For the most part I haven’t been running two matches featuring the same zoo at the same time, but I’m satisfied that Wroclaw isn’t in contention to win so I’m not sure it makes much difference. Therefore. Beauval. Wroclaw. Temperates.
This is another strong Wroclaw territory. They have one of best European section out of all World Cup participants. In addition to the great Carnivore enclosures there are spacious paddocks for Whisent and Barbary macaques/ Mouflon. The paddocks in the upper part of the zoo includes the new Golden Takin exhibit are also very good asset. There are quite solid bird and ecotherm collections also. It could be that Beauval will fight for a point. It is 3:0 for me currently.
This is going to be my only post but Beauval has an entire area devoted to Chinese mountain wildlife with Giant and red pandas, snow leopards and takins. They also have a large wolf and bear exhibit in the bottom corner of the zoo. There are also a few exhibits for animals such as lammergeiers, barbary macaques and cougars. There is probably more that I cannot recall right now.
In addition to the heavy Carnivore collection, which contains: Brown Bear, Gray Wolf, Snow Leopard, Red Panda, Northern Lynx, Manul, Wild Cat, Yellow-throated marten and Asiatic black bear and was presented here, Wroclaw have definitely more to say. In the European part they have huge European Mouflon and Barbary Macaque enclosure: And Wisent area: Few paddocks in the upper part with some very intriguing spicies: Dybowski's sika deer: Cretan goat: Siberian Ibex: And the new Golden Takin home: The Tufted deer living together with the Red Panda
The Birds of pray are presented by Golden Eagle and Steller's sea eagle. The currant inhabitants in the oldest facility of the zoo The Bear Castle are few species of Owls: Next by is the new beautiful aviary belonging to the Cheer pheasant: P.S Sorry for the bad photos
Some Beauval photos of exhibits mentioned by @amur leopard: Giant Panda Red Panda: Snow Leopard Takin & Crane Wolf & Bear Lammergeier Barbary Macaque Puma (only photo I could get) And also this Steller's sea eagle aviary, if one is inclined to count it: I really like how the temperate Asian exhibits look here, while the wolf and bear enclosures look good but I would rate Plzen's forested enclosures higher.
Cross-posting some information I posted in the other match which pertains to the various excellent temperate forest exhibits at Wroclaw focused on native Central European carnivores: Northern Lynx A large and spacious exhibit with plenty of vegetation, climbing opportunities and scope for the inhabitants to hide from view - one of the best carnivore exhibits at the collection. European Otter Photos to follow - currently the only images of this exhibit in the gallery show it whilst it was still under construction. It is a large and extremely pleasant exhibit for the species, comprising a number of connected pools (with transparent underwater tubes connecting these, allowing the otters to swim through in view of the public) within the overall Odarium (a complex of aquarium exhibits displaying the native fauna of the Oder River). Eurasian Wolf Another excellent exhibit, comprising a large and well-vegetated enclosure which is visible through a number of viewing points (including a semi-underground area with viewing windows built into a hillock in the middle of the enclosure, reached through a tunnel, and which contains a large amount of interpretive educational material about wolves, their ecology and natural history, and their relationship throughout history with man) and again one of the highlights of the collection. The following images were taken in winter, not long after the exhibit opened, so I will see if I can root out good images from my visit to show the exhibit in a more lushly-vegetated state: European Brown Bear Another large, well-vegetated and very attractive exhibit for a native European carnivore - it will be apparent by now that this is a real strength and speciality for Wroclaw. European Wildcat Extremely well-vegetated and with plenty of climbing opportunities and areas where the inhabitants can hide from view - the first image shows the exhibit under construction, and the second the exhibit just after it opened. It looks quite different now, so again I'll see what I can root out from my own photographs anon.
And again some cross-posted temperate/mountain carnivores at Wroclaw, these ones pertaining to Asia: Yellow-throated Marten Not many decent shots of this one in the gallery, so again I may have to raid my own photographs however, there are enough shots to adequately demonstrate one of the unique and appealing qualities of this exhibit, which comprises a pair of pleasant enclosures connected by a network of mesh tunnels in the surrounding trees, including overhead the public footpath around the zoo. Pallas Cat A rather large and pleasant exhibit; this photograph shows perhaps two-thirds of the enclosure. Snow Leopard Another rather large and pleasant exhibit; unfortunately most of the images in the gallery only show a portion of the overall enclosure, and whilst it was still under construction, but they still give a decent idea of the exhibit as a whole. I estimate perhaps a third of the exhibit is visible in the first shot; the second shows another portion of the exhibit during the construction process. I'll see if I can add further shots from my own photographs.
Mmm difficult choice. I feel the both have their qualities in this catagory. For now i think my soft spot for panda, especially with such a stellar exhibit, wins out.
@TeaLovingDave: Thanks for the photo essays. However, your second wolf photo depicts the (outstanding) lynx exhibit
Easily fixed if so though I am surprised @Arek would make that error about his local zoo! Aim to upload more shots of both anon, anyhow
It must be mentioned that in the incredible Barbary macaque/mouflon enclosure at Wroclaw, the macaques have access to a large portion of the enormous deciduous trees in the enclosure - a seemingly recent trend in enclosures for this species (Planckendael have done the same).
Yes, Giant Panda is right. I mistakenly placed one picture of lynx exhibit among these from wolf enclosure. During "photo session" from the observation tower I took one photo of lynxes and then without checking upload all pictures to galery. "Nobody's Fault but Mine" (classic Led Zeppelin song)