Now where was I, before the extra time round so rudely interrupted? Ah yes, Rome, Valencia and Whipsnade. Perhaps, if I might extend my soccer and London geography knowledge to its greatest extent, this might be roughly analogous to Roma v Valencia v... Tottenham? A battle between three almost-but-not-quites, anyway. And this match will be played on almost-but-not-quite humans, which is to say primates.
Whipsnade is out on this category , unless ZSLs conservation efforts count?! This was suggested for Jersey on its poor carnivore collection, but I don't agree with that excuse for an argument, Whipsnade won't beat anyone on anything but ungulates or carnivores, just as Jersey can't possibly win on carnivores! Whipsnade is my 2nd zoo in the UK by the way, but not for its primates - chimpanzee, ring tailed lemur, squirrel monkeys, white faced saki - enough said
Ooh. Good question. I think this would require a debate about the specific conservation programs in question and to what extent, if at all, they can be tied to a specific ZSL campus. In-situ work, I think, can reasonably be counted to Whipsnade's credit. Anything that is predominantly based at Regent's Park shouldn't be.
My suggestion was purely tongue in cheek given the suggestion on the Jersey vote! For me, Whipsnade should not get a vote, just as Jersey's very poor carnivores shouldn't! Must confess, I haven't even looked at the other 2 in detail to decide my vote but they can't have less than 4 species!
A cursory look at the ZTL listings for each collection suggests that in terms of number of species held Rome and Valencia are neck-and-neck at 12 apiece, but Valencia has the marginally more unusual species (Drill and Northern Talapoin being the highlights). Given I know little to nothing of the exhibitry at either collection, but equally agree that Whipsnade probably does not merit a win for this category, my vote would hence have to be based on this fact - Valencia gets it.
Valencia's lemur walk-through is one of the best not-Apenheul ones on the continent, but is hamstrung by the fact that for a significant chunk of the day can only be accessed hourly by guided tour. The larger exhibits for gorillas, drills and chimps are all bare paddocks with little to recommend them. Rome's collection is non-descript to the point of being difficult to recall. The callitrichid exhibits were nice, though.
