Miscellaneous mammals. You know, that’d be a great idea for an annual challenge. (Wroclaw can wait a night or two).
Everyone knew you would say that But in all seriousness this looks to be an interesting match - neither collection is overblessed with category species (Zurich has 16, Vienna 22) and the vast majority of species are duplicated across the two, so it really does come down to how well they are exhibited. And I don't know any ready answers on that one, having visited neither
Been in the both collections recently and it's a tough call.Exotarium is exquisite small building containing Plain Viscacha, Tamandua and Aguty. The South Americans are also very well presented. I am only bit reserved about the Koala and Wallaby in Australia zone. Vienna has great Rat and Koala houses. Few species in the Monkey house and they are also very good in presenting South America. Both collections have bats in their Tropical halls. It is damn close.
ZTL lists, roughly but not exactly confirming Dave's numbers (showing a somewhat wider gap of nearly 2-1 for Vienna): Zurich (13) Giant anteater Naked mole-rat Koala Bennett's/red-necked wallaby St Vincent agouti Capybara Linne's two-toed sloth Swinhoe's striped squirrel Rock hyrax Rodriguez flying fox Barbary striped grass mouse Plains viscacha European rabbit (Wild rabbit)* Vienna (24) Giant anteater Naked mole-rat Koala Bennett's/red-necked wallaby St Vincent agouti Capybara Linne's two-toed sloth Egyptian spiny mouse Egyptian hedgehog Seba's short-tailed bat South African pygmy mouse European ground squirrel Gambian pouched rat Red-rumped agouti Greater Egyptian jerboa Indian flying fox Large flying fox Short-eared elephant shrew Egyptian fruit bat Northern Luzon giant cloud rat Northern treeshrew Black-tailed prairie dog Pallas' long-tongued bat Southern three-banded armadillo *Does this mean Zurich participates in any conservation work for European rabbits? I like that Vienna has four bat species, and that we can directly compare koala exhibits (a rare occurrence). A question: what exactly is the critique of Zurich's koala house? Opinion of it seems tepid when brought up, but the photos posted of it look fine to me.
Zurich also has a fantastic bat museum and rehabilitation center on site, which was completely revamped recently (see top link). The rehabilitation center is visible to visitors, as are the bat feedings. Fledermaus-Welt | Zoo Zürich Fledermäuse | Zoo Zürich
I actually forgot, that the Desert house can also be part of this game and host some little gems like Egyptian hedgehog + huge Naked mole-rat tube labirint. This, plus the beautiful Rat House in Schönbrunn and not so favourite Australian dessert in Zurich will make me follow the wave and vote 2:1 for Vienna.
I suspect the below review might have something to do with this: While the naturalistic interpretation of Zurich's koala enclosure might be somewhat off, I argue that at least Zurich is (abundantly) using natural elements in its koala enclosure. This separates it from every other koala enclosure I have seen, including Vienna, which is more reminiscent of a summer home patio, than a natural environment. However, despite the perhaps off-context theming and a certain weirdness resulting from this at Zurich's enclosure, I find it the decidedly most pleasant koala enclosure I have seen so far. The likely reason for the intriguing groundworks of the enclosure are apparent (?) plans for a future ground-dwelling cohabitant in the enclosure. Zurich enclosure on the left <-> Vienna enclosure on the right
Bennett's/red-necked wallaby. In a 'red-desert' themed walk-through together with emu at Zurich Zurich enclosure on the left <-> no images of Vienna enclosure found
Flying foxes Zurich enclosure on the left <-> Vienna enclosure on the right (find the flying fox) feeder on the left
Agouti Zurich enclosure on the left <-> Vienna on the right (no enclosure images found) (ground level front view) (midlevel side view)
naked mole rat Zurich: Animals in collection but enclosure not yet open to public - hence no images. Vienna:
Zurich only: Plains viscacha Semien: Hyraxes Swinhoe's squirrel 'other mammals' and education at Zurich (this sign no longer exists at Zurich, but remains illustrative of the excellent educational displays at the zoo) (European rabbit enclosure as educational illustration of the invasives problem in Australia) domestic mice @ elephant park Barbary striped grass mouse @ ape house -> no images Porcupine (Lewa) -> no images, enclosure not yet open bat museum and rehabilitation center: Fledermaus-Welt | Zoo Zürich Fledermäuse | Zoo Zürich
Vienna only (Tree) porcupines Elephant shrew @ desert house Rat house Coypu European ground squirrel no images: Egyptian spiny mouse Egyptian hedgehog Seba's short-tailed bat South African pygmy mouse Gambian pouched rat Greater Egyptian jerboa Northern Luzon giant cloud rat Northern treeshrew Pallas' long-tongued bat Southern three-banded armadillo
