ZooChat Cup Group B2: Chester vs Vienna

These are all nice aviaries but in my opinion it is hard to compete with Vienna's aviaries.

You missed Dalmatian pelicans.

Anyway, here is what Vienna has to offer

Thanks ton @lintworm, @twilighter and a few others for the photos - much appreciated.

Now, as you enter the zoo and turn right, you are immediately faced with the Giraffe House, and behind it the main giraffe enclosure. I believe they are mixed with Southern ground hornbills. The Giraffe house was originally built in 1828 when the zoo started collecting animals. The giraffes were one of the first animals to arrive. The building was recently renovated to better house the giraffes. It allows viewing on two levels, one very high up next to the giraffes' heads. The house is around 400m2 in area. A glass roof allows light in which is especially useful in Austrian cold winters when they cannot go outside. It can also be sealed from the cold to preserve heat in the building.

(Photo below taken from lower viewing area)



(Photo below taken from upper viewing area)


Next are the antelope enclosures. These are perhaps the most inadequate enclosures in the zoo due to their relatively small size, but otherwise they have large lakes and the nicest architecture around any ungulate enclosure in any zoo there is for sure.



Next is the Monkey Houe. The only two African species here are Angolan colobuses and Meerkats. They are housed in the same mixed species exhibit with both an indoor and outdoor enclosure. Here is the indoor enclosure. It can also be viewing from an upper or lower deck.





Next is the Rathaus. A twist on the German word for Town Hall (which is also Rathaus since raten means to advise in German), it used to house hippopotamuses and recently got turned into a large abode for rats. Here is a photo of the kind of exhibit that is in there. The only African species in the building are Gambian pouched rats.


Lastly, near the rats is a small house with a large indoor enclosure for Vor der Decken's hornbills and Dwarf mongoose. They share a exhibit which is meant to resemble an arid savanna area.
The first photo shows a section and the second shows the whole exhibit.



More in the next one.

 

Then, at the top of the zoo, there is perhaps the nicest bird house I will ever see. It has high ceiling so as to allow lots of space for the birds to fly up and away from the visitors. The rooms are designed perfectly for the environment that they represent, with only the walls of the house looking out of place. The birds housed are all small apart from Northern bald ibises, so for example the African aviary might house manakins and sicklebills. In the middle of the two aviaries is a small room adorned with branches and foliage for sloths. The rooms can also be climatized in the winter when an outdoor aviary would potentially kill many of the birds due to the extremely low temperatures reached in Austrian winters.






And then the visitors can observe Dalmatian pelicans on a large lake.


In the final exhibit in the main zoo near the rhinoceroses, the visitors can observe Barbary sheep and Barbary macaques in a mountainous exhibit meant to resemble the Atlas mountains in which they live.



And lastly, as the visitors exit the zoo, they spot the Desert House tucked in to the left of the path out of the zoo. In here, the best exhibit for elephant shrews in Europe and perhaps the world can be found. They are mixed with birds.



Thanks to @LaughingDove, @lintworm, @twilighter and others.

 

A couple points of disagreement with amur leopard:

I do not think the "antelope" enclosures (African paddocks is a better word as these also house zebras, crowned cranes, marabous and flamingos) are certainly appropriate enough. They're not huge, but they also don't house huge amounts of animals. There's also Egyptian fruit bats (can confirm, spotted them) in the hippo house.

The bird house is amazing, and I think you understate this a little bit. They are among the best walkthrough bird enclosures I've been in (although they are small) and the species line-up is great with eastern paradise whydah, green-winged pytilia (which is the species the whydahs parasitize on in nature), blue-naped mousebirds, broad-winged white-eye, southern red bishop, white-fronted bee-eater and African jacana (among others). In the sloth room there's also a terrarium for an African bullfrog.

In the desert house, there are also enclosures for Omani mastigure, armadillo girdled lizard, Egypt hedgehog and Carter's rock gecko. The elephant shrews are combined with angulate tortoises as well, which is a rather rare species in zoos.

 

They also house elands, addra gazelles and nyalas, so they could also be called antelope enclosures.

Really? I can't really remember much from that room but I didn't think there was an exhibit behind me in the hippo house.

Otherwise I agree with the majority of your points.

 

The fruit bats are free-ranging in the hippo house.

 

They house Mhorr dama gazelle!

 

I am a rebel and would vote for an undecided 2-2! Hence been forced upon making a choice that not adequately reflects my opinions on each.

This option is not available .... Plus I do feel some Wiener Zoo parts go largely underreported and appreciated!

 

I haven't seen herps mentioned, but I would expect that Chester would struggle there (given Madagascar doesn't count)?

 

Does Madagascar not count for this category? Since it is part of the African continent?

 

Birds in number of species and diversity, really? Can we have an exact count on that?

As for Aquarium and Herps I am afraid I would rate Schoenbrunn very much the better half!

 

Maybe it lives in the canopy alongside the African Lion-tailed Macaque