Just a small heads up: Zurich zoo will be open 'till 10pm this Saturday 1 July. Elephant-swimming is usually at 10:15am (Sat & Sun). Be at the underwater window at least 15 minutes early if you want a seat (its roughly a 10 minutes walk from either zoo entry). The free tour through the otherwise closed 'hiking trails' on the opposite side of the main trail in the Masoala hall starts at 10:30, so if you leave the elephant bath early you might be able to also squeeze it in (Sat only, usually starts from the small circular dead-end near the pond in front of the restaurant). When the zoo is open 'till late keepers will usually try to spot the mouse lemurs for visitors at dusk (though I myself didn't have any luck on the one occasion). There are countless other activities, ask at the ticket booth for info.
Like a Rhinestone Cowboy: FunkyGibbon in Europe
- Thread starter FunkyGibbon
- Start date
Assuming Basel is on the itinerary, I strongly recommend squeezing in Lange Erlen after the zoo. It's free and has some top-notch small carnivore enclosures.
Zurich will blow you away.
Zurich will blow you away.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
I'm visiting Zurich on Tuesday so is there no elephant bathing in those days? Thanks for the tip on the mouse lemurs!
afaik 'scheduled' elephant baths are only on saturdays and sundays. The keepers keep the indoor pool closed with hot wire until the intended time and then lure the elephants into the water with fruits and other goodies, which seems to work very consistently. Outside those times the elephants always have access to the different pools and will go swimming on their own time - so with a little patience and luck you might still see them. Only the indoor pool has underwater viewing. Ask for the times when the elephant indoors is prepared with new food, as there is a viewing window in a small hut indoors with a feeding station directly above and below the visitors, letting you look directly into the mouth of the elephant as it feeds (have not seen it myself though).
The zoo is only open 'till 10pm on Saturday - so no chance of seeing any mouse lemurs I fear. There are quite a few leaf-tail geckos hiding in plain sight on trees along the visitor path in Masoala however, and spotting them is quite an experience. If you cannot spot them yourself (which you likely wont) ask one of the volunteers in the hall to help you find one. If you leave Masoala before having spotted at least a giant day gecko, a chameleon, a red ruffed lemur (best place to look for them is the roof construction), a red-fronted lemur (usually on or near the aldabra giant tortoise island), and a madagascan ibis (usually in the underwood on the opposite side of the visitor trail near the large pond), you are leaving too early as these are typically fairly easy to spot. If you want to go to one of the restaurants in the zoo it has to be the one in Masoala (the salad buffet is decent value for money).
There are a few things I would recommend not to miss that usually receive no mention here: in the late morning 'till early afternoon there is a island with squirrel monkeys with a supervised walk-through experience in the Pantanal section of the zoo. The Galapagos giant tortoise indoor and outdoor exhibit is unspectacular but imo well executed - especially the educational displays indoors. The aviaries at the top end of the zoo are also unspectacular but rather well executed. In the lion enclosure there is a small alley between the house and the outdoor enclosure that lets you get scarily close to the lions. The former manul enclosure to the right of the lion house is now inhabited by Lord Derby's parakeets and Swinhoe's striped squirrels - it is likely the most active enclosure in the entire zoo. There is a rather excellent permanent exhibition on local bats in a large farmhouse next to the childrens' zoo and directly next to and uphill from the underground entry path to masoala (follow the stairs next to the large slide and you will see the building on the other side of the small farm square).
If you want to leave something out, leave out the asiatic hoofstock section at the center of the old part of the zoo, the andean camelids on the left hilltop and the childrens' zoo in the new section.
Generally speaking the zoo is designed with countless elements and details - both small and large, obvious and subtle - to facilitate rather amazing up-close experiences with the animals. But you need to be attentive to notice them and it takes patience and also a bit of luck for those encounters to actually happen.
The zoo is only open 'till 10pm on Saturday - so no chance of seeing any mouse lemurs I fear. There are quite a few leaf-tail geckos hiding in plain sight on trees along the visitor path in Masoala however, and spotting them is quite an experience. If you cannot spot them yourself (which you likely wont) ask one of the volunteers in the hall to help you find one. If you leave Masoala before having spotted at least a giant day gecko, a chameleon, a red ruffed lemur (best place to look for them is the roof construction), a red-fronted lemur (usually on or near the aldabra giant tortoise island), and a madagascan ibis (usually in the underwood on the opposite side of the visitor trail near the large pond), you are leaving too early as these are typically fairly easy to spot. If you want to go to one of the restaurants in the zoo it has to be the one in Masoala (the salad buffet is decent value for money).
There are a few things I would recommend not to miss that usually receive no mention here: in the late morning 'till early afternoon there is a island with squirrel monkeys with a supervised walk-through experience in the Pantanal section of the zoo. The Galapagos giant tortoise indoor and outdoor exhibit is unspectacular but imo well executed - especially the educational displays indoors. The aviaries at the top end of the zoo are also unspectacular but rather well executed. In the lion enclosure there is a small alley between the house and the outdoor enclosure that lets you get scarily close to the lions. The former manul enclosure to the right of the lion house is now inhabited by Lord Derby's parakeets and Swinhoe's striped squirrels - it is likely the most active enclosure in the entire zoo. There is a rather excellent permanent exhibition on local bats in a large farmhouse next to the childrens' zoo and directly next to and uphill from the underground entry path to masoala (follow the stairs next to the large slide and you will see the building on the other side of the small farm square).
If you want to leave something out, leave out the asiatic hoofstock section at the center of the old part of the zoo, the andean camelids on the left hilltop and the childrens' zoo in the new section.
Generally speaking the zoo is designed with countless elements and details - both small and large, obvious and subtle - to facilitate rather amazing up-close experiences with the animals. But you need to be attentive to notice them and it takes patience and also a bit of luck for those encounters to actually happen.
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FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
@antonmuster, possibly my new favourite post on this site. Thank you so much. I'm sure I'll miss some of those things, but I'll get more of them now. I rather like asian hoofstock so that's a must, but I hope I'll have time for the whole thing as I'll be there the entire day.One small note:
Does this mean it'll only cost my left kidney?
If you have a whole day you should be able to see everything in a relaxed manner, the zoo is not that big.
And yes it will only cost you your left kidney (or your right, you can choose
), for a well filled plate you would pay about 15-20 CHF, but the view from the restaurant is worth it...
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if it's a salad buffet, you'd probably want some kidney added....
Most definitely (indeed it let us see three or four species we didn't see otherwise last time). Even if you only stop there for a drink and a snack it's definitely worth it.
your welcome 
You can comfortably see the entire zoo - including revisits of your favorite areas - in 3 to 5 hours. If you have the full day for your visit and you arrive at the zoo at opening time (9:00) you should have more than enough time for visiting something else that day (dusk currently only starts around 22:00). Tierpark Langenberg and Kinderzoo Rapperswil are both about 1h from the zoo, entrance to entrance. Tierpark Langenberg (take the train S4 to Langnau/Gattikon) charges no entry, focuses on local fauna (though quite a few of them are actually locally extinct) and has excellent enclosures for european wildcat, red fox, and european lynx (though spotting the inhabitants may be a challenge). Rapperswil is a charming little zoo operated by circus Knie (somewhat of a Swiss institution) that focuses on children.
On your way back to town from zurich zoo with the tram you can easily visit the natural history museum (free entry) in the university quarter. In walking distance there are other nice and free university exhibits/museums, particularly FocusTerra. If you want to explore the city I would recommend a walk through the old-town directly downhill from the university quarter, then to the opera square at Bellevue from where you can take a stroll down the lakeside parks, rent a pedalo boat and have a swim in the lake, visit the large Tinguely machine-sculpture, the de Corbusier house, or the chinese garden.
You can comfortably see the entire zoo - including revisits of your favorite areas - in 3 to 5 hours. If you have the full day for your visit and you arrive at the zoo at opening time (9:00) you should have more than enough time for visiting something else that day (dusk currently only starts around 22:00). Tierpark Langenberg and Kinderzoo Rapperswil are both about 1h from the zoo, entrance to entrance. Tierpark Langenberg (take the train S4 to Langnau/Gattikon) charges no entry, focuses on local fauna (though quite a few of them are actually locally extinct) and has excellent enclosures for european wildcat, red fox, and european lynx (though spotting the inhabitants may be a challenge). Rapperswil is a charming little zoo operated by circus Knie (somewhat of a Swiss institution) that focuses on children.
On your way back to town from zurich zoo with the tram you can easily visit the natural history museum (free entry) in the university quarter. In walking distance there are other nice and free university exhibits/museums, particularly FocusTerra. If you want to explore the city I would recommend a walk through the old-town directly downhill from the university quarter, then to the opera square at Bellevue from where you can take a stroll down the lakeside parks, rent a pedalo boat and have a swim in the lake, visit the large Tinguely machine-sculpture, the de Corbusier house, or the chinese garden.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Swiss Interlude Part Two: A Strange Berning Sensation
I hadn't planned to do the Bern Tierpark; I was there to visit a friend and I'm usually a little shy of foisting my hobby on non-enthusiasts, but luckily I have good friends [citation needed] and this one had already included the zoological attractions in our itinerary. I found out as we were leaving Bern that there's also a National History Museum; just another reason to revisit one of the finest cities I've thus far encountered in my life.
Bern Bear Pits, June 30th 2017
A very short report, on a single exhibit. Today's bear enclosure sits on a large tract of land on the steep bank of the Aahe. Simply put it's one of the best bear exhibits I've seen, of a similar standard to Plzen's. What really elevates it is that it is next to the old bear pit so you can compare the two styles of exhibitry; even better is that the three brown bears are still occasionally put in there for scatter feeds whilst the main enclosure is cleaned (on my visit this apparently included the hunt for a stray cat). To my mind this is the perfect solution to the tricky balance between tradition and modernity that many zoos face, although it obviously requires space to execute properly. A visit to Bern must obviously include this iconic attraction.
Bern Tierpark, July 1st 2017
Bern's zoo has a simple tagline: "More space for less animals". This is stridently advertised inside and outside the zoo with very little thought given to the ZooChatters who could be triggered into paroxysms by such a distasteful notion. Fortunately, it has been executed genuinely well, such that I doubt anyone could truly complain.
The zoo consists of four sections: a farmyard, a series of enclosures on the riverbank, two huge paddocks for Wisent and Red deer in the woods above the river, and a small traditional zoo section. The riverbank enclosures are viewed from the public footpath, which I liked. It's a statement of intent that the zoo is there to serve the community; as well as one of confidence in the value proposition of the rest of the collection. The enclosures are stunningly situated, and of a high standard; the otters' is the best I've seen, although I didn't actually see the otters themselves. 'Tis the way of these things.
The more traditional zoo section is entered through a tropical house with no geographical theme. It is however, stuffed with thoughtful, high quality exhibits for all kinds of beasts; my personal favourite was the mixed enclosure for Village weaver, Lovebird, Elephant Shrew and Girdled Lizard. In front of this was a termite nest (with underground viewing), the idea being that occasionally termites stray into the main exhibit where they provide dietary and behavioral enrichment for the other inhabitants. Outside of this building are a small variety of exhibits for paleoartic species. The centre piece of the zoo is a lovely paddock for Musk ox; most of the other exhibits surround this. To my mind Musk ox are one of those species that just look alien, and are therefore perfect for zoos because they evoke a sense of wonder.
Really the fundamental thing to say about Bern is that all of the exhibits, with literally almost no exceptions, are top-notch, and would be considered the highlight of most zoos of a similar size. There are wildcats (and kittens), Persian leopards, Assuari bears, grey wolves and Arctic foxes. There is a wonderfully deep pool for common seals, and a fantastic aviary with underwater viewing for puffins. There's also a surprising amount of outdoor vivaria for temperate reptiles and memorably harvest mouse.
You'd probably expect me to declare my love for the zoo at this point, but I can't quite do it. It's a fantastically accomplished place, and I genuinely think that pound for pound it's the best zoo I've visited. The problem is that there are really very few of those pounds, and so just a couple of species choices that weren't to my taste slightly spoilt it for me. Also, it has to be said that there is a lot of underutilized space, mostly in the over-indulgently large woodland paddocks. The next project is to modernize the ibex slopes, which are already very good, but this will also add an alpine aviary, a welcome addition. I hope that in the future when I return to Bern I find a much extended footprint for the classic zoo section, with perhaps another 'hot' building and more temperate species. This is an establishment that really deserves to be mentioned at the top of Europe's best small zoos, and if the zeal that has fuelled the modernisation of the existing collection can be put into further development it will surely get there.
I hadn't planned to do the Bern Tierpark; I was there to visit a friend and I'm usually a little shy of foisting my hobby on non-enthusiasts, but luckily I have good friends [citation needed] and this one had already included the zoological attractions in our itinerary. I found out as we were leaving Bern that there's also a National History Museum; just another reason to revisit one of the finest cities I've thus far encountered in my life.
Bern Bear Pits, June 30th 2017
A very short report, on a single exhibit. Today's bear enclosure sits on a large tract of land on the steep bank of the Aahe. Simply put it's one of the best bear exhibits I've seen, of a similar standard to Plzen's. What really elevates it is that it is next to the old bear pit so you can compare the two styles of exhibitry; even better is that the three brown bears are still occasionally put in there for scatter feeds whilst the main enclosure is cleaned (on my visit this apparently included the hunt for a stray cat). To my mind this is the perfect solution to the tricky balance between tradition and modernity that many zoos face, although it obviously requires space to execute properly. A visit to Bern must obviously include this iconic attraction.
Bern Tierpark, July 1st 2017
Bern's zoo has a simple tagline: "More space for less animals". This is stridently advertised inside and outside the zoo with very little thought given to the ZooChatters who could be triggered into paroxysms by such a distasteful notion. Fortunately, it has been executed genuinely well, such that I doubt anyone could truly complain.
The zoo consists of four sections: a farmyard, a series of enclosures on the riverbank, two huge paddocks for Wisent and Red deer in the woods above the river, and a small traditional zoo section. The riverbank enclosures are viewed from the public footpath, which I liked. It's a statement of intent that the zoo is there to serve the community; as well as one of confidence in the value proposition of the rest of the collection. The enclosures are stunningly situated, and of a high standard; the otters' is the best I've seen, although I didn't actually see the otters themselves. 'Tis the way of these things.
The more traditional zoo section is entered through a tropical house with no geographical theme. It is however, stuffed with thoughtful, high quality exhibits for all kinds of beasts; my personal favourite was the mixed enclosure for Village weaver, Lovebird, Elephant Shrew and Girdled Lizard. In front of this was a termite nest (with underground viewing), the idea being that occasionally termites stray into the main exhibit where they provide dietary and behavioral enrichment for the other inhabitants. Outside of this building are a small variety of exhibits for paleoartic species. The centre piece of the zoo is a lovely paddock for Musk ox; most of the other exhibits surround this. To my mind Musk ox are one of those species that just look alien, and are therefore perfect for zoos because they evoke a sense of wonder.
Really the fundamental thing to say about Bern is that all of the exhibits, with literally almost no exceptions, are top-notch, and would be considered the highlight of most zoos of a similar size. There are wildcats (and kittens), Persian leopards, Assuari bears, grey wolves and Arctic foxes. There is a wonderfully deep pool for common seals, and a fantastic aviary with underwater viewing for puffins. There's also a surprising amount of outdoor vivaria for temperate reptiles and memorably harvest mouse.
You'd probably expect me to declare my love for the zoo at this point, but I can't quite do it. It's a fantastically accomplished place, and I genuinely think that pound for pound it's the best zoo I've visited. The problem is that there are really very few of those pounds, and so just a couple of species choices that weren't to my taste slightly spoilt it for me. Also, it has to be said that there is a lot of underutilized space, mostly in the over-indulgently large woodland paddocks. The next project is to modernize the ibex slopes, which are already very good, but this will also add an alpine aviary, a welcome addition. I hope that in the future when I return to Bern I find a much extended footprint for the classic zoo section, with perhaps another 'hot' building and more temperate species. This is an establishment that really deserves to be mentioned at the top of Europe's best small zoos, and if the zeal that has fuelled the modernisation of the existing collection can be put into further development it will surely get there.
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I like the sound of this.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Swiss Interlude Part 3: Baseley, sage, rosemary and thyme
I'm a little behind. Sorry for the corresponding drop in detail. I was tired last night and I'm tired tonight, but it needs to be done. I've avoided serious jetlag on this trip, which is a blessing, but I still struggle in the evenings. Hopefully it'll have worn off by the time I go to Germany.
Basel Zoo, July 2nd 2017
Unusually for a zoo I managed to walk past the entrance without noticing it because it was set back from the road, and I was on some kind of overpass bridge. Easily rectified though. I had managed to find a hostel very close to both the zoo and the train station so I was walking from there to meet meet ZooChat's very own lintworm. They were both good company and an excellent guide and definitely brightened up a slightly damp day.
No walkthrough or in-depth coverage, I'll just do ups and downs and an overall impression. I've got to develop a sustainable writing style that I can stick to
Highlights
Indian Rhinos in a classic rhino house. Sometimes when I see these guys I think I'm looking at something prehistoric. Strangely it's not every time I see them, so I treasure those moments. They have a calf at Basel which is nice as well. We also had the privilege of watching a scuffle between the two females.
The snow leopard exhibit is open-minded topped with no overhang, just a single 'hot' wire. More intriguing than terrifying.
The Antelope House now holds giraffe, okapi and lesser kudu. A great line-up and a beautiful old house. I believe it's over 100 years old?
The whole Africa section is very nice, but the highlight is the Etosha House. We walked it backwards, which meant the food chain theme was rather lost on me, but I enjoyed almost every exhibit, even though I appear to have forgotten most of them...
The ape house. It's functional in a good way, with multiple indoor and outdoor spaces for each species. We spent a long time in here just watching the group dynamics. Also nice to see Europe's oldest gorilla!
Lowlights
I might be channeling lintworm here, but the lower section of the zoo, around the domestic species, is rather lacklustre. The weather probably didn't help, but essentially a good third of the zoo by area would not be missed.
Controversially, I'm going to say the Gamgoas House. It has two great exhibits, but a lot of space is just informational panels in the middle of the house. I think they missed an opportunity when they redid this to be honest.
All of the penguin pools are small and shallow, but I believe new enclosures are in the pipeline.
Overall Impression
Basel is a good zoo, but I don't think it's a great one. This is typified by the new elephant exhibit; it's on the small side, functional with lots of enrichment and kind of a 'sandstone meets post-industrial' aesthetic. It will do the job well but I doubt it will make many lists on this site. The hope to mix the cheetahs with the bull is interesting though.
I've been running a line around in my head: Basel is everything a zoo should be, but none of the things a zoo could be. A meaningless simplification of course, but I wonder if readers will catch my meaning anyway. It's a good collection of animals, housed in good conditions with good educational materials and lots of breeding. But what could you point to that is world-class? I'm not sure.
Perhaps I'm being harsh because I was somehow expecting a little more. I'm not really sure why, and that's certainly not Basel's fault. It compares favorably to, for example, London, a zoo of almost identical acreage. It's probably better than Frankfurt, although I'd obviously rather visit the latter. To give it a positive spin, if I made a list of the zoos I've visited I think Basel would be at the very top, of the list of zoos that aren't true top-tier establishments.
I should finish by saying that the plan for the Ozeanium, a separate aquarium outside the zoo, are ambitious and if executed according to the models we saw, will cement the region as a destination for zoo-enthusiasts. Let's hope it all goes as planned.
I'm a little behind. Sorry for the corresponding drop in detail. I was tired last night and I'm tired tonight, but it needs to be done. I've avoided serious jetlag on this trip, which is a blessing, but I still struggle in the evenings. Hopefully it'll have worn off by the time I go to Germany.
Basel Zoo, July 2nd 2017
Unusually for a zoo I managed to walk past the entrance without noticing it because it was set back from the road, and I was on some kind of overpass bridge. Easily rectified though. I had managed to find a hostel very close to both the zoo and the train station so I was walking from there to meet meet ZooChat's very own lintworm. They were both good company and an excellent guide and definitely brightened up a slightly damp day.
No walkthrough or in-depth coverage, I'll just do ups and downs and an overall impression. I've got to develop a sustainable writing style that I can stick to
Highlights
Indian Rhinos in a classic rhino house. Sometimes when I see these guys I think I'm looking at something prehistoric. Strangely it's not every time I see them, so I treasure those moments. They have a calf at Basel which is nice as well. We also had the privilege of watching a scuffle between the two females.
The snow leopard exhibit is open-minded topped with no overhang, just a single 'hot' wire. More intriguing than terrifying.
The Antelope House now holds giraffe, okapi and lesser kudu. A great line-up and a beautiful old house. I believe it's over 100 years old?
The whole Africa section is very nice, but the highlight is the Etosha House. We walked it backwards, which meant the food chain theme was rather lost on me, but I enjoyed almost every exhibit, even though I appear to have forgotten most of them...
The ape house. It's functional in a good way, with multiple indoor and outdoor spaces for each species. We spent a long time in here just watching the group dynamics. Also nice to see Europe's oldest gorilla!
Lowlights
I might be channeling lintworm here, but the lower section of the zoo, around the domestic species, is rather lacklustre. The weather probably didn't help, but essentially a good third of the zoo by area would not be missed.
Controversially, I'm going to say the Gamgoas House. It has two great exhibits, but a lot of space is just informational panels in the middle of the house. I think they missed an opportunity when they redid this to be honest.
All of the penguin pools are small and shallow, but I believe new enclosures are in the pipeline.
Overall Impression
Basel is a good zoo, but I don't think it's a great one. This is typified by the new elephant exhibit; it's on the small side, functional with lots of enrichment and kind of a 'sandstone meets post-industrial' aesthetic. It will do the job well but I doubt it will make many lists on this site. The hope to mix the cheetahs with the bull is interesting though.
I've been running a line around in my head: Basel is everything a zoo should be, but none of the things a zoo could be. A meaningless simplification of course, but I wonder if readers will catch my meaning anyway. It's a good collection of animals, housed in good conditions with good educational materials and lots of breeding. But what could you point to that is world-class? I'm not sure.
Perhaps I'm being harsh because I was somehow expecting a little more. I'm not really sure why, and that's certainly not Basel's fault. It compares favorably to, for example, London, a zoo of almost identical acreage. It's probably better than Frankfurt, although I'd obviously rather visit the latter. To give it a positive spin, if I made a list of the zoos I've visited I think Basel would be at the very top, of the list of zoos that aren't true top-tier establishments.
I should finish by saying that the plan for the Ozeanium, a separate aquarium outside the zoo, are ambitious and if executed according to the models we saw, will cement the region as a destination for zoo-enthusiasts. Let's hope it all goes as planned.
This is very true and why it ranks very highly in Sheridan's metrics, but not that high in most zoo chat lists
I hope you enjoyed your stay at Zurich zoo. Since you visited the three (argubly) most renowned Swiss zoos (other notables being Arth-Goldau, Rapperswil, and perhaps also Lange Erlen and Langenberg) I was wondering what your overall impression of Swiss zoos amounts to - esp. in relation to German and US zoo cultures, by which it is strongly influenced - outside impressions are always amongst the most interesting ones .
.Funky, could you please step into my thread and write the rest of my commentaries for me? That Basel post is exceptional and captures my sentiments in a way that utterly eluded me when I visited.
Edit: except for 'Baseley'. That is a sin for which you will surely pay dearly come judgment day.
Edit: except for 'Baseley'. That is a sin for which you will surely pay dearly come judgment day.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Actually I went back to your thread to reread your views on Basel after I wrote down my own and I was surprised by how closely we agreed. Spoiler alert: we diverge a bit more on Zurich.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
I hope you enjoyed your stay at Zurich zoo. Since you visited the three (argubly) most renowned Swiss zoos (other notables being Arth-Goldau, Rapperswil, and perhaps also Lange Erlen and Langenberg) I was wondering what your overall impression of Swiss zoos amounts to - esp. in relation to German and US zoo cultures, by which it is strongly influenced - outside impressions are always amongst the most interesting ones
Perhaps that specific comparison is better left until the end of the summer, when I will have a much better grasp on German zoos. I'm going to write up Zurich tonight though, so you'll get some closing thoughts on the Swiss leg.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
Swiss Interlude Part Four - 7.4 on the Zurichter Scale
Warning: this probably isn't the review you want, but it might just be the review you need.
Zurich Zoo, July 4th 2017
This was my last day in Switzerland, and what a trip it had been. I've fallen in love with the country, despite the efforts of the shop owners, restauranteurs, and hosteliers, who seem to possess only three things: a price gun, a mean sense of humour and the kind of lack of moral compass that would make even the toothiest of loan sharks blush. Aside from the cost of living there, the natural scenery is spectacular, the cities and rural dwellings match it every step, and everything is clean and well organised. And things work, and people behave against their own self-interest in order to keep everything this way. That's worth more than the CHF80 we spent on fondue one night. Seriously.
Zurich Zoo is a little out of town but easily reached via the excellent tram system. I entered via the main entrance, not the Masoala one, and I strongly recommend this approach, for reasons that will become clear. I was very excited that morning, because there are very few zoos you can visit where you really suspect that you might be about to visit the best zoo you've ever been to in your life. It's an electric kind of feeling, and one I don't anticipate again this year.
I had kind of intended to head first to Masoala, expecting that it would need the most lingering time to spot everything, but due to the rather twisting nature of the paths within sections I got turned around several times almost immediately and ended up covering the entire top section (quickly google for a map) first, before finally turning my attention to the two marquee exhibits, the elephant house and the aforementioned huge tropical hall.
The logical entrance point to the maze of exhibits is the Exotarium, a combination of small primate, bird, herptile and aquatics house, with a smattering of other bits and pieces as well. It's absolutely fantastic, executed, as @sooty mangabey would say, with real panache. The terrariums are gorgeous, although perhaps four blue tree monitor exhibits was too many. The bird species list was pleasing obscure, at least for me, and having free flying birds that could go anywhere but obviously chose the vegetated sections was a very nice touch. Worth mentioning as well that the King penguin indoor exhibit was cramped, as they always seem to be. Overall though, this is a great building, and one of the high points of Zurich. On a revisit I would spend much longer here, but first thing in a big zoo you need to set a reasonable pace, lest you run out of time.
From there I wandered through the nice but unremarkable wetland bird exhibit and found my way to the rather impressive Bactrian Camel and Yak paddock. This was very undulating, such that you couldn't see much of it from any one angle. Pleasingly they had leaned into the domestic nature of the species, making it clear on the signage, but also through the overall feel of the exhibit and the addition of a camp of what looked like yurts, but were probably something similar. Unfortunately these were closed on the day of my visit. The next time I am in Switzerland I will go to some lengths to visit Zurich on a Saturday, as there were various experiences I missed out on. Big shout out to @antonmuster, without whom I wouldn't have even known what I was missing.
My path then led past wonderful views of Siberian tiger, although I suspect that the enclosure is much smaller than it looks. Incidentally, this may have been the first time I have seen a genuinely convincing naturalistic tiger enclosure, and I'm rather afraid that I liked it... Across the way is an exhibit for Mongolian wolf, and after a brief wait I was rewarded with a delightfully redder version of the animal we're all familiar with. The legendary snow leopard enclosure completes the set of large carnirvore exhibits, but at this point disaster struck my day as it was off-show due to maintainance, and, because of the immersive nature of the exhibit, that meant I didn't see any of it. This was a big blow as it's one of the enclosures that crops up again and again in discussion on ZooChat. I tried my hand at a little begging and flattery in my limited German, but to no avail. These incidents are in the nature of zoo visiting, but this will rank alongside the temporary closure of the South American house at Plzen in my book of collection-based ill-fortune.
Along the top of the zoo, I passed a row of aviaries for owls and the like before reaching a set of five hillside paddocks that contain a complete set of South American camelids. This was the first misstep of the zoo in my eyes. Now it doesn't help that these species do nothing for me, but I can't believe that the (below?) average visitor doesn't just see five paddocks of llamas. Following on from the snow leopards this area is crying out for some bharal, markhor or goral and then perhaps something else with a little less hoof.
Below the Alpacalypse© is the still under construction Australian zone. This looks like it'll be great, and I particularly enjoyed the, ahem, 'vigorous' nods to the Sydney Opera House which can be seen in what I assume will be the Koala House.
I deliberately misled you just now, dear reader, but I wish I hadn't. Between the guana-come-on-now-this-is-ridiculous and the Australian Zone is the Ape House. This is usually passed over in reviews with some hand-waving and mutters of 'disappointing', but in fact it deserves to be examined in more detail. There are four species: Sumatran Orangutan, Western Gorilla, Siamang and Pileated Gibbon. The Pileateds get a reasonable fist of things (although by no means approaching above average), but everything else is, by the standards of Europe, which Zurich should be exceeding, empirically bad. Let me clarify: I don't want to say that these animals are inadequately housed, because I probably shouldn't. But I can say that it is the smallest (by which I am not so subtly implying worst) gorilla enclosure I've see in Europe, the second smallest for orangs and the smallest for siamangs. They just stink ladies and gentlemen, and there's no way around it. Until they are replaced there will be a serious question mark over Zurich in my mind.
Fortunately, just before I arrived back at the entrance I took a sharp left into the Pantanal. This was stunning. A fairly typical array of South American mammals is thoughtfully displayed in gorgeous habitats. What had become routine and dull for this visitor was rendered fresh and enticing due to immersive presentation. A 'rangers hut' which should have been cringeworthy was instead an absolute triumph. This is Zurich at its best and it is magnificent.
I think that the famous Spectacled bear enclosure is technically not part of the Pantanal, but it is appropriately situated right next to it. Initially I was slightly underwhelmed. Sure, it's fantastic, but it didn't quite seem to live up to the hype. Then I started to walk around the exhibit and it just kept on going. Another fresh viewpoint, and another! It's huge and great and needs to be seen to be appreciated. It's so much more than one well-vegetated photo can convey (a series of several would be a decent approximation though!).
At this point I left the main body of the zoo and headed for the remaining exhibits in the lower part of the map (downhill and East for the geography fans). After passing under a bridge I was greeted by a large expansive hillside which was mostly empty, save for some diggers. This will eventually become the zoo's savannah waterhole exhibit, to hold rhino and giraffe and so on. My thoughts on that at the end. To the left is the Ethiopian Highlands Gelada/Hyrax exhibit, which is in itself is great, and very visually impressive, although the fake palms are such a lurid green that you feel someone somewhere is enjoying a good laugh. It was fantastic to see a hyrax bounding from rock to rock and then disappearing out of sight, rather than just perched high in the corner of the standard exhibit for the species. My struggle with this enclosure though, was that it was SO different in every way from its surroundings. It didn't feel at all rooted in its location, which I think is a big distraction from the attempted effect.
Continuing down the hill I approached the Elephant House. Although it's new this is real vintage Zurich. Architecturally superb, full of surprises for the visitors and animals, it's another tour de force, and I was delighted than my time at the enclosure coincided with the presentation and feed. I didn't get to see the elephants inside, which is a pity because it's really big and it would have been good to get a true sense of scale. The outside, though crammed full of enrichment and feeding points, is curiously small, and it will be interesting to see what the long term verdict on this exhibit is.
Lastly then, I arrived at Masoala. Although I've spent quite a bit of time in actual rainforest now, this was to be my first of the 'big three' rainforest halls in Europe: Masoala, Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland. I didn't really know what to expect. I don't know if I can do my experience justice, but I'll try. In case anyone is unaware, Masoala is a essentially a huge greenhouse with a small section of rainforest growing inside. It is tightly themed on Masoala National Park in Madagascar. It attempts to recreate the ecosystem, with the idea being that the animals live as close to natural lives as possible whilst visitors walk amongst them.
I wouldn't say that as soon as you emerge from the tunnel you are blown away by Masoala. Rather, it is like a gentle breeze that plays across your face. But as you walk deeper into the forest the wind picks up, and you are carried away. You may not forget you are in a zoo, but it becomes meaningless to think of this as an exhibit. This is a Habitat, and it might be the first authentic one you've experienced in your life. The wind blows stronger as you notice more and more species, on all levels of the forest. When you see your first lemurs leaping through the bamboo towards you you feel the first harsh drops of rain on your face. You spend hours wandering the path, looking for the species you know are there, but understanding that realistically you don't have a hope of seeing them all. Finally, you return to the entrance to climb the staircase to the canopy walkway, and when you emerge into the stifling air above the treetops you are hit with the full force of the hurricane, because you hadn't realised how big it all was and how high, how could you have done? You stand there for a long moment, soaking in the sheer beauty of this incredible creation, and it IS a creation. It's only from this vantage point that you can really see the enormous roof structure, arcing high above trees that themselves tower over their surroundings. Beneath them is not a recreation of a rainforest, it IS a rainforest, and it's teeming with life. At that moment you know that this is peak zoo, at least for you, right here, right now. Nothing has ever come close to this before.
It's something like that
I spent two hours in there, and if it hadn't been so hot on the canopy walkway (heat rises, but unlike the real forest it is then trapped under the roof) I could easily have spent another hour up there. I didn't see plenty of species, including the red-fronted lemurs, but the real star is the forest itself, not the species in it. Masoala is the best thing I have ever seen in a zoo, by a long way. I'm quite happy to say it's the best thing in any zoo, even though I don't have enough zoos under my belt for that. Having (virtually) no enclosures inside is a masterstroke, and I strongly suspect would lead me to prefer it to Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland, had I seen those two. It cost CHF 52,000,000 and is worth every rappen.
As I was finally leaving the hall a bird hopped on to the path in front of me. It was the Pitta-like ground-roller, hitherto unseen, in the only place in Europe where it is on show. It was the perfect way to end my visit to the zoo.
I have one final point to make, that didn't quite fit into any other section, but is still totally necessary. Zurich's paths are all wide and, to the untrained foot, easily accessible. Branching off them quite frequently however, are little trails that disappear into the undergrowth only to emerge in unexpected places on the same or different paths. These are generally just dirt paths, with log steps or similar. They add a whole other layer of complexity to the zoo, without causing those who can't access them to miss out on anything significant. They are fantastic and really characterise the feel of Zurich. The most memorable one led to a little hut near the Elephant House, which had been partially destroyed by, one assumes, elephants. It was a wonderful piece of interpretation.
Zurich is a zoo with some of the best exhibitry I've ever seen. But, there's something amiss. It somehow doesn't feel complete. There are three easily identifiable reasons for this. Firstly, the gap between the good and the bad is so vast that the bad doesn't really feel like part of the zoo. The Ape House might as well not be there. Secondly, in the lower half of the zoo the three exhibits are spaced out with empty walking between them. Geographically it just feels too loose. Thirdly, there are some really large gaps in the collection. It's strange that such a respected zoo has no giraffes, rhinos or hippos. Those species aren't particularly why I visit zoos, but I sure do miss them when they're absent.
I think Zurich is a victim of its own success. It's raised the bar so high in some areas that the rest of the zoo has been left behind and it needs time to catch up with itself. The new savannah exhibit that will open in 2020 will really help to round out both the collection and the lower half of the zoo, but the one to watch is the African Forest complex that will follow it. That will be the development that draws me back to Zurich and it could be the development that finally allows me to unequivocally name one zoo that stands above all others.
Warning: this probably isn't the review you want, but it might just be the review you need.
Zurich Zoo, July 4th 2017
This was my last day in Switzerland, and what a trip it had been. I've fallen in love with the country, despite the efforts of the shop owners, restauranteurs, and hosteliers, who seem to possess only three things: a price gun, a mean sense of humour and the kind of lack of moral compass that would make even the toothiest of loan sharks blush. Aside from the cost of living there, the natural scenery is spectacular, the cities and rural dwellings match it every step, and everything is clean and well organised. And things work, and people behave against their own self-interest in order to keep everything this way. That's worth more than the CHF80 we spent on fondue one night. Seriously.
Zurich Zoo is a little out of town but easily reached via the excellent tram system. I entered via the main entrance, not the Masoala one, and I strongly recommend this approach, for reasons that will become clear. I was very excited that morning, because there are very few zoos you can visit where you really suspect that you might be about to visit the best zoo you've ever been to in your life. It's an electric kind of feeling, and one I don't anticipate again this year.
I had kind of intended to head first to Masoala, expecting that it would need the most lingering time to spot everything, but due to the rather twisting nature of the paths within sections I got turned around several times almost immediately and ended up covering the entire top section (quickly google for a map) first, before finally turning my attention to the two marquee exhibits, the elephant house and the aforementioned huge tropical hall.
The logical entrance point to the maze of exhibits is the Exotarium, a combination of small primate, bird, herptile and aquatics house, with a smattering of other bits and pieces as well. It's absolutely fantastic, executed, as @sooty mangabey would say, with real panache. The terrariums are gorgeous, although perhaps four blue tree monitor exhibits was too many. The bird species list was pleasing obscure, at least for me, and having free flying birds that could go anywhere but obviously chose the vegetated sections was a very nice touch. Worth mentioning as well that the King penguin indoor exhibit was cramped, as they always seem to be. Overall though, this is a great building, and one of the high points of Zurich. On a revisit I would spend much longer here, but first thing in a big zoo you need to set a reasonable pace, lest you run out of time.
From there I wandered through the nice but unremarkable wetland bird exhibit and found my way to the rather impressive Bactrian Camel and Yak paddock. This was very undulating, such that you couldn't see much of it from any one angle. Pleasingly they had leaned into the domestic nature of the species, making it clear on the signage, but also through the overall feel of the exhibit and the addition of a camp of what looked like yurts, but were probably something similar. Unfortunately these were closed on the day of my visit. The next time I am in Switzerland I will go to some lengths to visit Zurich on a Saturday, as there were various experiences I missed out on. Big shout out to @antonmuster, without whom I wouldn't have even known what I was missing.
My path then led past wonderful views of Siberian tiger, although I suspect that the enclosure is much smaller than it looks. Incidentally, this may have been the first time I have seen a genuinely convincing naturalistic tiger enclosure, and I'm rather afraid that I liked it... Across the way is an exhibit for Mongolian wolf, and after a brief wait I was rewarded with a delightfully redder version of the animal we're all familiar with. The legendary snow leopard enclosure completes the set of large carnirvore exhibits, but at this point disaster struck my day as it was off-show due to maintainance, and, because of the immersive nature of the exhibit, that meant I didn't see any of it. This was a big blow as it's one of the enclosures that crops up again and again in discussion on ZooChat. I tried my hand at a little begging and flattery in my limited German, but to no avail. These incidents are in the nature of zoo visiting, but this will rank alongside the temporary closure of the South American house at Plzen in my book of collection-based ill-fortune.
Along the top of the zoo, I passed a row of aviaries for owls and the like before reaching a set of five hillside paddocks that contain a complete set of South American camelids. This was the first misstep of the zoo in my eyes. Now it doesn't help that these species do nothing for me, but I can't believe that the (below?) average visitor doesn't just see five paddocks of llamas. Following on from the snow leopards this area is crying out for some bharal, markhor or goral and then perhaps something else with a little less hoof.
Below the Alpacalypse© is the still under construction Australian zone. This looks like it'll be great, and I particularly enjoyed the, ahem, 'vigorous' nods to the Sydney Opera House which can be seen in what I assume will be the Koala House.
I deliberately misled you just now, dear reader, but I wish I hadn't. Between the guana-come-on-now-this-is-ridiculous and the Australian Zone is the Ape House. This is usually passed over in reviews with some hand-waving and mutters of 'disappointing', but in fact it deserves to be examined in more detail. There are four species: Sumatran Orangutan, Western Gorilla, Siamang and Pileated Gibbon. The Pileateds get a reasonable fist of things (although by no means approaching above average), but everything else is, by the standards of Europe, which Zurich should be exceeding, empirically bad. Let me clarify: I don't want to say that these animals are inadequately housed, because I probably shouldn't. But I can say that it is the smallest (by which I am not so subtly implying worst) gorilla enclosure I've see in Europe, the second smallest for orangs and the smallest for siamangs. They just stink ladies and gentlemen, and there's no way around it. Until they are replaced there will be a serious question mark over Zurich in my mind.
Fortunately, just before I arrived back at the entrance I took a sharp left into the Pantanal. This was stunning. A fairly typical array of South American mammals is thoughtfully displayed in gorgeous habitats. What had become routine and dull for this visitor was rendered fresh and enticing due to immersive presentation. A 'rangers hut' which should have been cringeworthy was instead an absolute triumph. This is Zurich at its best and it is magnificent.
I think that the famous Spectacled bear enclosure is technically not part of the Pantanal, but it is appropriately situated right next to it. Initially I was slightly underwhelmed. Sure, it's fantastic, but it didn't quite seem to live up to the hype. Then I started to walk around the exhibit and it just kept on going. Another fresh viewpoint, and another! It's huge and great and needs to be seen to be appreciated. It's so much more than one well-vegetated photo can convey (a series of several would be a decent approximation though!).
At this point I left the main body of the zoo and headed for the remaining exhibits in the lower part of the map (downhill and East for the geography fans). After passing under a bridge I was greeted by a large expansive hillside which was mostly empty, save for some diggers. This will eventually become the zoo's savannah waterhole exhibit, to hold rhino and giraffe and so on. My thoughts on that at the end. To the left is the Ethiopian Highlands Gelada/Hyrax exhibit, which is in itself is great, and very visually impressive, although the fake palms are such a lurid green that you feel someone somewhere is enjoying a good laugh. It was fantastic to see a hyrax bounding from rock to rock and then disappearing out of sight, rather than just perched high in the corner of the standard exhibit for the species. My struggle with this enclosure though, was that it was SO different in every way from its surroundings. It didn't feel at all rooted in its location, which I think is a big distraction from the attempted effect.
Continuing down the hill I approached the Elephant House. Although it's new this is real vintage Zurich. Architecturally superb, full of surprises for the visitors and animals, it's another tour de force, and I was delighted than my time at the enclosure coincided with the presentation and feed. I didn't get to see the elephants inside, which is a pity because it's really big and it would have been good to get a true sense of scale. The outside, though crammed full of enrichment and feeding points, is curiously small, and it will be interesting to see what the long term verdict on this exhibit is.
Lastly then, I arrived at Masoala. Although I've spent quite a bit of time in actual rainforest now, this was to be my first of the 'big three' rainforest halls in Europe: Masoala, Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland. I didn't really know what to expect. I don't know if I can do my experience justice, but I'll try. In case anyone is unaware, Masoala is a essentially a huge greenhouse with a small section of rainforest growing inside. It is tightly themed on Masoala National Park in Madagascar. It attempts to recreate the ecosystem, with the idea being that the animals live as close to natural lives as possible whilst visitors walk amongst them.
I wouldn't say that as soon as you emerge from the tunnel you are blown away by Masoala. Rather, it is like a gentle breeze that plays across your face. But as you walk deeper into the forest the wind picks up, and you are carried away. You may not forget you are in a zoo, but it becomes meaningless to think of this as an exhibit. This is a Habitat, and it might be the first authentic one you've experienced in your life. The wind blows stronger as you notice more and more species, on all levels of the forest. When you see your first lemurs leaping through the bamboo towards you you feel the first harsh drops of rain on your face. You spend hours wandering the path, looking for the species you know are there, but understanding that realistically you don't have a hope of seeing them all. Finally, you return to the entrance to climb the staircase to the canopy walkway, and when you emerge into the stifling air above the treetops you are hit with the full force of the hurricane, because you hadn't realised how big it all was and how high, how could you have done? You stand there for a long moment, soaking in the sheer beauty of this incredible creation, and it IS a creation. It's only from this vantage point that you can really see the enormous roof structure, arcing high above trees that themselves tower over their surroundings. Beneath them is not a recreation of a rainforest, it IS a rainforest, and it's teeming with life. At that moment you know that this is peak zoo, at least for you, right here, right now. Nothing has ever come close to this before.
It's something like that
I spent two hours in there, and if it hadn't been so hot on the canopy walkway (heat rises, but unlike the real forest it is then trapped under the roof) I could easily have spent another hour up there. I didn't see plenty of species, including the red-fronted lemurs, but the real star is the forest itself, not the species in it. Masoala is the best thing I have ever seen in a zoo, by a long way. I'm quite happy to say it's the best thing in any zoo, even though I don't have enough zoos under my belt for that. Having (virtually) no enclosures inside is a masterstroke, and I strongly suspect would lead me to prefer it to Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland, had I seen those two. It cost CHF 52,000,000 and is worth every rappen.
As I was finally leaving the hall a bird hopped on to the path in front of me. It was the Pitta-like ground-roller, hitherto unseen, in the only place in Europe where it is on show. It was the perfect way to end my visit to the zoo.
I have one final point to make, that didn't quite fit into any other section, but is still totally necessary. Zurich's paths are all wide and, to the untrained foot, easily accessible. Branching off them quite frequently however, are little trails that disappear into the undergrowth only to emerge in unexpected places on the same or different paths. These are generally just dirt paths, with log steps or similar. They add a whole other layer of complexity to the zoo, without causing those who can't access them to miss out on anything significant. They are fantastic and really characterise the feel of Zurich. The most memorable one led to a little hut near the Elephant House, which had been partially destroyed by, one assumes, elephants. It was a wonderful piece of interpretation.
Zurich is a zoo with some of the best exhibitry I've ever seen. But, there's something amiss. It somehow doesn't feel complete. There are three easily identifiable reasons for this. Firstly, the gap between the good and the bad is so vast that the bad doesn't really feel like part of the zoo. The Ape House might as well not be there. Secondly, in the lower half of the zoo the three exhibits are spaced out with empty walking between them. Geographically it just feels too loose. Thirdly, there are some really large gaps in the collection. It's strange that such a respected zoo has no giraffes, rhinos or hippos. Those species aren't particularly why I visit zoos, but I sure do miss them when they're absent.
I think Zurich is a victim of its own success. It's raised the bar so high in some areas that the rest of the zoo has been left behind and it needs time to catch up with itself. The new savannah exhibit that will open in 2020 will really help to round out both the collection and the lower half of the zoo, but the one to watch is the African Forest complex that will follow it. That will be the development that draws me back to Zurich and it could be the development that finally allows me to unequivocally name one zoo that stands above all others.
Swiss Interlude Part Four - 7.4 on the Zurichter Scale
Warning: this probably isn't the review you want, but it might just be the review you need.
Zurich Zoo, July 4th 2017
This was my last day in Switzerland, and what a trip it had been. I've fallen in love with the country, despite the efforts of the shop owners, restauranteurs, and hosteliers, who seem to possess only three things: a price gun, a mean sense of humour and the kind of lack of moral compass that would make even the toothiest of loan sharks blush. Aside from the cost of living there, the natural scenery is spectacular, the cities and rural dwellings match it every step, and everything is clean and well organised. And things work, and people behave against their own self-interest in order to keep everything this way. That's worth more than the CHF80 we spent on fondue one night. Seriously.
Zurich Zoo is a little out of town but easily reached via the excellent tram system. I entered via the main entrance, not the Masoala one, and I strongly recommend this approach, for reasons that will become clear. I was very excited that morning, because there are very few zoos you can visit where you really suspect that you might be about to visit the best zoo you've ever been to in your life. It's an electric kind of feeling, and one I don't anticipate again this year.
I had kind of intended to head first to Masoala, expecting that it would need the most lingering time to spot everything, but due to the rather twisting nature of the paths within sections I got turned around several times almost immediately and ended up covering the entire top section (quickly google for a map) first, before finally turning my attention to the two marquee exhibits, the elephant house and the aforementioned huge tropical hall.
The logical entrance point to the maze of exhibits is the Exotarium, a combination of small primate, bird, herptile and aquatics house, with a smattering of other bits and pieces as well. It's absolutely fantastic, executed, as @sooty mangabey would say, with real panache. The terrariums are gorgeous, although perhaps four blue tree monitor exhibits was too many. The bird species list was pleasing obscure, at least for me, and having free flying birds that could go anywhere but obviously chose the vegetated sections was a very nice touch. Worth mentioning as well that the King penguin indoor exhibit was cramped, as they always seem to be. Overall though, this is a great building, and one of the high points of Zurich. On a revisit I would spend much longer here, but first thing in a big zoo you need to set a reasonable pace, lest you run out of time.
From there I wandered through the nice but unremarkable wetland bird exhibit and found my way to the rather impressive Bactrian Camel and Yak paddock. This was very undulating, such that you couldn't see much of it from any one angle. Pleasingly they had leaned into the domestic nature of the species, making it clear on the signage, but also through the overall feel of the exhibit and the addition of a camp of what looked like yurts, but were probably something similar. Unfortunately these were closed on the day of my visit. The next time I am in Switzerland I will go to some lengths to visit Zurich on a Saturday, as there were various experiences I missed out on. Big shout out to @antonmuster, without whom I wouldn't have even known what I was missing.
My path then led past wonderful views of Siberian tiger, although I suspect that the enclosure is much smaller than it looks. Incidentally, this may have been the first time I have seen a genuinely convincing naturalistic tiger enclosure, and I'm rather afraid that I liked it... Across the way is an exhibit for Mongolian wolf, and after a brief wait I was rewarded with a delightfully redder version of the animal we're all familiar with. The legendary snow leopard enclosure completes the set of large carnirvore exhibits, but at this point disaster struck my day as it was off-show due to maintainance, and, because of the immersive nature of the exhibit, that meant I didn't see any of it. This was a big blow as it's one of the enclosures that crops up again and again in discussion on ZooChat. I tried my hand at a little begging and flattery in my limited German, but to no avail. These incidents are in the nature of zoo visiting, but this will rank alongside the temporary closure of the South American house at Plzen in my book of collection-based ill-fortune.
Along the top of the zoo, I passed a row of aviaries for owls and the like before reaching a set of five hillside paddocks that contain a complete set of South American camelids. This was the first misstep of the zoo in my eyes. Now it doesn't help that these species do nothing for me, but I can't believe that the (below?) average visitor doesn't just see five paddocks of llamas. Following on from the snow leopards this area is crying out for some bharal, markhor or goral and then perhaps something else with a little less hoof.
Below the Alpacalypse© is the still under construction Australian zone. This looks like it'll be great, and I particularly enjoyed the, ahem, 'vigorous' nods to the Sydney Opera House which can be seen in what I assume will be the Koala House.
I deliberately misled you just now, dear reader, but I wish I hadn't. Between the guana-come-on-now-this-is-ridiculous and the Australian Zone is the Ape House. This is usually passed over in reviews with some hand-waving and mutters of 'disappointing', but in fact it deserves to be examined in more detail. There are four species: Sumatran Orangutan, Western Gorilla, Siamang and Pileated Gibbon. The Pileateds get a reasonable fist of things (although by no means approaching above average), but everything else is, by the standards of Europe, which Zurich should be exceeding, empirically bad. Let me clarify: I don't want to say that these animals are inadequately housed, because I probably shouldn't. But I can say that it is the smallest (by which I am not so subtly implying worst) gorilla enclosure I've see in Europe, the second smallest for orangs and the smallest for siamangs. They just stink ladies and gentlemen, and there's no way around it. Until they are replaced there will be a serious question mark over Zurich in my mind.
Fortunately, just before I arrived back at the entrance I took a sharp left into the Pantanal. This was stunning. A fairly typical array of South American mammals is thoughtfully displayed in gorgeous habitats. What had become routine and dull for this visitor was rendered fresh and enticing due to immersive presentation. A 'rangers hut' which should have been cringeworthy was instead an absolute triumph. This is Zurich at its best and it is magnificent.
I think that the famous Spectacled bear enclosure is technically not part of the Pantanal, but it is appropriately situated right next to it. Initially I was slightly underwhelmed. Sure, it's fantastic, but it didn't quite seem to live up to the hype. Then I started to walk around the exhibit and it just kept on going. Another fresh viewpoint, and another! It's huge and great and needs to be seen to be appreciated. It's so much more than one well-vegetated photo can convey (a series of several would be a decent approximation though!).
At this point I left the main body of the zoo and headed for the remaining exhibits in the lower part of the map (downhill and East for the geography fans). After passing under a bridge I was greeted by a large expansive hillside which was mostly empty, save for some diggers. This will eventually become the zoo's savannah waterhole exhibit, to hold rhino and giraffe and so on. My thoughts on that at the end. To the left is the Ethiopian Highlands Gelada/Hyrax exhibit, which is in itself is great, and very visually impressive, although the fake palms are such a lurid green that you feel someone somewhere is enjoying a good laugh. It was fantastic to see a hyrax bounding from rock to rock and then disappearing out of sight, rather than just perched high in the corner of the standard exhibit for the species. My struggle with this enclosure though, was that it was SO different in every way from its surroundings. It didn't feel at all rooted in its location, which I think is a big distraction from the attempted effect.
Continuing down the hill I approached the Elephant House. Although it's new this is real vintage Zurich. Architecturally superb, full of surprises for the visitors and animals, it's another tour de force, and I was delighted than my time at the enclosure coincided with the presentation and feed. I didn't get to see the elephants inside, which is a pity because it's really big and it would have been good to get a true sense of scale. The outside, though crammed full of enrichment and feeding points, is curiously small, and it will be interesting to see what the long term verdict on this exhibit is.
Lastly then, I arrived at Masoala. Although I've spent quite a bit of time in actual rainforest now, this was to be my first of the 'big three' rainforest halls in Europe: Masoala, Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland. I didn't really know what to expect. I don't know if I can do my experience justice, but I'll try. In case anyone is unaware, Masoala is a essentially a huge greenhouse with a small section of rainforest growing inside. It is tightly themed on Masoala National Park in Madagascar. It attempts to recreate the ecosystem, with the idea being that the animals live as close to natural lives as possible whilst visitors walk amongst them.
I wouldn't say that as soon as you emerge from the tunnel you are blown away by Masoala. Rather, it is like a gentle breeze that plays across your face. But as you walk deeper into the forest the wind picks up, and you are carried away. You may not forget you are in a zoo, but it becomes meaningless to think of this as an exhibit. This is a Habitat, and it might be the first authentic one you've experienced in your life. The wind blows stronger as you notice more and more species, on all levels of the forest. When you see your first lemurs leaping through the bamboo towards you you feel the first harsh drops of rain on your face. You spend hours wandering the path, looking for the species you know are there, but understanding that realistically you don't have a hope of seeing them all. Finally, you return to the entrance to climb the staircase to the canopy walkway, and when you emerge into the stifling air above the treetops you are hit with the full force of the hurricane, because you hadn't realised how big it all was and how high, how could you have done? You stand there for a long moment, soaking in the sheer beauty of this incredible creation, and it IS a creation. It's only from this vantage point that you can really see the enormous roof structure, arcing high above trees that themselves tower over their surroundings. Beneath them is not a recreation of a rainforest, it IS a rainforest, and it's teeming with life. At that moment you know that this is peak zoo, at least for you, right here, right now. Nothing has ever come close to this before.
It's something like that
I spent two hours in there, and if it hadn't been so hot on the canopy walkway (heat rises, but unlike the real forest it is then trapped under the roof) I could easily have spent another hour up there. I didn't see plenty of species, including the red-fronted lemurs, but the real star is the forest itself, not the species in it. Masoala is the best thing I have ever seen in a zoo, by a long way. I'm quite happy to say it's the best thing in any zoo, even though I don't have enough zoos under my belt for that. Having (virtually) no enclosures inside is a masterstroke, and I strongly suspect would lead me to prefer it to Burger's Bush and Gondwanaland, had I seen those two. It cost CHF 52,000,000 and is worth every rappen.
As I was finally leaving the hall a bird hopped on to the path in front of me. It was the Pitta-like ground-roller, hitherto unseen, in the only place in Europe where it is on show. It was the perfect way to end my visit to the zoo.
I have one final point to make, that didn't quite fit into any other section, but is still totally necessary. Zurich's paths are all wide and, to the untrained foot, easily accessible. Branching off them quite frequently however, are little trails that disappear into the undergrowth only to emerge in unexpected places on the same or different paths. These are generally just dirt paths, with log steps or similar. They add a whole other layer of complexity to the zoo, without causing those who can't access them to miss out on anything significant. They are fantastic and really characterise the feel of Zurich. The most memorable one led to a little hut near the Elephant House, which had been partially destroyed by, one assumes, elephants. It was a wonderful piece of interpretation.
Zurich is a zoo with some of the best exhibitry I've ever seen. But, there's something amiss. It somehow doesn't feel complete. There are three easily identifiable reasons for this. Firstly, the gap between the good and the bad is so vast that the bad doesn't really feel like part of the zoo. The Ape House might as well not be there. Secondly, in the lower half of the zoo the three exhibits are spaced out with empty walking between them. Geographically it just feels too loose. Thirdly, there are some really large gaps in the collection. It's strange that such a respected zoo has no giraffes, rhinos or hippos. Those species aren't particularly why I visit zoos, but I sure do miss them when they're absent.
I think Zurich is a victim of its own success. It's raised the bar so high in some areas that the rest of the zoo has been left behind and it needs time to catch up with itself. The new savannah exhibit that will open in 2020 will really help to round out both the collection and the lower half of the zoo, but the one to watch is the African Forest complex that will follow it. That will be the development that draws me back to Zurich and it could be the development that finally allows me to unequivocally name one zoo that stands above all others.
I know we have the "like" button now, but I have to say this review absolutely nails it. I agree with just about everything you've written, including a lot I didn't know I agreed on until I read it. Thank you for sharing.
That building was already there and was the old Africa house (with black rhino, pygmy hippo and shoebill).
Part of the problem is that this is one of the last parts of the old zoo, the old Africa house or old elephant house (now camels) were not much better. Though this is not an excuse that the apes do not have a higher priority then now... I have been trying to come up with a reason why they are so low priority, but partly it may have to do with the fact that the apes do not behave stereotypically or that the building is not in such a bad state...
Zurich is still in my personal top-3 though, but to become the absolute number 1 we will have to wait 8-10 more years I am afraid....