North America and Europe. I confess to knowing nothing about Marwell other than that John Knowles would have been very happy to remain “a chicken man” his entire career. I know he would have been happy to stay a chicken man because he says so in his book about a dozen times, which does make me wonder why he opened a zoo. Anyway, let’s get on with it. Remember ‘ZSL’ refers to both London and Whipsnade.
Whipsnade European Brown Bear enclosure Wolverine exhibit Eurasian Lynx enclosure Wild Boar enclosure European Bison enclosure Reindeer Paddock Californian Sea Lion outdoors Californian Sea Lion indoors
I've been trying to think what Marwell actually has in this category and can't find anything! I don't see how Marwell can even get a point!
From a quick look at the website as I've never visited: Greater Flamingo, Great Grey Owl, Gila monster. There may be more. However, it appears like a simple 3-0 due to Whipsnade's excellence in this category.
Following on from the points above, it's a pretty simple 3-0 to Whipsnade, with no bonus point. I hadn't realised how much Marwell was lacking in this category.
Basically because: For some reason I recalled them having a *bit* more than has been indicated but yes, it's pretty clearly a straight 3-0 to ZSL,
London Zoo also has some things in this category. I saw [Revee's muntjac], [Mandarin duck], Greater flamingo, great white pelican, [Waldrapp], little egret, western diamondback rattlesnake, sidewinder, gila monster, Sardinian brook salamander and three species of midwife toads. [] species I'm unsure if they count. So slam-dump to ZSL.
OK, here are the full species list so that everyone can realise just how lacking Marwell are in this category... ZSL: Black tailed prairie dog California sea lion Central European wild boar Common fallow deer European bison European brown bear European wolverine Northern lynx Plains buffalo American flamingo Bar-headed goose Barnacle goose Burrowing owl Emperor goose Eurasian great grey owl Eurasian North hawk-owl Eurasian oystercatcher European eider European kestrel European white stork Great white pelican Harris' hawk Hooded merganser Lanner falcon Marbled teal Snowy owl Ural owl Black-necked stilt Common barn owl Common black kite Common buzzard Eurasian tawny-owl European eagle-owl Greater flamingo Little egret Socorro dove Western cattle egret Corn snake Rio Fuerte beaded lizard European legless lizard European pond turtle Gila monster Western diamondback rattlesnake Marwell: Black-winged stilt Eurasian great grey owl Greater flamingo Little egret Gila monster Rio Fuerte beaded lizard Overall, 43-6 Mammals, 9-0 Birds, 28-4 Reptiles, 6-2 Amphibians I might do later.
Absolute walkover clearly! Whipsnade would beat any non specialist collection in the UK in this category I think including Chester
I would tend to argue that having species from throughout the Northern Hemisphere both Palearctic and Holarctic (plus at least one from below the Equator) makes it a bit too broad to dismiss as a mere specialist it's nowhere as narrow a collection as, say, Wildwood or BWC.
Nit picking I would suggest! How many Australian, African, tropical Asian, South American, Madagascar species do HWP hold?
Guys, the match is ZSL and Marwell. Let’s save London vs Scotland for a potential final round match-up.
