Another match which I suspect will require a fair amount of discussion and debate on both sides to pick apart the matter satisfactorily, as these two organisations face off against one another in the category of TEMPERATE FOREST AND WOODLAND. Let's see what you all make of this one!
This is another of those ties where the winner is by default, simply because is is less weak rather than good in the category! Considering 4 zoos are in play here the offering is poor to say the least. As far as I can see, the only mammals that might qualify are: ZSEA Red Panda Amur Tiger Dublin/Fota have both those plus Dublin have Eurasian wolf, Fota have European Bison. Banham have a fair owl collection, several of which would probably count.
This basically comes down to whether you have a bias towards birds or mammals. Alternatively you can vote based on sheer number of species native to temperate forests held by each collection. If your vote takes into greater account mammals as a taxonomic group then it has to be Dublin / Fota as they have red squirrels, European wolves and wisent which are incidentally both ecosystem engineers and threatened species within Europe. A further strength of Dublin / Fota is the fact they specifically showcase their tree species grown on site which are all native to temperate forests. If your vote takes into greater account birds then it has to be ZSEA as they have a substantial collection of owls and raptors native to temperate forests and woodland. Similarly if you vote based on sheer number of temperate species regardless of taxonomic group then the winner once again is ZSEA due to their birds. Interesting, not sure how I will vote on this, I'll have a think about it before voting.
