The "Last-Chance Saloon" Tour of a Tea-Loving Dave - 2018

Yeah but the last European travel thread from @ThylacineAlive stretched on for longer than probably even those of @TeaLovingDave ...

 

Shockingly, Thylo has elected to skip the Netherlands in favour of doing Spain

 

Part IV: Close Encounters of the Boto Kind

Rather than doing full walkthrough accounts of each zoo, the zoo reviews for this thread will comprise much more "loose" stream of consciousness thoughts, opinions and observations, preceded by a handful of statistics relating to our visit to the zoo in question.
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Zoo Duisburg

Approximate time taken at collection: 220 minutes.
Zoochatters met: N/A
Target species: Orinoco Dolphin, Tasmanian Devil, Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey

It seems obvious that I should first deal with the elephant - or rather the cetacean - in the room; as one can probably expect, the primary reason why we included this collection in our plans was the presence of the only remaining Orinoco Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis humboldtiana) in captivity outside South America within the Rio Negro house. Given the age of the individual in question, it is now something of a rite of passage among Zoochatters (and zoo enthusiasts in general) to make plans to visit Zoo Duisburg in the anxious hope that Baby will survive long enough for them to reach the collection, and for those who have already seen him to wonder if they will ever have the chance again. As such, it is perhaps unsurprising if I note that we made our way straight for Rio Negro on our entry to the zoo we had hoped, in vain as it happens, to ensure that the dolphin would be the first animal we saw on our arrival at the collection. In the event, a wild fox running across the path as we approached the house earned that honour!

On entering the house, we noted with some vague alarm that Baby was not visible; knowing that he also has an off-display pool, we avoided undue panic and decided to take the opportunity to have a look around the rest of the house - a good but unexceptional aquarium, some pretty choice species free-roaming around the main body of the house, and a nice array of other species including Lowland Paca (Cuniculus paca) and Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis). After doing so, we checked the main pool once again to find that Baby was still nowhere to be seen; however, on a hunch I went up the wooden steps which overlooked an exhibit for Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius) and Greater Guinea Pig (Cavia magna), knowing that the offshow pool for the river dolphin must be situated somewhere behind. Using a pair of binoculars, I focused through the mesh and vegetation at the rear of the exhibit and watched the stretch of water visible beyond; after only a few seconds, I saw a distinct large, pale shape swimming back-and-forth under the water. Knowing, therefore, that Baby was indeed alive we felt comfortable leaving the house in order to visit the eastern half of the zoo, with the intention of revisiting the Rio Negro house after doing so.

As we had hoped, by the time we returned to the Rio Negro house Baby was visible in the main pool and remained so for the rest of the time we were at Zoo Duisburg; before making our way around the remaining portions of the collection we spent roughly 20 minutes sitting and watching him as he swam back and forth, making full use of the space his exhibit allowed him.



As one might imagine, we also made a point of returning to watch him for a further 10 minutes or so before leaving the collection at about 12:45 in order to start making our way towards Krefeld; we felt a strong sense of both melancholy and happiness during our time viewing this wonderful and unique animal, knowing that we were incredibly fortunate to be able to see him, and that we will almost certainly never see his like again for as long as we live. I thought that the exhibit was rather good - certainly it gave him plenty of space, and managed to replicate the varying environment of the flooded forests and river channels where the species is found in the wild quite well. It is only a pity that the art of keeping the species alive and in good health has only been mastered at such a late time, relatively speaking, and that when taken alongside the high mortality of the species before these advancements, the current political environment means that the prospect of the species seeing further imports is close to nil. Certainly Zoo Duisburg has no intention of replacing Baby when he inevitably passes, planning instead to obtain West Indian Manatee for the exhibit in question.

As noted, before we managed to see Baby we visited the eastern portion of the zoo - which, for those unaware, is split in two by a railway line and motorway. The exhibits here were rather "middle of the road" for the most part - nothing particularly special, but neither were they particularly bad. However, a few aspects do merit particular mention.

I felt that the ape house - which had the slightly-baffling and non-indicative name of Aquatorium - was definitely on the worse end of the scale in terms of those I have seen in German collections thus far; certainly nowhere near as bad as the Sun Bear house at Tierpark Berlin which once held great apes, but nonetheless one of the most outdated portions of the whole zoo. The outdoor exhibit for Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) was, I have to admit, reasonably good - but the indoor exhibit was not particularly appealling. Even so, it was possibly the best indoor primate exhibit in the house, with the vast majority comprising bare cages with few climbing opportunities and - as far as I could tell - little to no outdoor access.



This was something of a pity, as in terms of species the house contained several treasures which would otherwise make it quite the lure to a zoo enthusiast, including the first Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans nictitans) I had seen, and breeding groups of both King Colobus (Colobus polykomos) and Roloway Monkey (Cercopithecus roloway).



Not far from the ape house, a fairly substantial area was taken up by an imitation "Chinese Garden" - the fact we were visiting in the middle of winter meant that any appeal this area might have held was absent in our eyes, other than a general sense of appreciation for the architectural and aesthetic choices made within, and we primarily felt a little frustrated that such a large area was being used in this fashion when elsewhere in the eastern half of the zoo many of the exhibits were verging on the small side.



One phenomenon which we noticed throughout the east zoo - but not at all in the western portion of the collection - was the high population density of feral cats which roamed the footpaths of the zoo; presumably deliberately introduced and encouraged as a cheap means of keeping vermin populations down, we noticed particularly high numbers around the Delfinarium and the exhibit complex for Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), with lower densities down near the Aquatorium. Almost certainly due to the fact that this area contains both a children's playground and the Delfinarium, and as such will experience a high level of footfall in the summer months given the "draw" that both of these factors will have on the zoo visiting public, we noticed that these feral cats were extremely tame, with one or two individuals going out of their way to follow us, rub against our legs and demand attention!



I have come across the concept of collections allowing feral cats to have free-rein for this purpose before, but this was the first time that I had seen so many individuals in such a short span of time - and certainly the first time that I had encountered any individuals which were "tame" in any fashion. For comparison, our encounters with a similar feral population at Tiergarten Nurnburg were fleeting and at a distance before the animals in question fled.

As alluded, the biggest draw in this area of the zoo - and let's be honest, for the non-zoonerd population almost certainly the biggest draw at the zoo full stop - is the Delfinarium located at the far northeastern corner of the collection; although the days where Beluga and Commerson's Dolphin were displayed in a nearby pool are long-since past, with the presence of Orinoco Dolphin in the collection presumably to follow reasonably soon, the collection has long-been known for its cetacean collection and will continue to be so due to the presence of one of only two groups of Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus truncatus) in Germany. Others have written at length about the shows which take place within the Delfinarium; as we were trying to view the collection as quickly as possible in order to permit a visit to Zoo Krefeld before returning to the Netherlands, we did not stick around to find out whether a show was running on the day of our visit - it is possible that it was not, given the fact that it was a bitterly cold winter morning and we were, at a rough estimate, perhaps among only two-dozen visitors to the zoo.



Given the fact that my memories of the pool for Bottlenose Dolphin at Flamingoland are dim, I really have only one exhibit with which to compare this one from personal experience - the exhibit complex at Tiergarten Nurnburg which we had viewed in 2015. Compared to such an exhibit, the one at Duisburg seems rather poor - but overall I thought this exhibit was reasonably good for what it was; it didn't seem too small for the inhabitants, even though it could have warranted being rather larger, and the general "feel" of the exhibit and surrounding arena seemed quite pleasing. I don't have much inclination to return to Zoo Duisburg in a hurry, but were I to do so I think I *would* try to see the dolphin show in order to make a more informed judgement on this aspect of the collection.

After returning to the western portion of the zoo and - as already discussed - spending a not-inconsiderable amount of time watching the only river dolphin I am likely ever to see, we made our way around the remaining portions of the collection; the general feel throughout, as had been the case for the eastern portion of the zoo, was one of "middle of the road" competency. However, the major difference was that - even discounting the allure of Baby and the Rio Negro - the number of above-average exhibits was rather higher in this portion of the zoo. Before moving onto the praise due to these exhibits, it is worth highlighting two important caveats; firstly, I can make little-to-no comment on the bird collection at Zoo Duisburg, such as it is. A large portion of the collection was off-display at the time of my visit, due to the demolition of what I am given to believe was formerly a pheasantry area, and the walkthrough aviary complex intended to replace it had not commenced construction.



Moreover, almost all of those bird species which are still ostensibly on-display were restricted to their indoor housing at the time of our visit due to the extreme cold - the forecast for this particular day was something in the region of -3 °C - and therefore not visible; unfortunately this included the two subspecies of Kori Bustard which are held at the collection.

Secondly, although our first impression was certainly rendered worse by the weather conditions, it has to be noted that perhaps the worst single exhibit at the collection was located within this area; to be precise, the pool for Eastern Atlantic Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina vitulina), comprising as it did a small and bare concrete pond which contained at least four individuals. The only blessing was that this was merely a single exhibit, as opposed to the complex of poor exhibits present within the Aquatorium.



However, this area also contained a series of exhibits - the term "exhibit complex" is not quite appropriate, implying as it does a cohesive and inter-linked structure which is not present throughout - all relating to Australian species; once the inevitable day comes when Baby passes away and with him the biggest reason for international zoo-nerds to visit Zoo Duisburg, these exhibits nonetheless represent a very real reason why I feel a visit would still be worthwhile. Given the fact that several of these exhibits are still quite new, I am hopeful that this might indicate the sort of direction which the collection will head towards in the future. Certainly the zoo is aware of how to promote their oddities - a refreshing change compared to many collections, which tuck them away and act on the assumption that if the public might not know a species, there is no point making them aware of it - as is demonstrated by the fact that the signage pointing towards the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) starts popping up immediately next to Rio Negro, half-a-zoo away from the exhibit itself!



The exhibit for this species was relatively large, given the small size of the inhabitants, and provided substantial opportunities for the Devils to hide both from one another but also the general public, along with various elevation changes across the exhibit through the use of hillocks, boulders and logs which provided a pretty good level of enrichment. Moreover, the educational signage next to the exhibit met a high standard, with various placards discussing the species, its taxonomic status in relation to other marsupials and the conservation problems facing it in the wild, along with the breeding programmes taking place in an attempt to combat Devil Facial Tumour Disease.





Although Baby was certainly *the* main reason I wanted to visit Zoo Duisburg, I have to admit that the prospect of seeing my first Tasmanian Devils was also a substantial influence, given my liking for unusual marsupials. It is probable that this liking also accounts for some of my reaction to the overall "Australian" exhibit area which I am currently discussing, truth be told, but I do genuinely think that this portion of the collection was objectively good. Another highlight species was the Eastern Wallaroo (Osphranter robustus robustus); one of the less-commonplace large macropods in European collections, but one which I feel has some appeal not possessed by taxa such as either of the Gray Kangaroos or the Red Kangaroo. The collection held approximately half-a-dozen individuals in a large and well-vegetated, if plain, paddock - I suspect that when seen in more pleasant weather, the exhibit would be even more appealing.






However, the central hub of this area comprised a series of three exhibits, all well-designed and excellent, and possibly one of the best "Australian" exhibit areas I have seen within a collection. The first exhibit comprised a large paddock dotted with burrows which contained Red-necked Wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus) and Australian Wombat (Vombatus ursinus hirsutus); although the latter was not a lifetick species, given the fact I had seen individuals fleeingly at Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover in 2016, I was nonetheless very pleased to note that a single individual was active and visible - especially considering the fact I had been warned not to expect to see any!



By the by, prior to writing this review I had a read through some of the more recent discussions of this collection posted on Zoochat, primarily those by @Shorts , @CGSwans and @FunkyGibbon , and noticed something rather amusing; prior to deciding on the current title for this post, I was sorely tempted to buck expectations and go with my second choice of "Man! I Feel Like A Wombat".

As such it was quite funny to note that Funky Gibbon had beat me to it and posted a Shania Twain joke in his review:

The second exhibit was an indoor enclosure for Western Brush-tailed Bettong (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi) and Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus); given the amount of climbing material provided within the enclosure it was obvious that it had held tree kangaroo until the recent past, considering neither of the current inhabitants is exactly known for climbing ability! Nonetheless, the exhibit was well-designed with plenty of cover and enrichment for the inhabitants. The final exhibit in this area was a complex of indoor enclosures for Queensland Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus adustus); the inhabitants were, against all expectations, both awake and active within their enclosures with perhaps half a dozen visible in total. As such, this comprised by far the best view we had ever managed of the species! The exhibits were well-designed for their inhabitants and seemed to contain plenty of climbing opportunities and means of hiding from view if need be.





On our way around the western half of the collection, one other area caught our eye in terms of being a cut above the "average" standard present elsewhere in the collection - this comprised an exhibit complex containing large and (considering the time of year) well-vegetated exhibits for Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa nebulosa) and Spectacled Bear (Tremarctos ornatus)



Before leaving the collection, we took the opportunity to look within the giraffe house, which housed a number of Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) in reasonably spacious and pleasant conditions; again, it is hard to make a proper judgement when the poor weather meant the herd was restricted to the house and could not gain access to their outdoor exhibit, but I nonetheless thought that the exhibit was quite good and seemed to serve the needs of the inhabitants well.



Overall, then, I have to say that my primary feelings towards Zoo Duisburg - when stripped of the sheer sense of elation at having reached the collection in time to see perhaps *the* most unique of all the "Last Chance Saloon" species not only on my agenda, but within European collections as a whole - are that is is a solid enough collection, with some aspects which really are excellent, but that when compared with other German collections of a similar size it seems to be falling behind a little bit.... although recent developments as regards the Australian mammal collection may indicate that even in a post-Baby world, the collection will still be worthy of a visit from any serious zoo enthusiast visiting the Ruhr and surrounding area. In terms of the general feel of the collection, perhaps the best comparison I can draw is to a collection such as Dudley or Twycross; collections which are enjoyable to visit but which have seen better days, and which are outshone by bigger and/or better collections within a travel distance of an hour or so.

It is worth noting that as these reviews are much more "free-form" and unplanned than my prior walkthrough accounts, they obviously do not cover everything and it is quite possible I have neglected to discuss elements of a collection which should have been addressed. As such, feel free to ask questions about my reaction to any given aspect of the collection

(Coming up: In The Thrall Of The Mountain "Thing")

 

Fortunately Germany - along with the vast majority of Western Europe - is designated as rabies-free.

The current European population of c.25 animals is entirely descended from 2,2 animals which arrived at Copenhagen in 2012, yeah.

 

Part V: In The Thrall Of The Mountain "Thing"

On leaving Zoo Duisburg at approximately 12:45, we were able to catch a tram within a few minutes which took us back to Duisburg HBF; from here it was only a short hop on one of the regional stopping services to the station of Krefeld-Uerdingen, perhaps 5 or 6 miles from the centre of Duisburg. Disembarking at this station allowed us to catch yet another tram; in this case, one which took us directly to Zoo Krefeld - our second destination of the day.

We arrived just prior to 14:00, and as such had approximately three hours to spend at the zoo before closing time.



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Zoo Krefeld

Approximate time taken at collection: 180 minutes.
Zoochatters met: N/A
Target species: Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo, Formosan Reeve's Muntjac, Mountain Anoa

As one can imagine, our main reason for visiting Krefeld was the presence of the last Mountain Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) in captivity outside Indonesia; we had been warned that the individual in question was quite timid and sometimes difficult to spot, and as such we wanted to give ourselves as many chances to spot him as possible. Therefore, we thought it prudent to make our way towards the exhibit in question as quickly as possible - although we didn't skip any of the intervening exhibits, if the inhabitants were not immediately visible we moved directly on, knowing that we would hopefully have the chance to view the exhibits at greater length later.



On reaching the Mountain Anoa enclosure, we found a reasonably large and well-vegetated paddock with the sole inhabitant visible at the rear of the enclosure sheltering under the eaves of the indoor housing. The thickness of the vegetation and distance from the footpath meant that our view was not quite as good as would have been preferred, but we nonetheless were able to notice a number of distinct differences between this species and the more-familiar Lowland Anoa; most notably much shaggier pelage and a slightly shorter and more highly-domed head.



Here would be a good point to more generally discuss the standard of hoofstock exhibits across the collection. Overall we were quite pleased with the exhibits which we saw at Zoo Krefeld; many followed a similar basic design to the aforementioned anoa exhibit, comprising well-vegetated but basic paddocks which provided the inhabitants a reasonable amount of space and privacy, with offshow interior housing away from the public footpath. One such example would be the exhibit for Formosan Reeves' Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi micrurus) found immediately next to the anoa paddock. We were quite pleased to note that the inhabitants of this exhibit were both visible and active, given the fact that this subspecies is unusual in captivity and - considering the ban on the breeding and exchange of Reeve's Muntjac within the EU - highly unlikely to pop up elsewhere in Europe within the foreseeable future.



Another style of hoofstock paddock also present at the collection comprised large, open sandy enclosures dotted with boulders and mock-rock; this worked quite well in some cases, such as a large mixed exhibit next to the entrance to the zoo which contained Guanaco (Lama guanicoe), Brazilian Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and Greater Rhea (Rhea americana) and which we rather liked. A similar - albeit significantly larger - exhibit for Eastern Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli) was located some way into the zoo. This seemed to be a fairly decent size and, although basic, well-suited to the needs of the inhabitants as far as we could tell. However, a similar exhibit for for non-subspecific Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) nearby was rather less successful, seeming a bit too small and in a state of some neglect.

On this note, before I go into more detail discussing other exhibits and aspects of Zoo Krefeld which we particularly liked, it would probably be appropriate to highlight those areas which we found noticeably poor.

The first such exhibit which we noticed was a small and quite strangely-designed exhibit for Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) near to the entrance of the zoo, comprising a small artificial rock island dotted with a handful of logs and ropes at one end, surrounded by a moat and with the interior housing visible through windows in the rear of the island. The main body of the island almost looked like it was constructed with paving slabs - or indeed "Pavian" slabs ; this is not to denigrate the choice of building material, but rather the size of the island, far too small for the inhabitants as it was.



Another particularly poor exhibit was a stark and ugly cage for Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) located immediately opposite the aforementioned exhibit for Black Rhinoceros, and which seemed to provide no outdoor access to the inhabitants:



A similar but rather larger exhibit was located elsewhere in the zoo for Kikuyu Guereza (Colobus guereza kikuyuensis); however this was slightly ameliorated by the fact that this exhibit comprised both indoor and outdoor areas - along with the fact that the interior viewing area also contained quite good exhibits for Jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) and Cretan Spiny Mouse (Acomys minous). I was particularly pleased to see the latter species, as it is one of the less-common spiny mouse taxa in European collections and quite an attractive little mammal.



A further disappointment was to be found in the bulk of the interior exhibits within the ape house at the far end of the zoo; these displayed species such as Western Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) in rather small and stark exhibits comprising, more or less, islands of wooden climbing frames and rope in large areas of bare concrete. The best comparison that can be made in terms of exhibits closer to home would have to be the outdoor exhibits for Bornean Orangutan found at Dudley Zoo. However, I suspect that I nonetheless reacted rather better to these exhibits than I would have otherwise, given the fact that they were still better than those which I had seen within the ape house at Zoo Duisburg that morning.





This said, the ape house did contain a few aspects which would be of interest to a zoo enthusiast; firstly, I am given to understand by @ShonenJake13 that the gorillas held within the house are among the very oldest of their species in captivity. However, he can probably speak more accurately on that topic than I furthermore, oddities such as Gambian Epauletted Bat (Epomophorus gambianus) and Greenish Acuchy (Myoprocta pratti) are present within the house.

However, it has to be said that we liked the vast majority of the exhibits and enclosures throughout Zoo Krefeld; although the zoo contained nothing as flashy or up-to-date as the complex of Australian exhibits which we had seen hours previously at Zoo Duisburg, the general enclosure standard at the zoo was probably higher than that found at the latter collection. One exhibit which does deserve particular praise was the "Gorilla Garten" found immediately next to the ape house, and which acts as the enclosure for the breeding group of Western Lowland Gorilla held by the collection. This was everything the indoor exhibit for the geriatric group was not; spacious, well-vegetated and providing plenty of climbing opportunities along with the chance to escape view if need be.



Moreover, the interior house alongside this exhibit provided something which I always appreciate in a collection - a plan showing the exhibit and housing and hence giving a better grasp of zoo design and architecture to the general public.



Another particular highlight at Zoo Krefeld was the Tropical House, found in the southwest corner of the collection; this was thickly-vegetated and contained a wide range of species in both free-roaming and enclosed conditions. I felt that the "feel" of this house was pleasant and that the signage quality met an overall high standard. Possibly my favourite enclosure within the house was the large and simple - but ideally designed for the needs of the inhabitant - exhibit for Paraguayan Tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla straminea), a subspecies which I had seen once or twice previously but never in ideal conditions. However, here the inhabitants of the enclosure were given a spacious exhibit containing several logs, ropes and other means of climbing, and seemed to be remarkably active for a stereotypically nocturnal taxon.



As such we were able to get a pretty good view of the subspecies, which was both large, darker and more distinctly marked than most non-subspecific Tamandua we had seen in the past.



One of our favourite exhibits elsewhere in the collection - and one which was very satisfying to visit - was certainly the complex of enclosures for Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi buergersi); although not all that unusual in European collections all things being considered, this was the first time we had the opportunity to see a tree kangaroo of any form and we were rather taken by this species immediately. Due to the dwindling daylight and cold winter temperature, it is perhaps unsurprising that the inhabitants of this exhibit complex remained indoors at the time of our visit. Fortunately, viewing into one of the interior exhibits was possible and as such we were able to see one individual snoozing in plain view:



The exhibit complex itself comprised a series of mid-size enclosures dotted with vegetation, logs and wooden climbing frames providing the opportunity for the inhabitants to move around on a variety of levels; if memory serves me correctly there were two larger exhibits and a further two which were rather smaller, with offshow interior access possible in three of these:



A handful of other minor observations relating to things we enjoyed about the collection:

As I have discussed on many, many occasions in the past I am rather fond of viewing statues and art dotted around a collection, feeling it gives a zoo a sense of unique character which is regrettably lost in the over-themed identikit collection design ethic which is increasingly common of late. Zoo Krefeld was particularly good in this regard, with stone, metal and even wooden statues of animals visible throughout the collection; many included plaques detailing the artist who designed the statues and when they were created. I was especially taken with the following statue present at the Black Rhinoceros exhibit:



Another aspect of zoo design which I am always keen to see is a grasp of history and what has come before; several of the statues and other art pieces dotted throughout the collection made it clear that Zoo Krefeld maintains a close recognition of its past, most particularly the following memorial to the first director of the zoo - which may well, in point of fact, be his grave:



Of course, one point which is always important when discussing a collection is - wherever possible - to comment on the quality of the food found within we only ate briefly at Zoo Krefeld, sharing a slice of cake and having a hot drink each, but we were pleased by both the friendly service and food quality within the zoo cafe.

Overall, I think it would be fair to say that although Zoo Krefeld did not contain anything as earth-shatteringly special as the Orinoco Dolphin, nor as new and exciting as the Australian exhibit compex, we probably enjoyed this collection more than we did Zoo Duisburg. Something about the place just felt "complete" and cohesive, with the character and feel of the collection spreading across the whole, whilst Duisburg felt a little more disjointed. The overall description which I gave the latter collection would nonetheless fit this one too, however - an enjoyable and pleasant collection which felt a little stagnant, and a little left-behind by more prestigious neighbours, but which is nonetheless very much worth a visit. The one major aspect on which I cannot comment, and which would potentially belie my impression of stagnancy, is the newly-renovated Bird House, which was still closed at the time of our visit. Otherwise, my comment at the end of the Zoo Duisburg review stands - as these reviews are much more "free-form" and unplanned than my prior walkthrough accounts, they do not cover everything and may omit profitable avenues of discussion; as such, please do ask any questions which may occur to you about my reaction to any given aspect of this collection.

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On leaving Zoo Krefeld, we caught the tram back to Krefeld-Uerdingen. From there, we were able to catch the train to Duisburg HBF. We had deliberately left plenty of time when booking our advance trains to and from Duisburg, both to allow us to grab something to eat before getting the train back to Amsterdam and to allow for any delays which could have cropped up with the local transport system, and as such had an hour or two in which to explore the station and buy food. Our journey back to Amsterdam was pretty uneventful, other than having to present our passports shortly after the train crossed the border back into the Netherlands, and by the time we reached our hotel again we were pretty tired after our long day. After plugging our camera batteries, tablets and mobile phones into chargers, we retired to bed and quickly fell asleep.

(Coming up: A Nerd in Gelderland Meets Two In The Bush)

 

Part VI: A Nerd in Gelderland Meets Two In The Bush

The following morning, we got up early and - after getting ready - made our way down to the hotel breakfast bar; again, we made sure we ate well given the fact we had a very busy day ahead of us. Afterward, we made the short journey around the corner to the train station and located the platform from which our train was scheduled to depart. It is worth noting at this point that at -5 °C it was noticeably colder in Amsterdam that morning - as had been forecast to be the case - and as such we were rather more heavily-clothed than we had been the previous day.

Whilst on the train to Arnhem, I sent a text to each of the Zoochatters whom we were due to meet at the zoo to confirm we were on our way and roughly when I estimated we would reach the zoo. The journey was both quick and quite comfortable; our first experience of the Dutch rail network beyond our brief journey leaving the airport. I was particularly pleased with the fact that screens within the train carriage displayed constantly-updated information regarding the progress of the journey and estimated times of arrival into each station en-route, something which the vast majority of UK trains lack. As soon as we arrived at Arnhem Centraal and disembarked from the train, we were struck by just how bitterly cold it was; we later learned that at the time we arrived it was -7 °C. Fortunately, we had planned to walk to the zoo, and within a few minutes of setting off we felt ourselves warming up a little. Our walk took us through a pair of large and pleasant parks, Sonsbeek and Zijpendaal; the latter was so thickly-forested, and on such steep terrain in parts, that it scarcely felt possible we were only a mile or so north of the city centre.



After a shade under an hour, we emerged from the woodland across the road from Burger's Zoo. I was somewhat amused to notice that my breath had frozen in my moustache and beard, and that my face was hence encrusted with tiny jewels of ice. On crossing the road and reaching the entrance plaza of the zoo, we sat by a group of rather attractive animal statues and awaited the arrival of our Dutch companions for the day, @korhoen and @Mr. Zootycoon - we had met the latter in June 2016 when visiting Weltvogelpark Walsrode, but it was the first time that we would meet the former. After a few minutes wait, both arrived and after brief introductions and small talk we entered the zoo.



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Burger's Zoo

Approximate time taken at collection: 500 minutes.
Zoochatters met: @korhoen and @Mr. Zootycoon
Target species: African Darter, Screaming Piha, Ringed Seal, Ringtail, Congo Blue Duiker

Perhaps the most sensible way to review this zoo is to discuss each of the themed areas of the collection in turn - Bush, Ocean, Desert, Safari, Mangrove and Rimba - along with the pair of more general "Park" areas, before posting some final thoughts.

Bush

Over the course of our day at Burgers, we spent a significant amount of time in Bush over several visits; this allowed us to get a pretty good impression of the house as a whole and attempt to locate as many of the free-roaming species as possible. One of the first things we noticed was a hand-dryer positioned at the entrance to the house, for the specific purpose of warming camera and glasses lenses to prevent condensation misting them up when moving between the outdoors and the house itself. This was particularly handy on a day as cold as this one was, and is something we had observed at a few continental collections in the past - however, this one was designed in quite an amusing fashion!



Within moments of entering Bush itself, we heard the distinctive call of the Screaming Piha (Lipaugus vociferans), one of the most unique oddities held at the collection and as such a species I was eager to see. With the help of my companions, who are well-familiar with Bush and Burger's Zoo as a whole, I was able to find the individual calling fairly rapidly. Bush was exceptionally well-vegetated, with vast quantities of thick, mature vegetation making it easy at times to forget just how large the building was, with free-flying birds everywhere we looked. Of course, given how thick the vegetation was, viewing and identifying these birds properly was tricky and required a fair amount of patience. Other than the Piha, perhaps the most unusual bird present within Bush was the sole African Darter (Anhinga rufa) in a European collection; given the fact that we were looking for a single bird, rather than having the choice of several loudly-calling individuals as was the case for the Piha, it took a few visits to the Bush to find the individual in question.



Thanks to my companions, I was also able to locate a small handful of the free-roaming Guadeloupe Anole (Anolis marmoratus) present within the Bush. Overall I was extremely impressed with the Bush; it was much more "realistic" in feel when compared to the other major continental tropical house I have visited, Gondwanaland at Zoo Leipzig. The fact that the vegetation present was mature and had been allowed to grow, and that the house was filled with a large number of free-roaming animals which would reward patience and repeated visits - both factors which made Bush similar in some respects to the Tropical Realm at Chester Zoo - was definitely a plus, as was the fact that although very warm the heat within the house was not overwhelming as had been the case within Gondwanaland. We were also rather pleased with the price and quality of the food available within the restaurant in the Bush.



Ocean

I was quite pleased with the Ocean exhibit complex - accessed via Bush - and found myself looking forward to being able to directly compare it to the rival exhibit at Rotterdam, Oceanium; our two companions repeatedly noted that as the two foremost zoological collections in the Netherlands there is a high level of competition and disagreement on the subject of which is better. One aspect which I found particularly impressive was the presence of real coral within the reef exhibit; as noted by our companions the vast majority of such exhibits use artificial models to provide the desired effect, but the exhibit at Burgers uses a large range of living coral.



Another highlight within this area was the main tank, which contained a wide range of unusual species - most notably Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini). This was most certainly the largest such tank I had seen up to this point in time, and as such was extremely impressive.

Desert

As can probably be predicted, one of the main reasons why I was looking forward to viewing the Desert complex - again, accessed via Bush - was the presence of Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) within the house; these were displayed in a pair of exhibits within a nocturnal corridor which also contained a variety of other North American oddities such as Cactus Mouse (Peromyscus eremicus) and Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus). It took a few visits to this area before our patience was rewarded and we saw one of the ringtails, but the wait was most certainly worthwhile. The house as a whole was very attractively designed, and much like the Bush provided a good example of how geographic theming can be achieved in a subtle and unobtrusive fashion.



The path within the main body of Desert weaved between areas of arid-habitat vegetation and imitation rockwork, with enclosures for a variety of North American native species dotted throughout; these were, by and large, reasonably spacious for the needs of their inhabitants and fit with the overall surroundings very well. The overall effect was that one could look across the entirety of the house and feel it represented a single landscape. Unfortunately, due to bird flu restrictions several of the bird species which are usually present within Desert were off-display at the time of our visit; usually there are large numbers of birds free-flying within the house, but we only glimpsed a fraction of these, something which our companions noted was quite unusual. Among the highlight species within this area were Bobcat (Lynx rufus) - a species which I had a better view of here than at any prior collection, and which I am quite fond of - and California Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis californiana); the latter species breeds extremely regularly at Burgers, and as such all individuals in Europe can trace their descent back to the group held within Desert.




Safari

Due to the extremely cold conditions, the main mixed exhibit within Safari was closed, with the species usually present held in their indoor housing. Some of this was off-display, frustratingly including the indoor area for Beisa Oryx (Oryx beisa beisa); although this was not a lifetick species, my views of Beisa at Prague in 2017 had been very poor. However, the major lifetick within this area - the White-bearded Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus albojubatus) - was visible within the indoor stable areas, much to my gratification.



As such, my judgements of this area are rather limited - although from the views we were able to obtain overlooking the mixed paddock it struck me as providing plenty of space for the inhabitants; certainly this is one of the areas of Burgers which I am most anxious to view again in future.



Of the satellite exhibits within Safari, perhaps my favourite was the large and spacious - if simple in design - exhibit for South African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus), which in many respects reminded us of the similar exhibit at Wild Place. I got the impression from my companions that their opinion of this exhibit was slightly less charitable, however, precisely due to the simplicity of the exhibit. For all intents and purposes, the exhibit represented nothing more than a large portion of woodland and open field which had been fenced off; it is possible, of course, that my reaction to this exhibit is somewhat influenced by the fact that I have a soft spot for exhibits which incorporate the surrounding natural vegetation in this fashion - especially when this entails attractive mixed woodland which, even on a bitterly cold day such as this one, was teeming with wild birds.



Mangrove

The newest development at Burgers, the Mangrove is perhaps the area which would most reward a return visit in a handful of years; this will give the vegetation planted within time to grow somewhat and improve the overall "feel" of the house. Nonetheless, even at the present time Mangrove is extremely well-designed and attractive. It can roughly be divided into three "portions" - a large and deep main pool surrounded by lush vegetation and housing West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus), an open area of shallow water and mudflats dotted with a variety of live mangroves and containing a number of species of Fiddler Crab (Uca sp.) along with Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus), and an area of dry tropical forest which provides habitat for the butterflies and free-flying birds present within the house.



The main pool was, I feel confident in stating, the best I had seen for manatee anywhere in Europe - even surpassing the exhibit at Nuremberg, which although it had plenty of depth was much less attractive and seemed a little sterile in comparison to this one. It was certainly far superior to the pool in Bush which, I was informed, had contained the species prior to the construction of Mangrove. The overall effect was enhanced by the bright, airy feel granted by the vast amount of natural light pouring into the house through the transparent domed roof, which is clad with air cushions in order to improve the insulation of heat and humidity within. The footpath within the house weaved around the main pool and the mudflats, at one point taking us directly over the water via a bridge and allowing us to look directly down on the manatees.



However, the best aspect of Mangrove had to be the titular mangroves and mudflats; I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, but the fact there were hundreds of tiny crabs feeding in the muddy silt and skittering around the roots of the mangroves really appealed to me. I had, of course, seen both horseshoe and fiddler crabs in various collections before, but never in such a naturalistic environment. As I have noted previously, I am not a fan of geographic theming for the sake of geographic theming, feeling as I do that most collections either overdo it, cause the effect to come across artificial or focus on tacky ethnographic decoration rather than the environmental "feel" of the exhibit. However, by this point it was very much apparent that Burgers does it very well indeed.



After passing a large viewing window into the main pool, the path through Mangrove passes through the dry forest area of the house; this is the area which perhaps will most benefit from a few more years, as this will give the vegetation more time to grow and settle-in, and allow the population of butterflies and other free-roaming species to increase somewhat.

Rimba

Of the various themed areas within Burgers, I felt that Rimba - based around the concept of a Malaysian forest habitat, and containing species too large for display within Bush - was perhaps my least favourite - although it was nonetheless very good; this statement should only be taken as a reflection of just how much I enjoyed the collection as a whole. However, there are a few particularly notable exhibits which are worthy of particular mention.



The centrepoint of Rimba is a large and well-vegetated mixed exhibit for a wide range of south-east Asian species, designed to look something akin to an open clearing in woodland next to a riverbank. The species displayed within were as follows:

Myanmar Thamin (Rucervus eldii thamin)
Hog Deer (Axis porcinus porcinus)
Javan Banteng (Bos javanicus javanicus)
Reeve's Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)
Sunda Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina)
Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus)

I was particularly taken with this exhibit, as the mixture of species was rather appealing and - possibly due to the wide amount of space available to the inhabitants - they seemed to interact well together with the minimum of friction.



Another particularly good exhibit, in my opinion, was the large and well-vegetated exhibit for Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae); although relatively commonplace in zoological collections I always seem to enjoy seeing this taxon more than I do Amur Tiger, and as such a well-designed exhibit which provides the inhabitants plenty of space in which to move and scope to hide from the view of the public if need be is always appreciated by myself.



However, probably the best exhibit within Rimba other than the main paddock was the very large and spacious exhibit for Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus malayanus); this was perhaps the largest enclosure for this species which I had seen at any zoological collection up to this point in time, providing a large amount of opportunity for the inhabitants to climb around on various logs, boulders and climbing frames. The fact that the mature woodland naturally present within the area had been incorporated into the exhibit further enhanced the effect, although as with many of the outdoor areas of Burgers the fact that I was viewing the enclosure in winter certainly meant that it was nowhere near as lush and attractive as it would be in the warmer months!

Park

The remaining unthemed areas of Burgers - located in two disjunct segments at the entrance to the zoo and at the far end beyond Rimba - fall under the catch-all name of "Park". It was clear that a fair portion of the Park area at the entrance of the zoo was being cleared out, with several exhibits which our companions informed us had been vacated within the last few months. The odds are good that this area will form the hub of the next themed area of Burgers Zoo, whatever it turns out to be. Furthermore, the bitter cold meant that some species - unfortunately including the Congo Blue Duiker (Philantomba monticola congica), a taxon which I had missed at Colchester and as such hoped to view for the first time here - remained indoors and invisible. However, a number of attractive species were nonetheless still visible in this area - including a large and very active group of European Golden Jackal (Canis aureus moreotica), a taxon which is perhaps one of my favourite canid species and which I feel deserves to be represented in more collections. Of course, the main attraction within this area is the mid-size pool for a mixed pair of Arctic Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida hispida) and Baltic Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida botnica), along with their hybrid offspring.



The pool was reasonably large considering the size of the inhabitants, and interestingly provided multiple levels on which to swim due to the presence of a slipway dividing the pool into two segments. Given the fact I knew there were two distinct taxa to identify, along with a youngster of no particular subspecies, we spent a little time at this exhibit trying to work out which individuals were which and ensuring I had decent photographs of all three.



The section of Park at the far end of the zoo was much less noteworthy, truth be told - not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly the least appealing part of the collection as a whole. The bird house located in this section has, we were informed by our companions, seen better days and contained little of note. Perhaps the two most noteworthy aspects of this area were a large aviary for Red Kite (Milvus milvus) and European Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus), and the fact that it is here that the great ape collection at Burgers is located. This comprises a large mixed group of non-subspecific Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and Western Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), and a group of Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).



The two main exhibits within the indoor housing for the great apes were very much similar in basic design, comprising a large open area with a climbing frame containing logs, ropes, metal bars and wooden platforms located in the centre, and struck me as fairly well-suited to the purposes of their inhabitants. However, I did notice that there seemed to be no way for the inhabitants of either exhibit to escape the view of the public.

Overall, then, I was extremely impressed with Burgers Zoo and can certainly understand why it is regarded by many as the best collection in the Netherlands. Not to get ahead of myself too much, given the fact I am yet to discuss the other Dutch collections I visited over the course of this week, but this is a stance which I myself now ascribe to - with the caveat, of course, that there are plenty of Dutch collections which I have yet to visit! I was particularly pleased, as one may be able to tell, with the fact that this collection has successfully united the two "sides" of a debate which seems to divide many zoo enthusiasts at present; to wit, whether geographical theming or species diversity are the most important aspects of a modern zoo. Burgers successfully achieves both without seeming false and artificial in the theming, nor compromising exhibit standards in order to accommodate more species. As I have already noted, I strongly want to return to the collection in a few years once the Mangrove has developed a little, and the next big development has taken place - but perhaps in summer, so that I can judge the exterior areas of the collection when they look their best!

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After leaving the zoo just before closing time, we said our goodbyes to
@korhoen and made final arrangements with @Mr. Zootycoon for our planned meeting at BestZoo the following morning, before once again making our way through the woodland to the south towards the city centre and thence the main train station. Our journey back to Amsterdam was uneventful and comfortable, but as we bought a few odds and ends to eat from a supermarket in Amsterdam Centraal I was surprised to receive a phonecall from Mr. Zootycoon - it turned out that when he had returned home and checked the opening times for BestZoo online, he had discovered that the collection was only open on weekends for the next few months. As such, we would have to reshuffle our plans.

Ultimately, the decision was made to visit BestZoo - and thus Zie-Zoo - on the following Sunday instead; this unfortunately meant that although we would be able to visit Artis in the morning, rather than Sunday as planned, we would have to scrap Artisklas from our plans altogether as this collection is only open to the public on weekends. A bit of a loss, as I always like to see little out-of-the-way collections and the prospect of finally seeing American Mink would have been nice, but worthwhile in order to still visit BestZoo and Zie-Zoo.

(Coming up: The Artis Of Being A Zoonerd)

 

(I feel a little unsatisfied with some of the above review, wanting to say more but not being quite sure where to start - one reason why it took me so long!

As such, I once again note that if anyone has questions about a particular area or wants to know my thoughts on something left unmentioned, please do fire away!)

 

Cheers one of the things which tends to slow my writing down (and make me second-guess myself) is a lack of feedback so knowing I'm providing some help and entertainment is encouraging!

I'll get there anon, but I strongly suggest if you visit Aachen this is one day where you compromise your usual "visit loads of places in one day" method and instead stop to smell the roses the Tierpark itself only takes an hour or so to visit, but the historical sites in the city itself are superior by far.