Germany Part One - A Kölnel of Truth
Sock of the day: Tiger
Local beer: Früh Kölsch
Verdict: Better than lager. Nice and hoppy but still quite light. Would definitely drink again.
I landed in Köln two days ago and spent parts of them wandering the city getting a feel for it. It's very nice and the cathedral, or 'Dom', is truly spectacular. I'll share a little anecdote because maybe some people will relate; I spent quite a bit of yesterday in my hostel bed, struck down with what I call traveling apathy. It often happens at the start of a trip when I don't really know what to do with myself and I'm not feeling confident to go out to the hostel common areas and socialise. Luckily I got over it but I wonder how many other people experience this. A few I hope
Köln Zoo - July 15th 2017
I met Vision at the gates of Köln Zoo, shortly after 10.45, our prearranged meeting time. He had travelled three hours and was on time, I had missed the tram which only took 15 mins so was late. Protip: the U-bahn ticket machines don't take notes.
We headed first to the Aquarium, where we spent almost two hours. It's well stocked and well designed, and features reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates as well as fish. The fish section is probably the best though, with a focus on smaller species (a little reminiscent of London). The stars of the building were the startling coloured Yunnan newts, which Vision assures me I have seen at Frankfurt. We then entered the zoo proper.
It's a big zoo, and we were there almost 'til 5.30. I think there will be more highlights than lowlights, but we can put them all under the same heading.
Observations
The Hippodom building is very nice, with large indoor pools for Common hippos and Nile crocodiles. The hippos also have a dusty outdoor section that they share with Sitatunga and waterfowl, but with no outdoor pool I wonder how much this is used. There are many free flying birds as well, including Carmine bee-eaters, who put on a lovely display in flight. Another hippo exhibit that leaves you unconvinced, but otherwise a great building.
Directly next to this is the Madagascar House, with Red-ruffed, Black and White Belted, Greater Bamboo and Sclater's Lemurs, as well as Vontsira opposite. Obviously much upgraded, this is the legendary monkey house that once held many species of Howlers, Sakis and Uakaris. Different times, and perhaps not to be put on a pedestal, but if you had a time-machine....
The elephant enclosure is vast and maybe even sprawling, with many rock walls within it. These obviously allow partitioning, but they also create a more complex environment, provide privacy between the animals and house many feeding holes for the elephants to forage in. The indoor holding is similarly large, possibly cavernous, with tall tree-like pillars supporting the roof. Vision says this is the largest indoor holding in Europe, and it's really pleasing to see more zoos moving in this direction. The interpretive material was also excellent here, as indeed it is through out the zoo. It's only in German, which is very reasonable of course but still limiting for the international visitor. One strange flaw with this building is that the viewing platforms, which are high up in the building, are directly behind pillars, such that your view is quite obstructed. We decided it really wouldn't have been to hard to mount them onto the pillars themselves, giving wonderful outlooks, and it's not obvious why this wasn't done. Maybe they'll consult us next time.
The Banteng enclosure is coming in the summer of 2017. Judging by the current state of it they must be hoping for a pretty hot October...
My favourite building was the Ape House. Bornean orang, Bonobo, Western gorilla, Lion-tailed macaque, Guereza, Javan langur, Weddell's tamarin, Pygmy tamarin AND Red douc langur is quite the line-up. The ape enclosures are all very good, although one indoor and one outdoor each must impose some husbandry limitations. However, the planting is great and indoors most of the apes were busy foraging through thick straw on the ground; Aspinall would be proud! All three have recently bred as well which is nice. The macaques can be mixed with the orangs, but weren't today, but the colobus were in their 'safe zone' in the gorilla outdoors. I wasn't particularly excited about seeing the douc, as it's a species that I've seen several times in Asia, but when we got a glimpse of him in the tunnel between the indoor and outdoor areas I was reminded what a stunning species they are. He's probably the most attractive primate in Europe right now, although there are some individuals in Vietnam and China that might take the wolrdwide title (feel free to read into this what you will). If I were the primate curator at Koln, and admittedly my CV suggests I won't be short-listed next time, I would be ringing up Dusit (Bangkok) to see if they want to shift some surplus males, with a view to at least maintaining a foothold for this species in Europe. It would be a shame to lose it. The langur outdoor enclosure, incidentally, is a large steel ball on the end of a pole. It's bizarre, but I rather liked it.
The rainforest house has a broadly Indonesian theme, with a fairly large free flight aviary and smaller satellite exhibits. We both agreed that it didn't really have the 'it' factor such a house needs. I wonder if I'm just a little inured to the standard jungle walkthrough enclosure. I'm sure if Köln's was the first I'd seen I'd be raving about it. The lar gibbons also have no outdoor, and no real height indoor. That was disappointing to be honest.
I can't think of another zoo where I've seen four big cat species displayed in a row (essentially) as proficiently as Köln. Snow leopard, Persian leopard, Asian lion and Siberian tiger all have great exhibits. Nicely done. According to the master plan Jaguar will be added nearby, with Cheetah also already in the collection. Not bad at all.
The master plan is displayed in the old South American house, which is now a strange mix of surplus monkey housing and historical displays. There are wire tunnels crisscrossing the interior, and some small 'green-tile' outdoor enclosures as well (you probably know the type). The most exciting thing is the master plan itself though, which is very promising. I suspect it'll be some time before it comes to fruition though.
Back by the entrance there are four bear grottos, three of which house sun bears and one for brown bear. They're not great, but they've made the best of a bad job. The design is so frustrating though. If they were natural substrate to the wall they would be perfectly fine but instead there's a soil and woodchip island surrounded by a sea of gently sloping concrete.
I've been reaching for something meaningful or profound to say about Köln. I was actually going to write this tomorrow to give my thoughts time to ferment but the Kölsch rather accelerated that process. The best I can come up with is that Köln is a really great zoo to spend a day in. There's a ton to see, some of the keynote species are held very well indeed and there's also some little treats here and there for us weirdos. I didn't even get around to mentioning the various hoofstock paddocks, or the ridiculous duck collection. Köln still has a foot in the past in some ways, but it's also stepping into the future, and that leaves the heart somewhere over the present, which is a pretty good place to be. For me, and hopefully Vision, on the first zoo day of the trip, it was also a pretty good place to be.
