I do like it when two zoos come up against each other on categories in which they are respectively both strong. I reckon that’s true for Odense and its carried-forward category of birds, and Basel will be beyond pleased to kick off its campaign with ectotherms.
Damnit, can I get some moderator assistance? I accidentally published the poll with a seven day expiry, tried to remove it and re-do it, but now the option to add a poll doesn’t appear to be there.
Yeah, Odense is out of its league here. They used to have a reef tunnel aquarium between the tropical house and the penguin area, and they probably lost 30-40 species of tropical saltwater fish when they emptied it for unknown reasons, but even if they still had it, they wouldn't stand a chance against Basel - they would just lose by a slightly smaller landslide. As for current ectotherms, the only noteworthy thing Odense has is its giant tortoise house, and that's not much compared to the entire Vivarium and Nile crocodile exhibit. They're closer on birds. I think Odense would win solely based on exhibitry - I do like Basel's bird house, but that's because of the historic charm and nice collection. It's not the most fancy bird house out there, at least not the small side aviaries. Basel is also not too great when it comes to penguins, though to my knowledge the subantarctic penguin exhibit has been renovated since I visited three years ago. But because of the superior collection and generally fine bird exhibits, I'll also let Basel win this category.
