As I have alluded elsewhere within this subforum recently, myself and @CGSwans have been in discussion over the past few months about his desire to bring the British Isles Zoochat Cup back - but starting afresh and scrapping the "bonus vote" mechanic. This is because he still wants to use this smaller contest as a testbed for the championship structure he introduced in the first iteration of this thread (collections proceeding through stages but not repeating matches against other collections from their initial "group", with the results of these matches carrying over into later states) and which - if successful - is intended to be used in the next global Zoochat Cup. However, given the ongoing psychological and physical toll which merely existing in 2020 has been incurring on us all, he feels it would be best to delegate the task of managing this revived contest to me rather than attempting to do so himself and risking burn-out. He has given me scope to fiddle with details here and there, as long as I retain the main aspects from the first version of this contest: the collections involved, and the structure of the contest. To save time, I will reproduce the relevant portions of his original summary of the contest below: Given the fact that the last 9 months or so have seen many changes in the UK zoo world due to prolonged closures and the other pressures of the current situation - not least of all the permanant loss of Living Coasts - it is worth mentioning here that it is entirely permissible for people to judge the collections as of the pre-pandemic status quo. Choosing to judge the collections as they are now is also permitted. This means that it is entirely up to your own choice and conscience whether you include Living Coasts in your considerations where the Wild Planet Trust (which I will almost certainly just call Whitley going forward) is concerned. The same goes for judging collections - positively or negatively - on how their past (collection, exhibits, history, conservation efforts etc) pertains to the challenge. However, as usual it will not be permitted for judgements to be made based on future or speculative developments. and I reserve the right to discount votes I suspect are being made on these grounds or based on other unfair motivations. We will get underway in a few minutes
First, the way the initial groups fall out: Klös League (A) Aspinall Foundation Zoo Society of East Anglia Twycross Dublin Cotswold Wild Planet Trust Dathe League (B) Bristol Zoo Society ZSL Royal Zoo Society of Scotland Jersey Marwell Colchester
First two matches are up and running: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Twycross vs Whitley (Paignton/Newquay/Living Coasts) British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Bristol/Wildplace vs Marwell
Ah yes ! But if you genuinely do like and approve the message, I shall genuinely suggest that idea. But I'm reaching
First wave of results are in: Twycross vs Whitley (Paignton/Newq/LC) - BIRDS Whitley 48/48 points - 100% Twycross 0/48 points - 0% Bristol et al vs Marwell - TROPICAL FORESTS Bristol - 42/60 points - 70% Marwell 18/60 points - 30% And the next batch of matches: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Aspinall Foundation vs Whitley (Paignton/Newquay/Living Coasts) British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Jersey vs Colchester
Second wave of results now: Aspinall vs Whitley (Paignton/Newq/LC) - WATER Aspinall 0/39 points - 0% Whitley 39/39 points - 100% Jersey vs Colchester - HOOFSTOCK Jersey - 19/78 points - 24.36% Colchester - 59/78 points - 75.64% Third batch of matches: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Aspinall Foundation vs Cotswold Wildlife Park British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Jersey vs Marwell
Third wave of results are now in: Aspinall vs Cotswold - GRASSLANDS AND DESERTS Aspinall - 15/39 points - 38.46% Cotswold - 24/39 points - 61.54% Jersey vs Marwell - GRASSLANDS AND DESERTS Jersey - 10/36 points - 27.78% Marwell - 26/36 points - 72.22% And the fourth batch of matches...... British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Twycross vs Cotswold Wildlife Park British Isles Cup Redux - League B - RZSS (Edinburgh and HWP) vs Colchester
Fourth wave of results now: Twycross vs Cotswold - AFRICA Twycross - 10/24 points - 41.67% Cotswold - 14/24 points - 58.33% RZSS vs Colchester - ASIA RZSS - 16/24 points - 66.67% Colchester - 8/24 points - 33.33% And the fifth batch of matches: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Aspinall Foundation vs Dublin/Fota British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Bristol/Wildplace vs Colchester
And the fifth wave of results comes in..... Aspinall vs Dublin/Fota - SOUTH AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Aspinall - 12/27 points - 44.44% Dublin/Fota- 15/27 points - 55.56% Bristol et al vs Colchester - PRIMATES Bristol- 21/36 points - 58.33% Colchester - 15/36 points - 41.67% The sixth round is now up: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Twycross vs Dublin/Fota British Isles Cup Redux - League B - ZSL (London/Whipsnade) vs RZSS (Edinburgh/HWP)
The sixth round is over..... Twycross vs Dublin/Fota - MISCELLANEOUS MAMMALS Twycross - 12/33 points - 36.36% Dublin/Fota - 21/33 points - 63.64% ZSL vs RZSS - CARNIVORES ZSL - 11/33 points - 33.33% RZSS - 22/33 points - 66.67% ...and it is now time for the seventh round: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - ZSEA (Banham / Africa Alive) vs Twycross British Isles Cup Redux - League B - ZSL (London/Whipsnade) vs Marwell
The seventh round just finished..... ZSEA vs Twycross - MOUNTAINS AND POLES ZSEA - 11/18 points - 61.11% Twycross - 7/18 points - 38.89% ZSL vs Marwell - WATER ZSL - 25/33 points - 75.76% Marwell - 8/33 points - 24.24% And the eighth round has just gotten underway - it is a bit of a doozy and I hope more people will vote in both matches! British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Aspinall Foundation vs Twycross British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Bristol/Wildplace vs Jersey
As hoped, the eighth round comprised a pair of hotly fought matches...... Aspinall vs Twycross - PRIMATES Aspinall - 25/45 points - 55.56% Twycross - 20/45 points - 44.44% Bristol et al vs Jersey - ISLANDS Bristol - 12/36 points - 33.33% Jersey - 24/36 points - 66.67% And the ninth round may well be just as interesting: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Dublin/Fota vs Whitley (Paignton/Newq/LC) British Isles Cup Redux - League B - ZSL (London/Whipsnade) vs Colchester
The ninth round turned out to be a fairly placid pair of matches: Dublin/Fota vs Paignton et al - TROPICAL FOREST Dublin/Fota - 7/21 points - 33.33% Whitley - 14/21 points - 66.67% ZSL vs Colchester - MISCELLANEOUS MAMMALS ZSL - 14/21 points - 66.67% Colchester - 7/21 points - 33.33% Hopefully the tenth round will be a bit more energetic: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - ZSEA (Banham / Africa Alive) vs Aspinall Foundation British Isles Cup Redux - League B - RZSS (Edinburgh and HWP) vs Jersey
The tenth round has come and gone..... ZSEA vs Aspinall- ISLANDS ZSEA - 16/24 points - 66.67% Aspinall - 8/24 points - 33.33% RZSS vs Jersey - MOUNTAINS AND POLES RZSS - 25/27 points - 92.59% Jersey - 2/27 points - 7.41% And now we begin round eleven...... British Isles Cup Redux - League A - ZSEA (Banham / Africa Alive) vs Whitley (Paignton / Newq / LC) British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Marwell vs Colchester
Round 11 is over and done with: ZSEA vs Paignton et al - CARNIVORES ZSEA - 8/18 points - 44.44% Paignton - 10/18 points - 55.56% Marwell vs Colchester - TEMPERATE FOREST AND WOODLAND Marwell - 5/15 points - 33.33% Colchester - 10/15 points - 66.67% And now we move onto round twelve: British Isles Cup Redux - League A - ZSEA vs Dublin/Fota British Isles Cup Redux - League B - RZSS vs Marwell
Round 12 was pretty quiet, but results came in nonetheless..... ZSEA vs Dublin/Fota - TEMPERATE FOREST AND WOODLAND ZSEA - 3/12 points - 25.00% Dublin/Fota - 9/12 points - 75.00% RZSS vs Marwell - AFRICA RZSS - 13/30 points - 43.33% Marwell - 17/30 points - 56.67% And now we come to Round 13 - but will it be unlucky for some? British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Cotswold Wildlife Park vs Paignton et al British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Bristol/Wildplace vs RZSS
Round 13 was another pretty quiet one, but fairly decisive: Cotswold vs Paignton et al - ASIA Cotswold - 6/21 points - 28.57% Paignton - 15/21 points - 71.43% Bristol et al vs RZSS - BIRDS Bristol - 8/21 points - 38.10% RZSS - 13/21 points - 61.90% Will Round 14 be equally decisive? British Isles Cup Redux - League A - ZSEA vs Cotswold Wildlife Park British Isles Cup Redux - League B - Bristol/Wildplace vs ZSL
Round 14 was indeed pretty decisive: ZSEA vs Cotswold - ECTOTHERMS ZSEA - 0/27 points - 0% Cotswold - 27/27 points - 100% Bristol et al vs ZSL - ECTOTHERMS Bristol - 24/39 points - 61.54% ZSL - 15/39 points - 38.46% Round 15 - the final one of the first stage of the UK Zoocup - awaits...... British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Dublin/Fota vs Cotswold Wildlife Park British Isles Cup Redux - League B - ZSL vs Jersey