I visited Zurich Zoo on a brief visit to Europe last month. It was the second zoo visited, after Bern Zoo and before Alpin Zoo in Innsbruck. You can find brief introductory remarks about the trip in the Bern Zoo report. Zurich Zoo is the sort of zoo I no longer make a great effort to see, a major mixed collection based in a large city. Why? Because there is little useful I can learn that can be applied to Moonlit. After all, while a good budget for an enclosure at Moonlit might be $50,000, these zoos usually talk of budgets of $5,000,000 and more. However, that does not stop me visiting if passing and Zurich is conveniently located between Bern and Innsbruck. I also wanted to see the Masoala Rainforest Hall of which I had heard many good things. Lastly of course Zurich Zoo is the zoo with which Heini Hediger is most closely associated. Hediger is regarded as the father of zoo biology, and was the first to define the rolls of a zoo as recreation, conservation, education and science. I got to the zoo by tram, the number 6 tram terminates about 50 metres from the zoo entrance. If taking the tram from the central rail station, as I did, be aware the number 6 stops at the tram stop across the river from the front of the station, not any of the stops around the station. The first building encountered was, like Bern, a multi-species house containing small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. While it was much larger and contained many more species, I did not enjoy it as much as the vivarium at Bern. It had three levels, with the bottom basement obviously winter accommodation for some of the larger mammals. Heading up the hill was the South American area, with the excellent spectacled bear enclosure. This area is sometimes described as an “immersion” exhibit but not by my definition. By my account for an exhibit or more probably collection of exhibits to be regarded as immersion you have to be able to look in any direction and believe you could be in the animal’s habitat. Moving further on I came to the Australian area, a disappointment and what a disappointment! Not I hasten to add was I concerned about the husbandry, but rather the theming of the exhibit. Overall the impression I got was that the theme was arid red-sand country. This was a theming that went throughout the Australian section, inside and out. Things started well with a large enclosure with outside and inside sections for perentie, followed by an equally appropriate shingleback lizard. Going inside the red colouring dominated, making the interior quite dark. A line of white dots meander along the wall, reminiscent of Aboriginal dot painting. (By the way, Aboriginals take a dim view of whitefellas misappropriating their art). Again, this leads me to think of the arid interior, as that is where dot art comes from. Looking into the enclosure what is sitting on a perch in the middle of this desert scene? A koala. Going outside more koalas, redneck wallabies and emus. Again, the red-sand country theming is carried through. I read later in the guide book I purchased that the theme was meant to be “savanna woodland”. Whatever, this entire area is labeled “Canberra Forest Trail”. Somebody should tell Zurich Zoo Canberra is as green as Switzerland most of the time. My view is that any landscape theming of enclosures should reflect the habitat of the species being exhibited as much as possible. That way the zoo visitor at least can associate animals with their habitats, even if they never read a sign. Years ago, I visited Nagoya Zoo and, in their koala house, the koalas sat on perches surrounded by a field of potted orchids. Neither Nagoya Zoo’s or Zurich Zoo’s koala house tell me anything about the habitat of koalas, but at least no reasonable person is likely to be tricked into believing koalas live in fields of orchids. Coincidently, when Zurich Zoo received their six koalas from the Australian Reptile Park, they gave a $600,000 donation to “Aussie Ark”, the Reptile Park’s conservation facility. If Zurich Zoo themed their exhibit around Aussie Ark, they might have looked to housing animals associated with this project, such as devils, quolls, bettongs and potoroos. Moving out of this area and across the road is a walk-in aviary containing rainbow lorikeets (or a close relative). Once again, the arid red-sand theming. Really? Having seen this, I have to doubt all of Zurich Zoo’s theming. Next was the Great Ape House, and I am happy it is due for replacement. Walking into it I realized I recognized the enclosures from a photo in a book I have from my childhood, where the house was being lorded as the most modern in zoo design. I call this the “Hygienic” enclosure design period, cells that could be scrubbed spotless with no natural materials to hide unwanted bugs. At least they have some natural furnishings in the enclosures now, but the sooner it is replaced the better. Mind you, this house could easily be adapted to a range of smaller mammals as well as birds. Moving along the top of the zoo past some bird and the cat enclosures, all of ample size and well furnished, I turned a corner and dropped down a level. Just before the lion exhibit I came across my favorite exhibit of the original part of the zoo. It was a simple aviary occupied by Swinhoe's striped squirrels, Derbyan parrots and chukar partridges. Filled with activity and noise, it captivated all who bothered to stop for a look. I tell you, people spent longer at this exhibit than they did with the Asiatic lions next door. Continuing down I passed through an education area made up of yurts with appropriate exotic livestock penned nearby. A nice idea. I headed towards to bottom of the hill ignoring a substantial part of the zoo devoted to hoofstock. I found a delightful waterfowl enclosure to walk through and came out at the other end at the penguins next to where I started. I then had to backtrack a little to get to the new section of the zoo. Proceeding down the track under a road I pass the first exhibit, a fantastic large enclosure for a group of geladas. Further downhill was the “elephant park” which was just great. The indoor enclosure is more impressive in life than it is in photos. I thought the roof might dominate the animals, but it doesn’t. I must admit though I was drawn to the roof, as it was made up of laminated wood. It took me back to a previous stage of my life when I was involved with that type of product. Leaving the elephant house, having seen the mouse deer that I am sure most visitors miss, I proceeded back up the hill and on to the Masoala Rainforest Hall. To my right was the childrens zoo, which I thought looked a little scruffy and did not bother to visit. To the left was the vast Lewa Savanna project which was very much under construction. I read that when finished it would display giraffes, for the first time at Zurich Zoo in 60 years! Interesting that a major city zoo could go without such a popular ABC species for so long. I finally reached the Masoala Rainforest Hall. Now you must understand temperatures outside where high, the European heat wave was still intense, and I had been at the Zoo walking round without a break for over four hours. Then I enter the tropical heat and all I want is relief. I move down the hall a lot like an average visitor, glancing from side to side but noticing little. I did of course notice the Madagascan weavers, a species I had kept as a teenager. The males were in their brilliant red breeding plumage and were everywhere. Finally, I reached the sanctuary of the café at the opposite end of the building. I enjoyed what was my best meal in Switzerland looking out on a wetland scene with jacanas stalking past the window. After refreshing myself I visited the museum that contained displays on the history and lifestyle of Madagascar as well as some biological exhibits such as a model of the extinct elephant bird. There were also live exhibits for Madagascan boa and a reef aquarium displaying mostly Asian-Pacific fish. I then went back into the Rainforest Hall to enjoy the next hour searching out birds, encountering lizards, and finding the first mouse lemur I have ever seen. I climbed the treetop walk to come face to face with a vasa parrot, then suddenly back on the path a group of red-ruffed lemurs jumped across the path in front of me. A small boy nearby gasped in amazement. All without a single crashed aircraft or ruined temple, the few buildings within the hall were all very low key and appropriate. Overall the rainforest hall was a wonderful experience. After the Australian area I did check that the real Masoala was a rainforest and of course many of the trees and even some of the animals are not to be found in Madagascar. But there was nothing that grated with me the way the Australian exhibits did. I did have a couple of concerns, though. Firstly, I wonder how many members of the general public would take the time I did to discover all the hall has to offer. I also wondered how many of the small reptiles, and even small mammals such as the mouse lemurs, were stolen by visitors. After inspecting the gift shop and buying a half-price copy of the Zoofuhrer (in German, but an impressive publication) as well as the Masoala Nature Guide (in English) I took the tram back to the city. I collected my bag from the hotel then it was back onto the train towards Innsbruck.
I can see why the Australian house would be a disappointment. My main concern is that it is, apart from the reptiles, just full of boring animals... Red sand and aboriginal art is a very simplified European interpretation of Australia, I can see why it bothers you, but I had never even given it a thought. Theming for the Gelada enclosure is at least much more appropriate... There have been rumours of Bilby eventually being added (once the European import would actually happen). I also can't help but notice that 2 of the 3 Perentie enclosures would make for an okish Tasmanian devil enclosure, as now the lizards have a huge amount of space... I also like that aviary a lot, a huge improvement for a former Manul enclosure. Masoala is probably is the rainforest hall that manages best to look like an actual rainforest, due to a combination of lack of enclosures inside and the height of the hall. It is however a very Swiss interpretation of a rainforest, with everything being very neat and ordered and with one fixed route through the hall. This means that it is too clean and it misses the real Jungle feeling I would say Burgers' Bush captures better how a real rainforest feels, except that the height is missing. Did you actually see a mouse lemur, that would be very special during daytime! I think that the densities of some species are so high, that practically everyone will see some of the common birds and the Day geckos. Chameleons are being pointed out by volunteers, so I think most people will find them. As for the Lemurs, maybe a third of visitors misses them, but the people who do get to see them have an experience that cannot be compared to any other zoo.
What! Koalas boring perish the thought! Actually when we opened Moonlit we did not have koalas, because I thought we had far more interesting Aussie animals such as quolls, bettongs, gliders, etc. But we soon learnt the folly of that, koalas despite the fact they sit still most of the time are essential. My problem is not that the house offends the sensibilities of the occasional passing Aussie. It is that it does not educate, it misleads, and apparently deliberately. I would have hoped that the zoo of Hediger at least would acknowledge the importance of education. Bilbies would be lost on the floor of that vast enclosure, especially as it would have to be kept dark for them. Irony is that Tassie devils, common wombats, red-necked wallabies and southern koalas can all be found in snow country. There is no reason why indoor/outdoor enclosures for all these species could not be built with year round access. It is twenty years since I saw Burgers Bush so I really cannot compare. But the Swiss certainly are very neat people. I did indeed, although it did look as though it may have been ill, so that may have had something to do with it. Yes special I agree!
The Goodman's Mouse Lemur, one presumes if you somehow saw the Geoffrey's Dwarf Lemur you will have hordes of jealous European zoo nerds after your blood!
This is my first review on Zoochat and not the smallest zoo of all. Zurich was one of the last large zoos in Europe I have not yet visited and I stayed there two non-full days in the foggy Swiss November. Visiting conditions were not the best as it was quite cold and humid at the same time. However, the zoo is designed to be visited all-year long, partially by chosing species that endure the winter (Asian hoofstock for example rather than African), and partially by having several large buildings opened to the public. I very widely agree with MRJ review. Seeing Nubian ibexes, spectacled bear and yacks appearing in the mist really took me in their home countries as a wildlife documentary would ! Overall the visit is very pleasant and Zurich deserves well its position in the top 10 European Zoos if not Top 3 for the overall quality of exhibitry. Masoala, Spectacled bears and the Ethiopian landscapes were probably the part I enjoyed the most as the theming is perfectly balanced between spectacular and authentic. I have also enjoyed very much the Exotarium, a mini-zoo in the zoo covering all classes of animals regularly presented in zoos and that French zoos should be inspired of. On the other side, there is a bitter taste that remain a bit with last developments. Kaeng Krachan, the new elephant installation is certainly fantastic both for visitors and animals. It has already been discussed but I still do regret the relative lack of space outside and more especially a more naturalistic exhibitry with natural vegetation for summer days. The building itself is amazing and the effect given by the roof works very well. I have been lucky to see one of the younger elephant go into the water to eat a few apples. Still I think that underwatervision is really a very expensive gadget for elephants. Even with throwing fruits, one individaul barely entered the water and visibility quickly get obstructed. I fully agree with MRJ on the Australian theme and the gap between some animals presented and the environnement reproduced. The walk-through exhibit for wallabies was too small for this type of presentation, with the visitors' path taking too much space. On top of this, very few species are actually threatened. I wish the zoo would have gone for a Papuan theme with tree kangaroo instead of koalas, crocodile monitors, endangered lories and gouras ect. The biggest disappointement to me remain the Lewa Savane. Not that it is badly done, again the effort to immerse the visitor is a success (even if freezing temperatures and fog did not help to feel like in Kenya). But this is probably the most expensive savanah enclosure in Europe by far. In the end, giraffes and rhinoceros does not really care about the beauty of their enclosure and I am wondering if throwing all this money in fake rocks, babobabs and electric wire to protect végétation was needed. The kopje side of the savanah is even more illustrative of this with two non-threatened species (spotted hyaena and crested porcupine) housed among large and very realistic boulders. The price of those fake rocks must account for more than 75% of the overall cost of those exhibits ! This zoo really made me think : Are multi-dozens of million €/£ exhibits the only way to go for zoos ? Even if investment and conservation money cannot simply be transfered from one budget to another, it raises interesting debate in my opinion. I would have rather build a smaller savanah exhibit on the footprint of remaining Asian ungulates exhibits for girafes, zebra ans some antelopes (lesser ludu) with other small species around. Those 4 hectares could have been dedicated to a large Asian landscape in the continuity of Asian elephants with rhinoceros, endangered deers, macaques and dholes or sloth bear... New developments are also surprising in terms of priority. The zoo recently released its plan to cover the Pantanal area that was recently developed. The final product should be well done as always with Zurich but is it a priority to house flamingoes and hyacinth parrots ? Should not pioned and endangered birds from the Selenga exhibit benefit before of such an expensive structure ? And should not the Ape House be the priority ? I am aware of the Congo area (that actually seem to stretch from Ivory Coast to extreme eastern Congo with the addition of okapi and pigmy hippo) that was the next big project but it seems to go after the Pantanal area refurbishment. To sum up, I am tough on Zurich as it is one of the richest, famous and good European zoos but I am critical of the last developments .
One of my favourite zoo buildings was the Nagetier Haus (Rodent House) in Berlin Tierpark's Children's Zoo. It seemed to be two garden sheds put together and had an interesting collection of small mammals, including dassie rats and a coruro. There were quite a few visitors in the building, not just a zoonerd. It didn't seem that it cost a lot of money to build and I would prefer zoos to have similar, perhaps prefabricated buildings, with more species, rather than spending millions on expensive exhibits with relatively few species.
Thank you Therabu for your detailed and insightful review (also on the French forum). I share your fascination with the spectacled bear enclosure and agree with several of your more critical points - especially on the wallaby walkthrough and Kaeng Krachan, which in many ways is fantastic, but which also feels falling peculiarly short in naturalism compared to the rest of the zoo. However, I do find your passing judgement on the Lewa savannah ill-founded. Judging this enclosure (at least the outdoor part) by its impression when empty and on a cold, wet and foggy Novemeber day seems to me a bit like judging a high-fi stereo only by its looks without ever playing a tune on it - or like judging a play only by its set design. You are reviewing a zoo with a reputation for putting a strong (and arguably successful) emphasis on behavioral enrichment, which imo makes judging an empty enclosure quite problematic. You say that I never got this impression of the enclosure when visiting it with the animals out - at least to my layman's eyes. Instead, I found it populated by changing mixes of its species, the animals interacting with each other and engaged in a diverse and rather complex range of (at least seemingly) natural behaviors. To my perception, CGSwans captured what this enclosure achieves quite eloquently in his review of the zoo - even though then, Lewa was hardly under construction and his summary concerned the other parts of the zoo: So, I agree that the extensive amounts of mock-rock in the fake Kopjes, the fake baobabs, the canyon through and around the giraffe house and the clifface along the entire length of the enclosure are 'nothing more' than an expensive set-design for the human visitors. However, I never felt that these elements served as detractions from the animals or their behavior when experiencing the enclosure. And furthermore, at least some of these features serve enrichment functions as well. The hot wire protects parts of the vegetation for a more naturalistic set design, yes. However it also partitions what would otherwise be a much more featureless habitat into a complex mosaic of smaller meadows (c.f. this map of the enclosure: https://www.vetschpartner.ch/files/vetschpartner_932_lewa_savanne_zoo_zuerich_000.jpg , source: 932 Lewa Savanne, Zoo Zürich - vetschpartner Landschaftsarchitekten AG ). Similarly, the fake baobabs are automated multi-species feeding stations in decorative disguise. While there is indeed a lot of mock-rock throughout the entire Lewa development - the Kopjes are merely the most prominent part, a landmark visible from throughout the entire development and beyond - their cost will have been nowhere near 75% of overall costs. To interpret the Kopjes as features for the hyena and porcupine enclosures is to misunderstand their purpose. They are the identifying landmark that ties together the entire 'Lewa' section of the zoo. Zurich is not Wilhelma. It declaredly puts a high priority on behavioral enrichment, naturalistic enclosures, as well as immersive visitor experiences. The latter includes quite a bit of mock-rock (imo sometimes more - e.g. spectacled bears, Lewa - sometimes less well executed - e.g. Kaeng Krachan). Under Alex Rübel, exotic and endangered species as well as ex-situ breeding thereof afaik did not enjoy a similar priority. However, Severin Dressen, the new director, has anounced quite clearly that he intends to increase the priority of these latter concerns while remaining committed to the long established former ones. According to the zoo, the Congo project is the priority and 2029 is the realistic date they expect to finish this complex and ambitious project. Postponing the Pantanal aviary, apparently, would not help speed up Congo.
Thank you antonmuster for your reply. I agree with you fully. Let's be clear: I do not criticize Lewa itself which is very well done for both animals and visitors, but the choice to do Lewa. All you say could have been true for Asian ungulates which are in more dire need of exhibit space and would have allow a fantastic continuity with the Asian elephant enclosure. That's it. I have been probably too harsh on Lewa but I still find the hyaena kopje useless and expensive (the 75% of the budget related to mock-rock would only be for those two side exhibit, not the whole Savannah).
