As we draw close to the end of the zoo cup, two organisations which have each seen great triumphs and victories over the last few months come face to face - both stand a very good chance, in my opinion, of triumphing in the battle to come. And the battlefield in question shall be AFRICA and ISLANDS/AUSTRALASIA. I hope for much discussion to take place, weighing all the relevant factors - collection, exhibitry, conservation work - as appropriate
I don't like the direction of London as a zoo but both of the ZSL zoos are very strong in Central African mammals like okapi, red duiker , pygmy hippo, potto and galago. In the "Islands" category it has some really interesting species not held by Whitley like aye-aye, giant jumping rat, Rodrigues fruit bat, desertas wolf spider, fregate island giant beetle, Montserrat oriole, mountain chicken, madagascar teal, bali starling. In terms of conservation output ZSL have the EDGE species program which focuses heavily on island endemics and the conservation of a number of African and Australasian mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian species. So...I had to vote ZSL in this poll.
That said, I gave it 3/2 because Whitley do very well in the Australian category. They have their echidna, a greater amount of marsupials to ZSL, saltwater crocodile, cassowary and far more Australasian and Papua New Guinean birds too. They don't do too badly in "islands" either with their Cuban crocodile, greater number of lemur species and Philippine spotted deer.
Right, I'm back. In terms of Africa, both associations are relatively strong, with ZSL likely winning given their strong coverage of various habitats on the continent (particularly the Congo in London's case, while Whipsnade has a strong savanna area). Furthermore, there aren't many poor exhibits for African animals that I can think of at ZSL (only really the ungulate exhibits at London). Meanwhile, most of Whitley's exhibits for African animals are in the substandard to average bracket, with only a few such as the Diana monkey exhibit at Paignton surpassing this. In terms of Islands, I can't exactly remember the boundaries and criteria, so species like Sulawesi crested macaque and babirusa may or may not be up for debate. However, Both zoos have some very nice contributions to make in this category. In terms of Australia, Whitley has a fairly clear-cut advantage, with a much greater variety of species and a much better representation of the continent as a whole. However, the other islands are a different story, with Madagascar in particular being a strong point for ZSL (in particular London). They have some truly fascinating rarities (Aye-Aye, White-tailed antsangy, Narrow-striped mongoose) and some nice exhibits to couple this with. Whitley are possibly stronger from the point of view of South-east Asian islands, with a nice exhibit for Sulawesi macaques in particular and some nice species as well, although ZSL do also have Philippine crocodiles. In conclusion, I think it is a fairly straightforward 3-2 win for ZSL - I don't think Whitley have enough in the way of quality exhibits for fascinating island species to threaten ZSL's intriguing lineup in that respect.
