I haven’t reached a naming convention for these combined organisations that I love, but I’ll trust that the voting options make things clear, Australia and Islands.
Edinburgh Rainbow Lorikeet Aviary Koala exhibit Penguin Rock (King, Gentoo, Northern Rockhopper) Wallaby Walkthrough
Edinburgh Lemur Walkthrough (Crowned, Red-Bellied, Ring Tailed - unsure if all in walkthrough) Another one of the penguin enclosure showing indoor viewing This would appear to be a very strong category for RZSS with a strong line up of species and excellent enclosures to go with that. There are few zoos in this challenge that would beat them in this category.
A few questions - are Japan, Taiwan or Socorro in the Islands category or attached to their nearest continents? Anyways, here are the species lists without the fauna from those places we'll see how we get along. RZSS: Black faced kangaroo Crowned lemur Lesser hedgehog tenrec New Guinea ground cuscus Northern koala Red-bellied lemur Ring-tailed lemur Swamp wallaby Antarctic Gentoo penguin Common barn owl Hamerkop King penguin Madagascar teal Meller's duck Northern rockhopper penguin Pied imperial pigeon Rainbow lorikeet Southern cassowary Swift parrot Victoria crowned pigeon White-naped pheasant pigeon Yellow-crested cockatoo Central bearded dragon Common blue-tongued skink Australian green tree frog Aspinall foundation: Black and white ruffed lemur Black lemur Crowned lemur Red-bellied lemur Eastern grey bamboo lemur Fossa Greater bamboo lemur Ring-tailed lemur Green tree python White-lipped tree frog So that is 25-8 to RZSS overall, but 8-8 in mammals, 14-0 in birds, 2-1 in reptiles and 1-1 in Amphibians. Interesting Anyways, thanks to my own visits to Edinburgh and HWP and a quick glance through the media galleries along with @britishzoofan's coverage I think I'm voting 2-1 to RZSS with a bonus point to RZSS due to the far superior species list (especially in terms of non-mammals) and good -> excellent enclosures. However, the AF has a seemingly excellent species coverage of the Madagascan area with 7 species of lemur and fossa as their only mammals, so that earns them a point. Does that explanation qualify me for a bonus point?
Howletts Lemur Walkthrough (Black and White Ruffed, Ring-Tailed, Black, Crowned, Red Bellied - unsure which of these are in the walkthrough) Port Lympe Lesser Bamboo Lemur exhibit on the left I believe Also, unsure if the Sulawesi Macaques at Howletts count for this round.
Edinburgh Lesser Hedgehog Tenerec enclosure Southern Cassowary enclosure Brilliant Birds (Pied Imperial Pigeon, Victoria Crowned Pigeon - possibly more) Central Bearded Dragon and Pancake Tortoise enclosure Other Koala enclosure
Whilst I've not been to the collections, it's a clear 3-1 to RZSS (bonus point to Aspinall). The collection (and variety) at RZSS is far superior, and that can't be ignored. Whilst the Aspinall parks do have a nice set of Malagasy species, most are somewhat common... they do get the bonus point for this though, as it is nice to see somewhere with so many Lemur species, and more importantly Fossa!
I'm currently swinging in a similar direction to TNT and for similar reasons; the RZSS collections are significantly better in this regard than are the Aspinall collections, without a shadow of a doubt, and merit an easy 3-0. However, the fact that the Aspinall collections do have a pretty nice selection of lemurs, including two major oddities, is *possibly* worth a bonus point. As such, I am currently voting 3-1 for RZSS, but may well amend my vote to a straight-up 3-0 once I have given the matter further reflection, considering the fact that from what I have heard on the grapevine, the two oddities in question are species which are being actively phased out as dead-end species by the man at the top
I'm also going to vote 3-1 to RZSS. They are the clear winners in the Australia and Antartica areas. They also have what appears superior exhibit quality. The lorikeet, koala, penguin and lemur enclosures all look fantastic. However, I think the Aspinall collections deserve a point as mentioned above because of their excellent selection of species from Madagascar, which is more impressive than RZSS. My only question would be for those who visited, how strong is the exhibit quality at the Aspinall parks as I have never visited and there are few photos in the gallery.
I don’t understand the way these things work - bonus points? - but surely any zoo-based contest involving Aspinall’s marks can only end one way....
The mirror list for these two zoos Red means exactly the same species Orange means same species different subspecies RZSS: Black faced kangaroo Crowned lemur Lesser hedgehog tenrec New Guinea ground cuscus Northern koala Red-bellied lemur Ring-tailed lemur Swamp wallaby Antarctic Gentoo penguin Common barn owl Hamerkop King penguin Madagascar teal Meller's duck Northern rockhopper penguin Pied imperial pigeon Rainbow lorikeet Southern cassowary Swift parrot Victoria crowned pigeon White-naped pheasant pigeon Yellow-crested cockatoo Central bearded dragon Common blue-tongued skink Australian green tree frog Aspinall foundation: Black and white ruffed lemur Black lemur Crowned lemur Red-bellied lemur Eastern grey bamboo lemur Fossa Greater bamboo lemur Ring-tailed lemur Green tree python White-lipped tree frog
My vote will be definite and without changes 3-0 in favor of RZSS and I will give a bonus point to Aspinall because of the lemur walkthrough.
Absolutely no idea how this works but I've voted 2-1 Edinburgh, with a bonus vote going towards the Aspinalls. ~Thylo
@CGSwans could we have some clarification on whether species such as Sulawesi Macaque, Banteng and Visayan Warty Pig count for this category.
