So, the first match of the finals is upon us..... First, a pre-amble going over the logistics of how the finals will work, cross-posted to the central thread for the British Isles Cup Redux: Ensure you read through the above thoroughly before voting So, the two categories we are getting to grips with this time round are CARNIVORES and AFRICA. Judge them how you will, but you *must* consider both categories in your judgement - and I strongly urge people to post the reasoning behind their votes, both for the sake of promoting discussion and (hopefully) more prolific voting, and to ensure as much transparency as possible.
Great that you added more point options @TeaLovingDave as it adds a lot more necessary nuance to voting.
It's great as long as people actually make use of that necessary nuance and (hopefully) more people take part and as long as we don't have people bending the rules in the name of personal bias.
It is quite a difficult one to decide, this particular poll... Again, we are prioritizing mammals or is African fauna being taken as a whole and including Madagascar and the surrounding islands ?
The definitions of the categories have not changed, only the number in play within a match. As such, the geographic category of "Africa" applies to Madagascar along with the mainland, and encompasses the entire fauna and flora of the continent - not merely mammals. And just as a reminder, the "Carnivores" category applies to the mammalian family Carnivora, not carnivorous animals in general.
Bristol / wild place for its greater amount of African and Malagasy mammal, bird and reptile species which are of conservation concern and a greater conservation output both ex-situ and in-situ. Mammals: Lowland gorilla, Gelada, crowned lemur, ruffed belted lemur, red-bellied lemur, Alaotran gentle lemur, ring tailed lemur, aye-aye, Livingstone's fruitbat,Malagasy giant jumping rat, blind mole rat, meerkat, yellow mongoose, cheetah, pygmy hippo, okapi, eland, zebra, giraffe, red river hog, Birds: Greater flamingo, African penguin, love birds (possibly more too). Reptile : Common chameleon, turqouise dwarf gecko, yellow headed day gecko, standing's day gecko, West African dwarf crocodile, Malagasy tree boa, African pancake tortoise, Egyptian tortoise (possibly a lot more too). Amphibians : Golden mantella frog (possibly more too). Inverts : Giant African land snail, purple jewell beetles (possibly a lot more too). *Some weak points of Bristol would be not as many monkey species as Dublin / Fota and possibly slightly lower on ungulates but then it has more African / Malagasy species across all taxa so it gains a higher vote IMO.
Well, factors such as exhibit quality, conservation success and involvement in breeding programmes are all very important, but given people are often fixated on the bare species numbers..... AFRICA Mammals - Bristol and Wildplace have 23 eligible taxa, Dublin and Fota have 24 eligible taxa Birds - Bristol and Wildplace have 16 eligible taxa, Dublin and Fota have 7 eligible taxa Reptiles - Bristol and Wildplace have 14 eligible taxa, Dublin and Fota have 7 eligible taxa Amphibians - Bristol and Wildplace have 1 eligible taxon, Dublin and Fota have 2 eligible taxa Fish and Invertebrates - *noncommittal shrug* the aquarium and invertebrate house at Bristol certainly have rather large collections of African taxa, but I couldn't give numbers. CARNIVORES Bristol and Wildplace have 12 eligible taxa, Dublin and Fota have 12 eligible taxa. So on the grounds of species count alone, it is reasonably close but Bristol/Wildplace have a definite edge over their Irish rivals nonetheless. Hoping people will join the thread in earnest soon enough and make more comprehensive arguments on both sides, taking into account all the other factors I cited. I *would* be very interested to hear why @nczoofan has confidently given Dublin and Fota a hard win, mind you
3-2 to Bristol for me, the small stuff gives it the edge in my opinion. The Irish duo look fantastic but Aye-aye and Wolverine are worth the extra point. If only Dublin had some stuff that wasn't megafauna, they could have easily have won.
Can't argue too much with this. I think the addition of Madagascar to the Africa category and the opening of Bear Wood have given Bristol a slight advantage, without those it would probably have been 3-2 the other way!
Looks like this one is done and it looks like a fair enough outcome as most are in agreement, looks like wild place has helped get Bristol over the line! Significant given the news this week.
