Just got back from a week in Berlin visited both zoos. The hippo pool was closed for cleaning but was open and Hippos on show this Sunday just passed. As said before nocturnal house is closed due to works to be finished this summer all signs around the zoo still said summer 2019 I know some said there was a delay. If you can visit both the Tierpark is well worth it and the polar bear cub is super cute.
Thanks for the help, shame about the nocturnal house but I'm happy the hippos are on-show - they're my favourite!
Later this year Zoo Berlin will start with the construction of a new enclosure for Indian rhinos, Malayan tapirs and Visayan warty pigs, located between the Löwentor, Flusspferdhaus and Streichelzoo. It will be styled like an Indian pagode, as remembrance to the Elefantenpagode of the late 19th century that was destroyed during World War II.
Swapping polecats for meerkats (not even to mention the sousliks)? As for the carnivore renovations, will any species be no longer displayed? Ocelots and oncillas don't seem to be on the plans...?
A South American house is to be built in Tierpark Berlin and management of the 2 zoos decided some time ago that no duplications ought to take place. Berlin Zoo historically has had a tradition with some larger carnivores and delicate felid species like sand cat and the various Malagasy Carnivora. Hence, TB went out of Siberian tigers (these are now at BZ), Persian leopards (the hallmark in leopards at BZ from now on) and "African" lions only at BZ. Admittedly, they provided space for surplus Javan leopard (but there is to be an European effort for these too), but that is more a space issue than anything else. So, a species being at BZ will disqualify it at TB and vice versa more or less. I would like to separate the Carnivora replacements from the souslik issue here. Even though, I found the latter a definite no brainer.
I think the same proviso about non-duplication should be applied in other cities. There are several meerkats kept at various collections in London.
Personally, whereas I like meerkats as a species ... I do find when I get to see them in a zoo I am inclined to move on directly. I know they are a crowd favourite for all the wrong reasons and when zoos start displaying in multiple exhibits in their zoo I tend to lose it ... a little. Is this an appeal to keep zoos diverse and attractive ..., perhaps it is.
The non-duplication is great, two great collections in one city with completely different animals. As if it wasn't already good enough when I visited in 2018. I can't wait to visit again in a few years.
I wish I can return the compliment too. I have not been to Chester since last autumn, bummer me. Tierpark Berlin/Berlin Zoo are easier to access, even in Corona times. Pretty much UK is now a no go area (given the quarantine regulations on "potential" legal visitors).
So how will the Zoo and Tierpark play off of each other. I thought they'd have the same general kinds of certain animals such as lions, tigers, elephants, rhinos, etc.
They focus on different species of each, Zoo will have Indian Elephant and Rhino, Tierpark African Elephant and Black Rhino, etc...
This sounds like a good idea. How about in terms of theming and stuff? I can't really imagine how they'll really make these 2 establishments feel so different that visiting both is an option in the minds of the laypeople.
There are several approaches to differentiate the two zoos and exclusive species do not even have highest priority. -city zoo vs. landscape zoo or zoological garden vs animal park: Berlin Zoo tries to show all the highlights in a comparatively(!) condensed area. There is a high focus on traditional as well as modern architecture and gardening (prominence of flower beds or lavishly paved paths). Berlin Tierpark in contrast aims at presenting animals embedded in naturalistic landscapes. They even try to hide big buildings behind plants (e.g. the listed Brehm building!), artificial rocks (elephant and monkey building) or graffiti (main entrance, giraffe building). The main ways get embedded in more naturalistic looking vegetation and complemented by smaller 'adventure paths' with different colours and substrates. A clear exception is the immediate castle park area with its fountains, water channels, visual axes and flower beds, of course. So the zoo seems more spectacular with short ways and a high frequency of highlights. The Tierpark rather represents a great place for a family trip or extended walks in nature as if to simulate an actual journey, safari etc (park trains etc. are to limit the walking for some types of visitors, though). -systematic approach vs. geographical approach: Berlin Zoo generally groups related animals so you get to discover patterns and appreciate variety within seemingly similar animals. Tierpark Berlin groups animals according to their habitats so you walk through Serengeti, South East Asian Islands, Himalaya as well as regions in Europe, North and South America or Australia. So in Zoo Berlin you will rather hear children say the classic "Lets go see the elephants, monkeys, lions..." In Tierpark they may originally say so as well, but regular visitors may increasingly start to think in continents or even habitats. -complementary/ exclusive animals and attractions: Zoo Berlin has elephants and rhinos from Asia while Tierpark displays their counterparts from Africa. Both show different species or subspecies of giraffes, bears, tigers, leopards, monkeys, deer, rodents, birds, crocodiles etc. In a similar way, Zoo Berlin has a show with sea lions, Tierpark Berlin one with birds of prey. By the way: These are only tendencies, whereas none of this is taken to the extreme. The administration mainly gives pragmatic reasons for this coordinated development (limited space in Berlin Zoo, try to have people visit both), but they also claim to make both as attractive as possible by themselves. And you can positively be sure that Zoo Berlin won't sacrifice anything just to help Tierpark out, as they strongly rely on generous donations by local residents who are not having any of that (the other way around it is far more likely as Tierpark Berlin is funded by public money). This is also where the 'no duplicate policy' ends: Both Tierpark and Zoo display polar bears, Berlin Zoo is just about to get a breeding couple of Red Pandas from Tierpark, so they will have 1,1 each. And Zoo Berlin will not give up on any of their 4 ape species, but Tierpark Berlin can show the missing Orang subspecies in the future. And they will get sea bears and other attractions as well, none of which will actually be completely exclusive (there are rumours about koalas, but I don't quite believe Berlin actually will end up having them in Tierpark Berlin or only there). If this last bit sounded critical, it is because I don't really like some of these internal and completely inofficial 'zoo first' policies. But I still think that both zoos are and increasingly become very attractive. And both represent quite complete collections, while Tierpark Berlin still has some obvious gaps but also some amazing rarities as well as some generous and simply beautiful enclosures. And its definitely worthwhile to visit both of them (our family actually has a combined anual family ticket for Zoo + Zoo Aquarium and Tierpark which costs us less than 200 Euro for 5 people!).
Just a short illustration to visualise and emphasise the contrasts: This is how Zoo Berlin likes to present itself on its website: Copyright Zoo Berlin And this is from the website of Tierpark Berlin: Copyright Tierpark Berlin The Zoo plays with its location in the city centre surrounded by skyscrapers, busy streets and historic sites. They even incorporated monuments like TV tower and radio tower into their gorilla logo (last of the three upper pictures). Correspondingly, their new motto says something like "In the midst/ centre of it all" The Tierpark also slightly changed their logo. Now the ground below the bisons deliberately looks uneven like natural ground. Their new motto says "Into the wild". Some think that Tierpark Berlin received the more modern concept. But I believe the classical approach of the Zoo still remains valid and popular (and quite likely will remain so for a very long time). And I also think that tourists with limited time will continue to prefer the zoo, whereas the Tierpark is rather a gem for people who can take their time or even live nearby. But in general, both zoos are awesome and can be attractive for many different groups of people. It is a good thing that they are no longer rivals, but aim at complementing each other.
