Two collections which have been faring relatively strongly thus far face off in a category we have yet to cover - ECTOTHERMS. This potentially covers a nice wide range of taxa, from reptiles and amphibians, through fish into invertebrates - but the way one judges the topic is up to you!
Interested to hear what ZSEA has in this respect, I can't recall hearing anything about ectotherms there.
Paignton has nothing to do with this match Also, I think your totals for species held at Cotswold Wildlife Park are quite substantially off!
Just checked - as suspected you severely understated the collection at CWP.... to the point I am quite baffled at where you got your figures from! In terms of reptiles and amphibians alone....... Reptiles (34 taxa): Aldabra Giant Tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea gigantea) Black Tree Monitor (Varanus beccarii) Blue Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus cyanogenys) Cameroon Sailfin Chameleon (Trioceros montium) Cave beauty snake (Elaphe taeniura ridleyi) Chinese yellow-headed box turtle (Cuora aurocapitata) Common chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater) Chinese crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) Emerald skink (Lamprolepis smaragdina) European pond turtle (Emys orbicularis) Eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) Fiji short-crested iguana (Brachylophus bulabula) Frill-necked lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii) Gidgee skink (Egernia stokesii) Graham's Anole (Anolis grahami) Greater Madagascar day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) Green pricklenape (Acanthosaura capra) Green tree python (Morelia viridis) Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus henkeli) Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni) Hispaniolan rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta cornuta) Jamaican boa (Chilabothrus subflavus) Morelet's crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) Panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) Peach-throated monitor (Varanus jobiensis) Puff adder (Bitis arietans) Radiated tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) Red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) Rio Fuerte beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum exasperatum) Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa) Spectacled cobra (Naja naja) Utila spinytail iguana (Ctenosaura bakeri) William's electric blue gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi) Amphibians (8 taxa): Blue Poison Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius var. "Azureus") Coronated Treefrog (Triprion spinosus) File-eared Treefrog (Polypedates otilophus) Mexican Leaf Frog (Agalychnis dacnicolor) Cinnamon Treefrog (Nyctixalus pictus) Sambava Tomato Frog (Dyscophus guineti) Tonkin Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale) Vermiculated Treefrog (Leptopelis vermiculatus)
Evidently their website is not a good source of information, lol, as it did not have even a fraction of these species listed. Anyway, needless to say it is a definitive win for CWP.
Indeed - we've discussed before that going purely off zoo websites is not a good way of gauging how many species they hold (unless the information in question is an actual stocklist). For instance, if one relied solely on the species mentioned on their website, you'd end up thinking Zoo Berlin held only 45 animal species total There is, unfortunately, at least one persistent twit who keeps deleting species from the current holdings of various UK collections on ZTL because they were not mentioned on the zoo website.
Decent ex-situ selection of reptiles of conservation concern at CWP native to Madagascar, Africa, China, Indian Ocean islands, Pacific islands , Caribbean, Central America and Europe. Perhaps a little thin on the ground in terms of amphibians though ? Tortoises & freshwater turtles: Radiated tortoise (EN), European pond turtle (NT), Hermann's tortoise (NT), Aldabra giant tortoise (VU), Seychelles giant tortoise ( ? ) and Chinese yellow-headed box turtle (CR). Lizards: Cameroon sail chameleon (NT), Electric blue gecko (CR), Henckel's leaf tailed gecko (VU), Chinese crocodile lizard (EN), Fiji short crested iguana (CR), Utila spiny tailed iguana (CR ), rhinoceros iguana (EN). Snakes : Jamaican boa (VU). Amphibians: Cinammon tree frog (NT), peacock tree frog (EN).
Yeah definitely something I will have to consider in future as the website for CWP is quite frankly a bit s*** when you consider the actual amount of reptiles and amphibians they hold.
