And the category is... ungulates. Not quite Antwerp's strong suit, but let's see how they go. ZooChat Cup In summary, the rules of the game are as follows: - You may choose whatever criteria you like to decide how to vote, as long as it only relates to the category above. - You can use whatever resources you like to inform your vote, including Zoolex, Zootierliste, the ZooChat gallery, trip reviews, zoo maps, books and wherever else. You don't have to have visited both zoos to vote. - Votes are public and can be changed at any time before the poll closes. - The aim of the game is to provoke debate. Post explaining why you voted the way you did, and why others should join you. - Voting closes in four days - The one thing you can't do is vote based on anything other than the relevant category.
I kinda wish I'd thought of this earlier. I will include a teaser for the next day's contest for the remaining first round matches, as something to ponder before the category is announced. Tomorrow's tie, then, will be between Poznan and Dvur Kralove.
Both: Asian elephant; eastern bongo; Reeve’s muntjac Antwerp: Artiodactyls: Balabac and Java chevotrains; dromedary; hippopotamus; giraffe; Himalayan tahr; Cape buffalo; okapi; Perissodactyls: Hartmann’s mountain zebra; Malayan tapir Munster Artiodactyls: Defassa waterbuck; common eland; collared peccary; reticulated giraffe; Visayan spotted deer; brindled gnu; springbok; Bactrian camel; Indian gaur; northern warthog Perissodactyls: Grant’s zebra; Przewalski’s horse; southern white rhinoceros Munster's collection wins this, due to its variety of species, but I like the idea of Antwerp having 2 species of chevotrains. I remember when Antwerp had a very good collection of wild cattle, but it now only has Cape bufallos.
I am a huge fan of the historical information given on boards around the enclosures in Antwerp, for example alongside the entire okapi-territory. I am a fan and supporter of Antwerps decision to only house male asian elephants as bridge-time from them needing to leave their original zoo of birth until the can be sent to either their old zoo back or a new zoo/group. With this, I think Antwerp makes up for a smaller collection and it gets my vote.
I voted for Munster because I think Antwerp is still overplaying its hand with ungulates + elephants. Though outdoors is okish for the elephants (and it is good to see that they keep young bulls), the Egyptian temple is completely unfit for elephants as indoor accomodation. I am also far from blown away by their new developments like the buffalo aviary, which is nice for the birds, but seems on the small side for the buffaloes. This is all well, as we compare a historic city zoo with a rather ugly concrete one that is over 100 years younger. But Antwerp plans to bring in White rhino, for which there is no space and they c(/sh)ould well use the space for smaller animals (stock up their bird collection, which was tremendous just 8 years ago, for example....). Munster is maybe a bit boring, but overall fine, with a nice mixed Savannah and Gaur as a highlight.
I haven't been to Munster but have been to Antwerp, and I honestly can't recall an ungulate exhibit that I would give high marks to, so I'm surprised it's winning so solidly: is Munster really that weak? The news that they are bringing white rhinos into an already very constrained site astonishes me, by the way.
Although I haven't visited Munster, I know that both zoos have good collections. However, Antwerp gets my vote for having a few unique animals that Munster does not have (hippos, Malayan tapirs and okapis).
Let's not forget that Antwerp recognized their weakness (this very category) and made sure to fix that problem by buying a second plot of land, moving most of their large ungulates there, and naming it Planckendael. This is obviously not noticeable anymore at present, but knowing your weakness and acting upon it deserves plus points. After all, there's only so much you can do with such little space. Historically Antwerp's collection of ungulates was amazing, at present this is luckily not the case anymore, but in my opinion the recent developments for okapi, giraffe, zebra, and buffalo are impressive enough to surpass a good, but not exceptionally interesting zoo like Munster. I'm also very much a fan of the tapir and hippo enclosures, there's something very magical to standing on that bridge when all hippos and both tapirs are in the water. The exhibits for camels and takins are also wonderfully executed. And, as mentioned above, two mouse deer species is always fun. Oh, and I'm biased.
Although I don’t have the excuse of being Belgian, I too am biased! I rather like Munster, and applaud the enormous improvements there over recent years, but this has to be Antwerp. As @Vision says above, there are some very nicely-executed exhibits there, while the okapi house, while not remarkably in itself, is clearly fantastic because it has okapis in it (it's also very well done, in an understated sort of way). Finally, the Egyptian Temple is certainly not cutting edge zoo design, but is wonderfully evocative of a long-gone era, and is one of the great European zoo buildings.
