouflage grouper, Five-lined cardinalfish, Fivestripe wrasse, Flameback angelfish, Hawaiian flagtail, Lemon sweetlips, Leopard coralgrouper, Redeye krobia, Roughtail stingray, Sapphire damsel, Scalloped hammerhead, Shore clingfish, Smallmouth squirrelfish, Speckled butterflyfish, Spotfin butterflyfish, Spotted headstander, Stone-mover cichlid, Tope shark, Undulated moray, Whitespotted garden eel, Yellowcheek wrasse.

In summary, 29 rarities, of which 11 are unique in Europe and a further 8 are only found in a couple of the continent's collections.

Zoo de la Barben - Cuvier's gazelle, Gulf Coast box turtle,

La Ferme aux Crocodiles

As the name suggests, a Crocodile farm, though not as impressive as Protivin, Eskilstrup and Crocs of the World.

Birds: Pink-headed imperial pigeon

Reptiles: Gharial, South African Nile crocodile, Western African crocodile.

Fish: Coptodon louka.

African Safari (Plaisance du Touch) - Angolan giraffe, Cape eland, Bolivian green military macaw.

Zoo de la Bourbansais - Goliath heron, White-breasted cormorant

Zoo de Pont-Scorff - Grey-cheeked mangabey, Ornate spider monkey, Cayman blue iguana.

Planète sauvage - Cape giraffe, Malayan tiger, Venezuelan red howler, Spot-billed pelican.

Zoo de Rhodes - Coyote.

Rocher des Aigles - Band-bellied owl.

Vallée des Singes - Eastern lesser white-nosed monkey, Southern white-cheeked crested gibbon.

Touroparc Romanèche-Thorins - Black-rumped waxbill, Green-thighed parrot, Yellow-spotted monitor, Painted-belly leaf frog.

Zooparc de Beauval

The largest zoo in France, Beauval is also often cited as the best and most diverse zoo in the country. It is a relatively new zoo which grew very fast from a small bird park into the sprawling jumble of exhibits it is today. It's rarities are perhaps not as numerous as other, older zoos, partly due to its age but also the director's love of megafauna over rarities. It consists of a central, original area with big cats, penguins and lemurs and then large themed areas branch out from this, with a Chinese exhibit, numerous African areas and the recently constructed Equatorial Dome. The most notable rarities at Beauval are probably their most recent species - Red-shanked douc langurs, as well as Harpy eagles. However, owing to its previous status as a bird park, it does still have a fair few bird rarities.

Mammals: Matschie's tree kangaroo, Red-shanked douc langur, Red-tailed moustached monkey, Tasmanian devil.

Birds: African firefinch, Andean cock-of-the-rock, Augur buzzard, Black-bellied seedcracker, Blue-throated barbet, Chestnut-tailed starling, Collared kingfisher, Common bulbul, Green broadbill, Green imperial pigeon, Green-thighed parrot, Grey-backed thrush, Harpy eagle, Indian silverbill, Lesser white-fronted amazon, Long-crested eagle, Pesquet's parrot, Pink-headed fruit dove, Pink-headed imperial pigeon, Rose-crowned fruit dove, Rufous-bellied thrush, White-bellied sea eagle, Yellow-streaked lory.

Reptiles: Allison's anole, Arrau river turtle, Blue-throated agama, Boelen's python, Central Vietnamese flowerback turtle, Emerald skink, Emperor flat lizard, Great anglehead turtle, Green crested lizard, Gulf Coast box turtle, Leach's anole, Paulson's Pacific boa, Ringed wall gecko, Ruthven's kingsnake, Southern river terrapin, Splendid japalure.

Amphibians: Blue-legged mantella, Painted Indonesian treefrog, Red rain frog.

Fish: Bannertail catfish, Bicolor cleaner wrasse. Bleher's rainbowfish, Christy's cichlid, Finescale four-eyed fish, Goldbreast zebra mbuna, Honeycomb pleco, Kelber's peacock bass, Kendall Tanganyika cichlid, Masked cichlid, Montecristo cichlid, Miguelito cory, Pale Usisya aulonocara, Pink corydoras, Porcupine river stingray, Purple dwarf pencilfish, Red-tailed brycon, Redface mac cichlid, Redspot callochromis, Rose acara, Smudge spot cory, Spotted pike-characin, Tailbar cichlid, Teles Pires royal pleco, Yellow lepturus cichlid, Yellow sand cichlid, Yellow-colored dwarf flagcichlid.

In summary, 73 rarities, of which 13 are unique in Europe and a further 10 are only found in a couple of the continent's institutions.

Zoo de Saint Martin-la-Plaine

A zoo I hadn't really paid much attention to before, but apparently has quite a few rarities for a French zoo - though only as many as your average Czech zoo. It has a particularly strong primate collection, and a single big rarity - the Sahel paradise-whydah.

Mammals: Black-cheeked red-tail monkey, Grey-cheeked mangabey, Guianan brown capuchin, Tonkean macaque, Yellow-nosed red-tailed guenon.

Birds: Giant Canada goose, Sahel paradise-whydah.

Reptiles: Black-throated monitor, D'Albert's python, Four-lined girdled lizard, Freckled monitor, Hispaniolan slider, Mediterranean chameleon, Yellow-spotted monitor.

Aquarium de St Jean du Gard - Mediterranean barbel, Striped Barombi Mbo cichlid

Aquarium de Saint-Malo - Angostura cichlid, Barred mudskipper, Bastard dory, Big roughy, Blue runner, Fenestratus cichlid, Purplemouth moray, Surge grouper, Tawny nurse shark, Tiger rockfish.

Reptilarium de Larzac - Yellow-spotted monitor.

Les Aigles du Léman

The most impressive collection of birds of prey in France, les Aigles du Léman has one of the largest aviaries in Europe full of a variety of species of raptor and vulture. The collection is not to be overlooked either, with some lovely rarities.

Birds: African hawk-eagle, Chaco eagle, Chimango caracara, Crowned hawk-eagle, Eleonora's falcon, Lappet-faced vulture, Lesser yellow-headed vulture, Long-crested eagle, Wahlberg's eagle, Wedge-tailed eagle.

Reserve Africaine de Sigean - Cuvier's gazelle, Sing-sing waterbuck, Goliath heron, Parson's chameleon.

Vallée des Tortues - Black wood turtle, Gulf Coast box turtle, Inland carpet python.

Spaycific Zoo - Greater Egyptian jerboa, Lesser blue-eared starling, Tucuman amazon, White-breasted cormorant.

Zoo de Strasbourg - Tonkean macaque

Le Septième Continent

A medium-sized aquarium with a few nice species.

Fish: Abudjubbe wrasse, Baillon's wrasse, Bicolor cleaner wrasse, Brazilian wrasse, Lagoon shrimpgoby, Montagu's blenny, Rusty blenny, Shortnose boxfish, Similar damsel, Speckled catshark, Spotted seabass, Spotted torpedo, Stout chromis, Tope shark, White-streaked grouper.

Exoticamis - Black-throated monitor

Zoo de Thoiry - Cape eland, Tonkean macaque, Fantastic poison dart frog.

Aquarium Marine de Trégastel - Shore clingfish, Streaked gurnard.

Le Jardin des Oiseaux - African swamphen, European great spotted woodpecker, Greater Brazilian teal, Jungle myna.

Biotropica

Owned by the same man as PdF (I think), Biotropica is essentially a massive tropical hall. It has a respectable rarity tally.

Mammals: Comoros flying fox.

Birds: Brown-headed munia, Chestnut-breasted mannikin (sharpi), Chestnut-breasted mannikin (NS), Luzon chestnut munia, Purple heron, Western bluebird, White-headed munia.

Reptiles: Gharial.

Amphibians: Amazonian poison frog.

Fish: Itaituba freshwater stingray, Talking catfish.

In summary, 12 rarities, of which 5 are unique in Europe and another 1 is only found in a couple of the continent's institutions.

Aquarium de Vannes - Spotted tortpedo

Villars-les-Dombes

A collection I hadn't really heard of before this, but apparently it has a really nice collection, with some good rarities (kiwis, capuchinbirds and cock-of-the-rocks).

Birds: Amazilia hummingbird, Andean cock of the rock, Blue-crowned lory, Capuchinbird, Crimson-rumped toucanet, Curl-crested aracari, Goliath heron, Greater Brazilian teal, Green imperial pigeon, Green-throated carib, Kuhl's brown-necked parrot, Little bustard, Maccoa duck, Maranon pigeon, Northern brown kiwi, Northern toco toucan, Plate-billed mountain toucan, Ruddy turnstone.

In summary, 18 rarities, of which 4 are only found in a couple of European collections.

Zoodyssée - Pyrenean chamois

A Cupulatta, Corsica - Common toadheaded turtle, South African bowsprit tortoise.

And that is France done! Here is the map of France:



And here is a list of the Top 15 collections so far, with aquaria in blue.

1 - Zoo Plzen 367 CZ
2 - Zoo Praha 185 CZ
3 - Den Bla Planet 157 DE
4 - Haus des Meeres 92 AU
5 - Aquarium de la Porte Dorée 81 FR
6 - Reptilienzoo Nockalm 75 AU
7 - Zooparc de Beauval 73 FR
8 - Graz Turtle Island 70 AU
9 - Dvur Kralove 65 CZ
10 - Pairi Daiza 51 BE
11 - Vogelpark Turnersee 49 AU
12 - Pafos Zoo 46 CY
13 - Zoo Antwerpen 46 BE
14 - Zoo Jihlava 41 CZ
15 - Tiergarten Schoenbrunn 40 AU

Next up is Germany. Wish me luck .

 

Just for fun, I also did the same thing for Zoo de Guyane in French Guiana and the zoo in Nouméa, New Caledonia, both on ZTL. Unsurprisingly, a large percentage of the species there were rarities, around a third in both cases.

Zoo de Guyane

Mammals: Brazilian cougar, Collared peccary (ssp. patira), Guianan brown capuchin, Guianan red howler, Guyanan kinkajou, Guyanan ring-tailed coati, Northern lowland-tapir, Pale-throated sloth, Venezuela white-lipped peccary.

Birds: Black curassow, Brown-throated parakeet, Caica parrot, Guianan cock-of-the-rock, Harpy eagle, Ornate hawk-eagle, Red-bellied macaw, Savannah hawk, White hawk.

Reptiles: Big-headed Amazon river turtle, Common toadheaded turtle, Cook's tree boa, Scorpion mud turtle, Spotted-legged turtle.

In summary, 23 rarities, of which 10 are unique (not in Europe, but...) and a further 2 are only found in a couple of institutions.

Zoo de Nouméa

Mammals: Loyalty ornate flying fox, Javan rusa, New Caledonia flying fox, New Caledonian ornate flying fox, Pacific flying fox.

Birds: Australasian goshawk, Australasian swamphen, Australian barn owl, Brown-capped emerald dove, Buff-banded rail, Cloven-feathered dove, Deplanche's lorikeet, Green-backed white-eye, Kagu, New Caledonia crow, New Caledonian friarbird, New Caledonian sacred kingfisher, New Caledonian imperial pigeon, New Caledonian metallic pigeon, New Caledonian parakeet, New Caledonian peregrine falcon, Ouvea parakeet, Pacific marsh-harrier, Red-bellied fruit dove, Whistling kite, White-bellied goshawk.

Reptiles: Garnier's giant skink, Mary River turtle, Pacific tree boa, Robust forest gecko, Sarasin's forest gecko.

In summary, 31 rarities, of which 21 are unique and a further 6 are only found in a couple of institutions.

Clearly two collections that should be fairly high up on the list of species hunters who have seen it all in Europe, particularly Nouméa with all the New Caledonian endemics .

As for Germany, I have completed up to and including Tierpark Berlin and am currently wading through Zoo Berlin. I will post those collections when I have completed up to the end of 'b'. So far, while I get the impression that not many of germany's premier collections begin with 'a', fairly underwhelming.

 

Oh, so not terribly accurate. They are on ZTL because they are both part of the Overseas Territories of France, so were included. It was only to see how many species were not found in Europe, but thanks for the info .

 

That is interesting and I've definitely observed this trend too, could this be because of France's links to Madagascar due to it being a former French colony ?

 

It isn't so much number of species as just number of individuals and zoos that have them. I think the reason for the high number of lemurs is mainly because they are low-maintenance, fairly entertaining species that fit in with the general ethos of 'a large forested patch of land is good enough'. That being said, it is possible that the speaking of French on Madagascar may have facilitating Vincennes' acquiring of so many rare lemur species from Madagascar, so you could well be right .