Like a Rhinestone Cowboy: FunkyGibbon in Europe

Really? That's quite astonishing, because it looks like it was built to imitate the Opera House. I wonder if the Australian theme was selected on that basis.

I didn't actually pay attention to the camel house, but from what I remember I'm glad I didn't see elephants in it. Did they add the undulations after the elephants left?

Once the zebras are in the savannah I hope they put kiang or some kind of Asian aquid in that area. That would be a great addition, although those old hoofstock paddocks perhaps will also go in time.

The most frustrating thing is that a Zurich Orangutan enclosure would probably be a real thing of beauty. It's a shame we'll have to wait so long for it.

I think that's exactly right.

 

Australia Building | ZooChat

 

The elephant house was completely demolished . In my memory there were slightly less undulations previously, but my first visit was just after they moved the elephants to the new house and already were busy demolishing the enclosure...

 

Thanks for your thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable reviews (incidentally, this also extends to CGSwans and the various others currently writing up their zoo reviews)

To be honest, I am quite surprised by the raving reviews Zurich has gotten recently - despite the sleet in CGSwans case (the worst of all weathers), and the hype on here before your visit in yours - and I think the reason for my surprise ties in closely with the criticisms you brought forward against Zurich.

The great ape house is the last large remnant of the zoo Zurich formerly was (that is until 1996 - and not considering the exotarium, which goes a loooong way back, with multiple renovations and extensions however). The zoo currently indeed does not quite feel 'whole', but this is due to the still ongoing remodeling of the zoo under the 2030 (formerly 2020) masterplan. I would say that up until the completion of the elephant park, Zurich was an otherwise unremarkable zoo with several exceptional exhibits. Whereas now, Zurich seems to be a remarkable zoo with several exhibits severely falling short. Until not too long ago, it used to be that the exceptional exhibits felt like the aliens in the zoo, not the other way round. Indeed, fifteen years back the spectacled bears and Masoala (a good 10 minutes walk 'off' zoo grounds then) found themselves in a surrounding where the ape house (then still also housing a group of chimps) was one of the high points of the rest of the zoo. I think it is great, that things are now starting to really come together.

The zoo is being remodeled one area at a time, and I suppose it will be well after 2030 'till the entire masterplan has been finished. The zoo doesn't feel complete because it isn't. Indeed the zoo has raised the bar very high. Masoala and the spectacled bears were the first developments of the masterplan and arguably the zoo has not been able to match that excellence in any of the subsequent developments. Of course it's frustrating that they haven't yet done a new enclosure for Orangs, or Gorillas, or Hippo, ... - I remember how I initially thought the spectacled bear enclosure (the very first in the series of new enclosures) was a joke - it was just way over the top, much too large, and in no meaningful relation to the rest of the zoo (at the time the zoo housed polar bears, lion, tiger, panther, jaguar, puma, and several smaller cat species, if I remember correctly, in an area smaller than the current indoor and outdoor lion enclosure). There are still things that I wish the zoo would have done or planned differently - particularly a less extreme reduction of its collection and better filling in the spaces 'in between' the large areas with smaller enclosures. But the zoo has stuck to its vision and steadily moved forward in implementing it. And looking at the result - and reading your reviews - I think one really has to congratulate them on it.

ps: the tiger enclosure is 1'400 m2

 

Germany Part One - A Kölnel of Truth

Sock of the day: Tiger

Local beer: Früh Kölsch
Verdict: Better than lager. Nice and hoppy but still quite light. Would definitely drink again.

I landed in Köln two days ago and spent parts of them wandering the city getting a feel for it. It's very nice and the cathedral, or 'Dom', is truly spectacular. I'll share a little anecdote because maybe some people will relate; I spent quite a bit of yesterday in my hostel bed, struck down with what I call traveling apathy. It often happens at the start of a trip when I don't really know what to do with myself and I'm not feeling confident to go out to the hostel common areas and socialise. Luckily I got over it but I wonder how many other people experience this. A few I hope

Köln Zoo - July 15th 2017

I met Vision at the gates of Köln Zoo, shortly after 10.45, our prearranged meeting time. He had travelled three hours and was on time, I had missed the tram which only took 15 mins so was late. Protip: the U-bahn ticket machines don't take notes.

We headed first to the Aquarium, where we spent almost two hours. It's well stocked and well designed, and features reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates as well as fish. The fish section is probably the best though, with a focus on smaller species (a little reminiscent of London). The stars of the building were the startling coloured Yunnan newts, which Vision assures me I have seen at Frankfurt. We then entered the zoo proper.

It's a big zoo, and we were there almost 'til 5.30. I think there will be more highlights than lowlights, but we can put them all under the same heading.

Observations

The Hippodom building is very nice, with large indoor pools for Common hippos and Nile crocodiles. The hippos also have a dusty outdoor section that they share with Sitatunga and waterfowl, but with no outdoor pool I wonder how much this is used. There are many free flying birds as well, including Carmine bee-eaters, who put on a lovely display in flight. Another hippo exhibit that leaves you unconvinced, but otherwise a great building.

Directly next to this is the Madagascar House, with Red-ruffed, Black and White Belted, Greater Bamboo and Sclater's Lemurs, as well as Vontsira opposite. Obviously much upgraded, this is the legendary monkey house that once held many species of Howlers, Sakis and Uakaris. Different times, and perhaps not to be put on a pedestal, but if you had a time-machine....

The elephant enclosure is vast and maybe even sprawling, with many rock walls within it. These obviously allow partitioning, but they also create a more complex environment, provide privacy between the animals and house many feeding holes for the elephants to forage in. The indoor holding is similarly large, possibly cavernous, with tall tree-like pillars supporting the roof. Vision says this is the largest indoor holding in Europe, and it's really pleasing to see more zoos moving in this direction. The interpretive material was also excellent here, as indeed it is through out the zoo. It's only in German, which is very reasonable of course but still limiting for the international visitor. One strange flaw with this building is that the viewing platforms, which are high up in the building, are directly behind pillars, such that your view is quite obstructed. We decided it really wouldn't have been to hard to mount them onto the pillars themselves, giving wonderful outlooks, and it's not obvious why this wasn't done. Maybe they'll consult us next time.

The Banteng enclosure is coming in the summer of 2017. Judging by the current state of it they must be hoping for a pretty hot October...

My favourite building was the Ape House. Bornean orang, Bonobo, Western gorilla, Lion-tailed macaque, Guereza, Javan langur, Weddell's tamarin, Pygmy tamarin AND Red douc langur is quite the line-up. The ape enclosures are all very good, although one indoor and one outdoor each must impose some husbandry limitations. However, the planting is great and indoors most of the apes were busy foraging through thick straw on the ground; Aspinall would be proud! All three have recently bred as well which is nice. The macaques can be mixed with the orangs, but weren't today, but the colobus were in their 'safe zone' in the gorilla outdoors. I wasn't particularly excited about seeing the douc, as it's a species that I've seen several times in Asia, but when we got a glimpse of him in the tunnel between the indoor and outdoor areas I was reminded what a stunning species they are. He's probably the most attractive primate in Europe right now, although there are some individuals in Vietnam and China that might take the wolrdwide title (feel free to read into this what you will). If I were the primate curator at Koln, and admittedly my CV suggests I won't be short-listed next time, I would be ringing up Dusit (Bangkok) to see if they want to shift some surplus males, with a view to at least maintaining a foothold for this species in Europe. It would be a shame to lose it. The langur outdoor enclosure, incidentally, is a large steel ball on the end of a pole. It's bizarre, but I rather liked it.

The rainforest house has a broadly Indonesian theme, with a fairly large free flight aviary and smaller satellite exhibits. We both agreed that it didn't really have the 'it' factor such a house needs. I wonder if I'm just a little inured to the standard jungle walkthrough enclosure. I'm sure if Köln's was the first I'd seen I'd be raving about it. The lar gibbons also have no outdoor, and no real height indoor. That was disappointing to be honest.

I can't think of another zoo where I've seen four big cat species displayed in a row (essentially) as proficiently as Köln. Snow leopard, Persian leopard, Asian lion and Siberian tiger all have great exhibits. Nicely done. According to the master plan Jaguar will be added nearby, with Cheetah also already in the collection. Not bad at all.

The master plan is displayed in the old South American house, which is now a strange mix of surplus monkey housing and historical displays. There are wire tunnels crisscrossing the interior, and some small 'green-tile' outdoor enclosures as well (you probably know the type). The most exciting thing is the master plan itself though, which is very promising. I suspect it'll be some time before it comes to fruition though.

Back by the entrance there are four bear grottos, three of which house sun bears and one for brown bear. They're not great, but they've made the best of a bad job. The design is so frustrating though. If they were natural substrate to the wall they would be perfectly fine but instead there's a soil and woodchip island surrounded by a sea of gently sloping concrete.

I've been reaching for something meaningful or profound to say about Köln. I was actually going to write this tomorrow to give my thoughts time to ferment but the Kölsch rather accelerated that process. The best I can come up with is that Köln is a really great zoo to spend a day in. There's a ton to see, some of the keynote species are held very well indeed and there's also some little treats here and there for us weirdos. I didn't even get around to mentioning the various hoofstock paddocks, or the ridiculous duck collection. Köln still has a foot in the past in some ways, but it's also stepping into the future, and that leaves the heart somewhere over the present, which is a pretty good place to be. For me, and hopefully Vision, on the first zoo day of the trip, it was also a pretty good place to be.

 

You mentioned in the zoo that you didn't quite know how to summarize the zoo yet, but I definitely couldn't have worded it better myself. I had a wonderful time, and I'm glad you liked it as well!

Looking at Zootierliste, there's quite a few zoos besides Cologne and Frankfurt you've been to the past few years that keep Tylototriton shanjing!

 

That's a good question! The hippos have a door to push open, which I imagine is too heavy for the sitatunga. That would be desirable, because once inside they'd be a lot more vulnerable to "negative interactions" with the hippos. The waterbirds, and guinea fowl that I didn't mention, could either get under the door or through a separate one, so it seems if a bird did want to escape it could, but I imagine they don't.

 

Finally caught up with this great review thread! Fantastic to catch up on your travels FG, a shame that you didn't visit Duisburg yesterday as I would have loved to meet. Look forward to reading the rest of your adventures!

 

Bizar, on two of your Köln enclosure reviews I have rather opposite feelings. I do not like the elephant building at all because it's to much concrete and it has a narrow atmosphere. And I do like the Indonesian rainforest a lot: although rather small, you'll never have a complete view of the entire building, it still has a good collection (not as impressive as of 10 years ago) and some of the side enclosures are very very good (ex.: knobbed hornbill;channel-billed cuckoo;balabac kantjil; greater argus mixed species enclosure). I also like the turtle breeding station at the top. I clearly agree with the lar remarque. I'm glad we both love the ApeHouse, this zoo still got a remarkable primate collection

 

I think the only thing separating the indoor and outdoor portion of the hippo exhibit is actually a set of plastic flaps, so I believe the hippos and guineafowl (when the doors are open, which hasn't been the case on all of my visits) have free-reign (and the guineafowl learned to use the flaps?). I'm not sure how this stops the lizards from getting out, and the sitatunga/wattled cranes from getting in, however.

A list of the free-roaming species in that building is the following:
Fulvous whistling duck, violet turaco, white-browed coucal, European turtle dove, crowned lapwing, blue-naped mousebird, lilac-breasted roller, northern carmine bee-eater, African grey parrot, superb starling, Taveta golden weaver, Rodriguez flying fox, and common agama.

 

The largest one you have already visited earlier and is located in Zurich . I really love Cologne Zoo and think that overall it is the best in Germany, but the elephant house is just bad, with an all concrete floor and hardly any enrichment... The outside also looks like a desert....

 

You're right to point to those two exhibits as being the best in the house. They're very good. The actual free-flight hall is also a great space, although Vision and I both felt it lacked a star species. But some of the other satellite enclosures aren't so good; like the Matschies tree kangaroo exhibit.

 

Germany Part Two - Wuppertal-Wuppertal! That's the sound of the police!

Sock of the day: Polar Bear

This was my first travel day. I got the intercity train from Köln to Wuppertal, and then the S-bahn (local train) to the zoo station. The street that links the station to the zoo entrance has zoo-themed paving stones, which is both pleasant and useful for the kind of idiot who doesn't research the exact route beforehand.

Wuppertal Zoo, July 16th 2017

Wuppertal is one of those places that you haven't heard of before you join ZooChat, but which seems to come up again and again as the holder of interesting and obscure species. I was very aware that this is an enthusiast's zoo, and so the visit had something of a pilgrimage feeling to it. On the other hand I had seen in the gallery that there are quite a lot of traditional enclosures still in use, so there was some apprehension as well.

At the entrance I was met with the gut-wrenching news that the free flight aviary was closed. I suspect that this cost me quite a few rarities; certainly I didn't see the Cock-of-the-rocks, although overall I can't complain. The bird house is very classic, and reminds me a lot of Frankfurt. The pick of the outdoor aviaries was the Kagu, and indoor probably the Turquoise Tanager.

There is a new parrot aviary marked on the map, but in fact they haven't even broken ground on it yet. It will be called Aralandia, and looks quite nice.

The polar bear exhibit is really showing its age and I imagine it will be very high on the to-do list. The pool/moat is an average size, but the land area is just a few concrete slabs in the middle. Luckily the bears were occupied with two huge hocks of meat and a washing-up liquid bottle whenever I passed the exhibit.

A loosely South-American area that has both Baird's tapir and Yellow-backed duiker (I said loosely!) is not to be sniffed at, but having seen both species in the last year already I wasn't as appreciative as I should have been.

Refreshingly, the King penguins actually have a large indoor space and pool, which they share with Gentoo. The latter were really tearing it up in the water, with quite extraordinary speeds and agility.

Across from this house is a fantastic mock-rock mountain for Siberian ibex. More kitsch than naturalistic, it provides a great spectacle from all angles. I love seeing a classic exhibit that is still fit for purpose.

In the centre of the zoo is a large valley exhibit for rhea, mara, some waterfowl and apparently vicuna. It's just a great setting for them and I hope the zoo keeps it as is. The problem is that it's prime real estate and there are quite a few species that could use upgrades. One to watch.

I wonder when the ape house was built. I think the outdoors have been redone, but I suspect the indoors is a bit older. I've been spoilt for good ape enclosures recently, so I was probably a little harsh, but it seems the house is doing the bare minimum to still be called good. There are only two chimps, who seem to rotate through an outdoor cage with bonobos. I imagine they will not be adding to this group. The orangs outdoor exhibit looks fantastic, until you notice there're actually very few climbing opportunities. Still, as I said, this is a good house overall.

The same could be said for the elephant house (good but only just). I really do prefer seeing Africans, and a new baby was a new bonus. The house is also very architecturally attractive. The one downside is that the bull predictably has quite a small area. I hope he gets the run of the main enclosure as much as possible.

If there's one thing that Wuppertal really does, it's cats. Here's the line-up: African lion, Siberian tiger, Indian leopard, Snow leopard, Cheetah, Clouded leopard, Asiatic golden cat, Sand cat and Gordon's cat. Needless to say, many of these species are more than a little uncommon! The snow leopards have just received an upgrade into what used to be vulture aviaries at the top of the zoo. Unfortunately the aesthetic is quite rocky and barren, which doesn't work when there's quite a lot of concrete on show as well. It looks a bit like a building site. The tigers have two nice exhibits, with rocky walls that blend into similar rock structures in the visitor area. These can also be viewed from a cycle path bridge that passes over this section of the zoo.

The lion enclosure is the piece-de-resistance of Wuppertal. A huge expanse of grassland on the edge of a pine forest at the very top of the zoo, I think it is so big that criticisms could be made. More on that in a minute. It is not just big though; it has passable fake rock walls on much of the visitor viewing sections, and a fake rock mound within the enclosure that visitors can enter via a tunnel. Unusually in the main enclosure there were three lions with huge manes, and another one in a small isolated section. Brothers maybe?

The Big Cat House holds the Clouded leopards, Europe's only Indian leopards, and three Golden cats. I was delighted to see all three species, but particularly the golden cats, as I've developed quite a taste for them, based on essentially nothing as far as I can tell. The indian leopards are really small, smaller even than javans, I reckon. The outdoor enclosures on this house are all quite small and there was lots of pacing. I hope in the fullness of time this house is either extended or replaced. All of the new cat exhibits at Wuppertal are very good and it would do the cat collection justice to continue this trend. The Small Cat House has posters about Wuppertal's work with the Gordon's and Sand cats, and there is still a third poster about Black-footed cats. Hope for the future?

Given the need for various carnivore species to be upgraded space-wise, I can see why people criticise the new lion enclosure for just being unnecessarily huge. You really could have built an entire African complex on the footprint of it. But as Zurich has shown, and as has been discussed in this thread, there are good reasons to build very good exhibits. Obviously. On the other hand, I don't think anyone expects Wuppertal to look like Zurich in a decade's time. How the rest of the zoo develops will be the key to judging this exhibit as the future unfolds.

Did Wuppertal live up to my expectations? No, I don't think so. There's too much that is old-fashioned without being charming, or that is simply inadequate for a modern zoo. But Wuppertal isn't trying to be a modern zoo. It's keeping a collection that is unique in Europe, and deliberately so. There's a lot to like here, and I wonder if the average visitor really benefits from discovering unusual species that they hadn't heard of before. I think that is a function of zoos that isn't discussed as much as it should be. I should also mention that the site is thickly wooded, which adds greatly to a day spent walking around.

On my way back to Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof I decided to take the suspension railway, as Vision had mentioned it to me. It is a massive steel girder construction that follows the course of the river Wupper, as in, the rails are directly over the river, with the supports anchored into the banks on either side. It looks like someone described a monorail to a steam punk enthusiast who was also on acid. Totally bizarre and very fitting for a city whose zoo also specialises in oddities.

 

Good review of Wuppertal. One of the most exiting views in European Zoos are the heads of those 3 lion brothers who suddenly head up through the tall grass. In my opinion it's hard to find any better imitation of an African savannah than this one.
Too bad the Rainforest hall in the Birdhouse was closed, I was there 2.5 weeks ago and spent almost an hour; collectionwise it's hard to find any better.
The Southamerican valley: I've mixed feelings because it's underpopulated. It could be a great exibit of any grass biome worldwide. Maybe it's to steep for African ungulates?
The Manape House dates of 1978 while the outside enclosure are far more recent: the bonobo/chimps enclosure was ready in, I think, 2013.
I like Wuppertal because of it's many rarities (yoou already mentioned a few, while harpey eagle, black-footed cat, blue coua only very recently disappeared here), the fact that it is a full scale zoo (aquarium, birdhouse, etc.) and it's situated in a beautifull landscaped setting with a couple of 19th c buildings.

 

Critically endangered blue-crowned laughing-thrush & bear's pochard? I know both species are not that uncommon in European collections and not that spectacular, but I was pleased to find them here.

 

It has been ages since I have been to Wuppertal and clearly not too much has changed since, because it is an interesting zoo...

The chimps will eventually be gone, there are just two elderly animals left, so when 1 dies, I imagine the other will be relocated and their space added to the bonobos...