I've gone 3-0 Vienna for now, mainly because a chunk of the zoo is set in a temperate forest with enclosures for temperate animals within it. I'm not seeing too many temperate species at Henry Doorly but I'm guessing most are kept at the Lee Simmons park they also run. Bad luck Omaha!
Ever since I have seen the categories for the final round, two zoos are stuck in my mind as a great favorites in the last challenge. Burgers and Omaha. Regrettably the Dutch zoo left the game early and I seriously consider Omaha as one of the zoos with the greatest chances to cross the line first. But when it comes to the current round I very much agree with @Brum and think that Vienna deserves to win. The zoo is located in a former Emperor's hunting residence and serious part of it is set in a temperate forest. The spacious enclosures for the Arctic Wolves and European Lynx nicely represent the natural forest habitat of the two carnivores. The Spectacled Bear enclosure is also remarkable. Even not as good as Zurich's, but still one of the best for the species, imo. The Tree top bridge from Tyrol farm, passing trough the woods are giving you chance to explore the locale Avifauna, which is also unique representation of the Temperate forest. I will also vote 3:0 for Vienna, waiting to see, what Omaha has to show.
I'm not sure Omaha has much to give here. The closest exhibit complex to temperate forest would be the new Asian area, but it's more highland-themed than forest-themed. The lower area that has Pere David's deer and Indian rhino does feel like an open woodland, although only one of those two species is a temperate forest animal. As for North American species, the zoo doesn't have much representing the continent besides desert animals in the Dome. Honestly, I think a 3-0 for Vienna is a fair score here.
In addition to the forest animals already mentioned, I can only think of 4 species in Vienna that would qualify: Giant panda, Red panda, Amur leopard & Siberian tiger. All of these are kept in the monumental part of the zoo in enclosures that do a good job of integrating historic architecture with modern husbandry. Except that all are well planted/structured none can claim to be a forest...
But then, wouldn't tropical cloud forests pertain to 'tropical forests' and/or 'mountains and poles', but not temperate forests?
This is a good correction. Was considering Spactacled bears as one of the predator lives in very diverse habitats, but the high altitude cloud forests they occupy, most probably can be considered as a part of the mountain/pole bioms. Was wondering also, about Manchurian Crane, neiboring Spectacled bear in a similar, but smaller enclosure, one used to house Japanese Serow few years ago.
Despite how great of a zoo Omaha is for most categories, I have to echo the above comments. 3-0 Vienna by default. ~Thylo
A bit of a letdown category for a final I'd say. Considering despite the efforts of fellow ZooChatters here above there just seems to be nothing in favor here for Omaha bar like 1 or 2 animals. So there really is no option it feels to even sympathy vote for Omaha and go 2-1 for Vienna. It just has to be 3-0.
Every zoo will have one match on every category. Inevitably that means there will be some lopsided contests. There’ll be some good ones too.
This match is being extended to bring it into line with changes to the category. The debate up until now has revolved around ‘temperate forests’, but you can now also discuss montane species and exhibits as part of the expanded Temperates category. I’ve added an additional day, more or less, to give time to discuss how the new elements should affect your votes. If you vote in this poll, it supersedes your previous vote. Otherwise, your vote stands. For more info:
Should probably count and also the Barbary macaques/ Barbary sheep + Himalayan Tahr rocky exhibits. Omaha has also arguments here with the excellent Himalayan ruins in the new Asian highlands. As far as know, they deliberately picked endangered cold climates species to emphasize their conservation role. Sloth bear, Snow leopard, Red panda, Amur tiger, Goral and Takin. I will change my vote to 2:1 for Vienna, because their Temperature forest advantage still gives them edge.
My intuition is, they shouldn't count, because with the current categories it makes more sense (to me) to associate cloud forests with the 'tropical forest' biome, rather than the 'temperates' biome.
Spectacled bear do however also live above the tree line, and given that they live in Mountain forests, I would personally count them here....
FYI all - the correct score for this match, including votes in the previous poll that weren't superseded by votes in this one, is Vienna 68, Omaha 28.
Which rather shows how massive a difference the category refinement can make, as it was initially Vienna 90 Omaha 6
