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Zürich Zoo Zurich zoo review

Discussion in 'Switzerland' started by Writhedhornbill, 19 May 2008.

  1. Writhedhornbill

    Writhedhornbill Well-Known Member

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    Zurich zoo is located in the City of Zurich in Switzerland, and has one of the largest collection of madagascan animals in any zoo in the world. The majority of these madagascan species are kept in the zoo's masoala exhibit. This exhibit is huge. there is an exhibition describing the conservation work done by the zoo in Madagascar, and a cafe overlooking the waterfall and large rainforest pool. The chances of seeing all the animals in here are very small, as the exhibit is like one big Biome, with everything as near as it can be to the wild. Some of the more interesting species kept in here are the madagascan crested ibis, red ruffed lemur, aloatran gentle lemur, vasa parrot, hammerkop and Aldabra giant tortoise.

    But this is not the only Rainforest exhibit at Zurich zoo, there is another, but on a south American theme. There are paddocks outside for the Brazilian Tapirs, capybara and giant anteater and these species tend to breed well here. There is also a group of Plains Viscahas in a glass fronted exhibit. There are actually two exhibits for the Viscahas, and they are connected to each other by little tubes. Bizarrely, the next animals in this house are the zoo's king penguins. Zurich has quite a large group of the species. They have an indoor area, with underwater viewing, and an outdoor area. The penguins tend to be more popular when inside. Then up the stairs to the Siamese crocodiles. Zurich zoo has bred a number of these endangered animals and the young are sometimes on show with their parents. Some of the other animals kept in this house are two toed sloth, Spangled cotinga, Blue crowned mot-mot, grey winged trumpeter, Golden rumped agouti and emperor tamarin.

    The elephants at Zurich are very successful. They have a large paddock and quite spacious inside accommodation. The Adult male her, Maxi, has a terribly small exhibit and he sways back and forth for hours on end. There is also a flock of Crested wood partridge near the exit to the elephant house.

    Zurich zoo participates in the EEP programme for the black rhinoceros, and they have four individuals, one male and three females. Their outside exhibits are fantastic and their inside shelter is nothing to complain about. They share the house with pygmy hippos. The hippos also have an outdoor paddock, which they share with Egyptian geese and Marabou storks. Inside there are many african birds free-flying in the house. Turacos and Starlings are just two examples. At the entrance to the house stands a watchman, a shoebill stork. These birds are extremely rare in zoos, and have not yet successfully bred in zoos. All the individuals seen outside of Africa have been wild caught. If you plan to watch the shoebill move, then you're in for a long wait, as these birds can stay motionless for hours while they watch the water in search of Lungfish, their favourite food.

    Zurich does have quite an impressive collection of hoof-stock, with Banteng, Goitered gazelle and Arabian oryx all being displayed in large paddocks towards the centre of the zoo.

    One of the largest exhibits here is that for the breeding groups of Spectacled bears and coatis. Their exhibit spans over a whole hillside and there are various different things to keep them amused and active. There is a stream running through the centre, which culminates in a waterfall and a pool at the base of the exhibit.

    Other species shown at the zoo are Pileated gibbons, Orang-utans, gorillas, Vicuna, Darwin's rhea, Galapagos tortoise, Falkland island flightless steamer duck and Asian lion.

    Rare species:

    Galapagos tortoise, Golden headed lion tamarin, Shoebill, Darwin's rhea, Banteng, Falkland island Flightless steamer duck, Siamese crocodile, Spangled cotinga, Golden headed quetzal, Gelada, Viscahas, Madagascan crested ibis and Pileated gibbon
     
  2. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Another great review Jonathan, and I agree with your description of the famous Masoala Rainforest building. I visited in late 2003, and it was the most spectacular section of Zurich Zoo. The spectacled bear/coati exhibit is one of the best bear enclosures on the planet, but you failed to mention the highly impressive snow leopard exhibit. There is a large wall of rock that occupies half of the enclosure, and it is larger than the majority of other big cat areas in most zoos.
     
  3. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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  4. Writhedhornbill

    Writhedhornbill Well-Known Member

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    I didn't see the Snow leopard exhibit...
     
  5. ZooMania

    ZooMania Well-Known Member

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    Another great review
     
  6. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    The snow leopard exhibit is in the north section of the zoo, nestled between the impressive tiger and red panda enclosures. It is one of the better exhibits at the excellent zoo, but on another note I seem to recall that the great ape house was a little small for such a large and renowned establishment. I visited in either late October or early November in 2003, and many of the animals were inside their dayrooms.
     
  7. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Exhibit

    Here is the ZooLex link to the outstanding andean bear/coatimundi set of three enclosures. Check out the innovative, remote controlled bridges!
     
  8. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The zoo is, actually, on four narrow terraces on the hillside. Management did a very good job to hide it, but you notice that enclosures seem very narrow and smallish.

    King penguins spend the winter outdoors, and they are allowed a regular walk "parade" outside their exhibit.

    Snow leopard exhibit is possibly the best which I even seen. However, I am not a great fan of nearby tiger, wolf and red panda exhibits, which are rather small and steep, and viewing areas are limited due to lack of space.

    New are area for Asian Lions and Short-clawed Otters (I hope they never mix them, as planned), and soon should come area for Gelada, Nubian Ibex and Hyrax.

    And, zoo is running important conservation support for e.g. Galapagos and Madagascar. Zurich Zoo pays 1/3 of costs of real National Park Masoala in Madagascar, efficently keeping it running.
     
  9. Sun Wukong

    Sun Wukong Well-Known Member

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    @Jurek7: Ah, You know what happened when they mixed the lions together with the parakeets at Zurich...;)?
    @Writhedhornbill: Don't forget to mention the New Caledonian Giant Gecko, the Arabian Oryx, the Thamin, Goodman's mouse lemur, the two coua species and the Philippine crocodiles-You don't see these in most zoos.
    Has the new gelada exhibit been finished yet?
     
  10. Writhedhornbill

    Writhedhornbill Well-Known Member

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    I metioned arabian oryx, and the Philippine crocs came after my visit...
     
  11. Sun Wukong

    Sun Wukong Well-Known Member

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    Whoops, sorry missed that oryx part (thought it would have been mentioned among the rare species). Anything new about the geladas?
     
  12. Yassa

    Yassa Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I think the gelada exhibit is finished but the animals will only move in in autum because the vegetation needs time to grow.

    Some comments on the review:

    Zurich is big in great apes, having bred a huge numbers of gorillas, chimps and sumatran orang utans. The gorilla group is very famous, silverback N`Gola is a son of Jersey`s Jambo and has a huge number of kids from his 2 females (who are both of Stuttgart origin). Unfortunately the great ape facility is very outdated with very small and totally inadequate outdoor enclosures. The indoor enclosures are not great but well equipped with ropes and climbing structures and since the number of species has been reduced in the last years, it`s ok. The chimps moved to Gelsenkirchen/Germany in 2006 or 2007.
    Some of the cages in the monkey house are very good - spacious and very well furbished (for example one of the enclosure for the pilated gibbons).

    Regarding the big cat enclosures, I really liked that part of the zoo - viewing possibilities for visitors are limited for the tiger and wolves enclosure but there is plenty of vegetation and I think the enclosures are pretty good from the animal`s point of view. Same for the snow leopard and little panda enclosures. I havn`t seen the new facility for asian lions which opened in 2007 (?) in person but I guess it`s good too.

    The only point where I disagee with you writhedhornbill is the elephant enclosure - you are totally right about the bull exhibit but the female enclosure is not that much better. The outdoor paddock is only little more then 1.000 m², that is 1/5th of Chester`s enclosure! Way too small for the 3 females and their calves. Most of the adult elephants in Zurich have foot problems and female Chukha died only 40 years old due to foot infections and arthritis. The indoor area for the females is too small for the cold winters in Zurich when the elephants spend a lot of time indoors and I was told my a keeper that the females fight a lot with each other in winter because it lacks space. Thankfully plans for a new enclosure with a much bigger indoor area are underway!
     
  13. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    The Zurich Zoo's enclosures have been debated a few times here at ZooBeat, and so I thought that I'd post the 5 exhibits that are found on ZooLex.

    Red panda exhibit:

    Exhibit


    Mongolian wolf exhibit:

    Exhibit


    Masoala Rainforest exhibit:

    Exhibit


    Euro-Asian Waterfowl exhibit:

    Exhibit


    The outstanding spectacled bear/coati exhibit:

    Exhibit
     
  14. dragon(ele)nerd

    dragon(ele)nerd Well-Known Member

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    new exhibit for the elephants is planning to open 2012, costing 32 million and plans to house 2 bulls, 4 cows and about 3-5 calves. Theme for the exhibit is a dried up river bed, with shady and sheltered places. Also there is going to be a large swimming pool where visitors can easily see the giants play in the water.

    Article is released by elefanten-fan.de no other link.
     
  15. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

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  16. dragon(ele)nerd

    dragon(ele)nerd Well-Known Member

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    Ah excellent thanks, just a long time of finding translation is ahead of me.