Something of a local derby, this. ‘East Anglia’ refers to Banham and the atrociously named Africa Alive(!). The exclamation mark really is too much. The topic is tropical forests.
Colchester Ring-Tailed Lemur exhibit (not sure if counts as Tropical Forests) Chimpanzee enclosure Negros Warty Pig exhibit Red River Hog exhibit Common Squirrel Monkey enclosure Bornean Orang-utan outdoor enclosure Black/Red Backed Backed Bearded Saki enclosure Bush Dog enclosure (unsure if it counts) Pygmy Hippo indoor enclosure Asian Small Clawed Otter (unsure if count) and Binturong exhibit Slender Snouted Crocodile enclosure Lion Tailed Macaque exhibit Indochinese Smooth Coated Otter exhibit (unsure if count) Sambava Tomato Frog enclosure Two Spotted Assassin Bug exhibit Madagascan Hissing Cockroach exhibit Mandrill exhibit Collared Mangabey exhibit
Sun Bear outdoors enclosure Sun Bear Indoor enclosure Golden Lion Tamarin exhibit Coppery Titi Monkey and Southern Tamandua enclosure Amazonian River exhibit Red Bellied Piranha exhibit Green Anaconda enclosure Green Iguana enclosure Yellow Breasted Capuchin enclosure Colchester appear to have a massive species line up in this category. More photos to come. I doubt the East Anglian collections will be able to compete.
Colchester Another one of Chimpanzee outdoor enclosure Chimpanzee interior Bornean Orangutan interior Another one of Mandrill exhibit
Banham Black Howler Monkey enclosure Rainbow Lorikeet aviary Asian Small Clawed Otter exhibit (unsure if it counts) Siamang and Black Headed Spider Monkey enclosure Islands for Callitrichids (Coppery Titi, Cotton Top Tamarin, Emperor Tamarin, Geoffery's Marmoset, Goledi's Monkey, Golden and Golden Headed Lion Tamarin, Silvery Marmoset, White Bellied Pygmy Marmoset - unsure which species enclosure shown here) Lemur Walkthrough (Ring-Tailed, Red Ruffed, Red-Bellied, Blue Eyed Black, Black and White Ruffed - unsure which in walkthrough) Azara's Agouti enclosure Eureka/Tropical house interior Red-Footed Tortoise enclosure Helmeted Curassow and Trumpeter Hornbill aviary Sri Lankan Leopard outdoor exhibit (unsure if count) Sri Lankan Leopard indoors
Africa Alive Lemur Islands (Black and White Ruffed, Black, Blue-Eyed Black, Crowned, Mongoose, Red-Bellied, Ring-Tailed - unsure which shown) Vasa Parrot aviary Senegal Bushbaby (unsure if count) and Brush Tailed Porcupine exhibit Geoffrey's Spider Monkey enclosure Chimpanzee outdoors Fossa enclosure
I think this is a clear win for Colchester, but not sure by how much. Part of my problem is I'm not entirely sure what does/doesn't qualify in this category.
Yes, I agree. I'm not a big fan of this category. Firstly, because as you say it is hard to know what counts. Also, because I think the category is too broad and ends up including over half the collection of the zoo.
The enclosure quality seems overall better at Colchester. So I'm going 2 - 1 Colchester with no bonus.
As I've not been to either collection/s, my decision is based purely from what has been shared in the thread so far. The exhibit quality at Colchester seems superior, but that doesn't mean AA and Banham don't also have some nice exhibits. They seem to be at a somewhat similar level in terms of species... with Colchester having a slight edge maybe? So with all of that considered: I'm voting a tentative 2-1 to Colchester... but I expect to revise my vote as more info gets posted about the collections
I will vote 2-1 in favor of Colchester without bonus because of what I have seen in the photos shared in the thread.
I'm going to go 3-1 to Colchester on this one. To put it simply because they have a better species line up and better exhibit quality, although it's not so clear cut that it deserves a 3-0. Colchester Sun Bear in particular is impressive and also like the Mandrill enclosure. The main negative for Colchester is the ape exhibits. For East Anglian collections Lemur islands at Africa Alive is an excellent exhibit, as is the islands for the callitrichids at Banham. Main downside is most exhibits a bit basic compared to Colchester (obvious which collection is working on a larger budget) and a weaker species line up.