This should be a good even match between two roughly even-sized collections with (from what I understand, not having been to Columbus) a similar aesthetic style. This is a great opportunity to really get into the weeds and debate the nuances of what makes a good primate zoo. The rules: You have three votes to award. If you think it's a tight match, award 2 votes to the stronger zoo and 1 to the weaker one. But if you think it's a wider margin than that, award all 3 votes to the winner. Your criteria for how you make your decision is entirely up to you, *except* that you must stay only within the given category. That includes ignoring the results of the other match: no strategic voting. All votes are public, and all votes can be changed. The purpose of the game is to provoke debate, so make your case for why people should vote the same way as you do. Be open to reconsidering your vote.
I visited Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam on July 19th and there are some impressive primate exhibits at this big Dutch zoo. A large White-naped Mangabey exhibit is nice, the Lowland Gorilla enclosure is very well done and spacious for the great apes (although there is a small, outdated side exhibit), the 2018 addition of a spectacular Gelada habitat (the old Big Cat House) is excellent and that makes it 3 African primate species in very good accommodation. In the Asian part of the zoo can be found Sulawesi Crested Macaques and Lion-tailed Macaques in top-notch island exhibits. By contrast, Columbus Zoo (which I visited in 2008) has an awful Sumatran Orangutan exhibit, a Lowland Gorilla enclosure that is Howletts-style and will eventually be bulldozed by the zoo as it is listed as "outdated" in the Master Plan, a disappointing gibbon exhibit and a terrific Bonobo habitat (outdoors) which is curiously functional (indoors). There are also Silvered-leaf Monkeys, Colobus Monkeys and Mandrills. Did I miss any species? I'm definitely going with Rotterdam in this match-up and I'll leave it at 2-1 for now because the Columbus Zoo exhibit for Bonobos is fantastic.
I'm not voting in this one, because I can't really compare the two. But at the moment there are nine votes 2-1 for Rotterdam - it would be nice to see some more explanations in the thread so I can get a sense of the differences/reasons.
Alright then. I haven't visited Rotterdam, but I've visited Columbus twice. Columbus seems to have good gorilla and bonobo exhibits, but my most recent visit was close to a decade ago, so I don't know what exactly changed. I'm still voting 2-1 Rotterdam though.
I addition to the primates Snowleopard mentioned, Rotterdam also has Slender loris and Francois langurs (boh rarities in Europe) in non-remarkable enclosures, Guereza in an enclosure next to the Gorilla, but not mixed with them (yet?). Then there used to be Cotton-top tamarins in the Oceanium and the zoo has 2 enclosures for Ring-tailed lemurs... So overall quite a diverse collection, mostly in good enclosures, and none in bad ones...
What are you talking about? The orang exhibit was very good, and I didn't think the gorilla exhibit was that bad. There is, however, the atrocious all-indoors Siamang enclosure. Red Ruffed Lemur comes out during the Surfin' Safari show.
Interesting that you think the Orangutan exhibit was very good, I thought it was ugly and lacking in climbing structures, although nowhere near as bad as Orangutan exhibits in Toronto or Pittsburgh Other than that, I thought the Gorilla exhibit was pretty decent, the Chimpanzee exhibit was really nice. I remember the Siamang exhibit being pretty bad, but the other primate exhibits were fairly unmemorable. Rotterdam's exhibits sound pretty good so I'm voting 2-1 for them.
I'm talking about how the Siamangs are entirely indoors in Columbus, the Gorillas have an "outdated" exhibit (a direct quote from the zoo's Master Plan) and the Orangutans have what I previously called an "awful" exhibit. I was tempted to vote 3-0 for Rotterdam, but the Columbus Zoo does have a really nice outdoor habitat for Bonobos. 2-1 in favour of Rotterdam will be the final score. Columbus Zoo Orangutan exhibit: Columbus Zoo - Orangutan Exhibit - ZooChat
I haven't visited either zoo so I cannot have a say in this (although I did vote) but I just wanted to note that you cannot vote for a 3-0 Rotterdam win as of now because the caption says Columbus 3 - 0 Rotterdam
Urgh. Sorry. For the record votes on that fourth option will be counted as 3 point votes for Rotterdam.
