I’m not going to cast my vote yet, as I don’t feel I know enough about Salzburg to make a judgement. However, I will post my thoughts on Colchester’s exhibits, compare the collections on Zootierliste (although it is incorrect in parts for Colchester) and post what I can find of Salzburg from the Zoochat gallery.
Only one species of rodent remains on-show at Colchester (the domestic rat) and depending on whether the Asia Minor spiny mice remain at the zoo and go back on-show after the lion redevelopment, the collection may house no wild rodent species at all. Although I do not know if Salzburg have all their species on-show or not, they have nine rodents of which eight are wild species. In terms of rodents, Salzburg wins hands-down.
As well as domestic rabbits, held at both zoos, Salzburg also houses mountain hare according to Zootierliste while Colchester houses no wild lagomorphs.
Both zoos only house one marsupial species – Colchester the red-necked wallaby (sugar gliders are definitely not on-show, having been replaced by domestic rats; I have no idea if they remain in the zoo or not) and Salzburg the parma wallaby. Neither are particularly special species in the rarity stakes.
For small carnivores (I am using the IUCN Small Carnivore Specialist Group to determine species, see here:
http://www.smallcarnivoreconservation.org/) Salzburg has five species (wolverine, Eurasian otter, ring-tailed coati, red panda, banded mongoose) compared to Colchester’s eight (smooth-coated and Asian small-clawed otter, striped skunk, ring-tailed coati, red panda, meerkat, binturong, Asian palm civet). A few interesting species on either side but mostly quite common species with an overlap of two species as well.
In terms of Xenarthra, Colchester has three species (the giant anteater, Southern tamandua and Linne’s two-toed sloth) while Salzburg has just two (the Linne’s two-toed sloth and Southern three-banded armadillo).
In terms of other small mammals (depending on your definition), Colchester also has aardvark and Syrian rock hyrax (the four-toed hedgehog listed on Zootierliste is definitely absent) while Salzburg has the short-eared elephant shrew and Seba’s short-tailed bat. It depends entirely on which you think are more important species – I personally feel Colchester is missing out hugely by not exhibiting bats, so they might get a mark down for that from me.
It should be noted that of the seventeen small mammal species that definitely remain at Colchester, five live off-show and only come out either in the animal shows (ring-tailed coati, striped skunk and Asian palm civet) or for handling sessions in the Sensation Station (domestic rabbit and guinea pig). I have no idea of the situation at Salzburg.
In terms of enclosures, Colchester’s small mammal displays vary considerably; here is a list of the different exhibits and my personal opinions of them:
- Aardvark: two outdoor enclosures with at least three different indoor areas (one off-show); the exhibit was changed from just a single indoor and outdoor area so the group didn’t have to move off-show whenever one of the females gave birth. There is an indoor viewing area for the largest indoor den (along with a simple window into the smaller on-show den) so the aardvarks are always visible, albeit very rarely ever active during daylight hours
- Small-clawed otter and binturong: a huge display for a pair of otters and a pair of binturong, planted with small conifer trees (rather jarring for mainly tropical species), bamboo and large live trees that are hot-wired to stop the binturongs climbing them – instead they have a climbing frame to use; if anything this enclosure seems almost too big for the species in question (the enclosure was built for cheetah and also housed a group of dhole in the past) – the otters are so small that they are very difficult to see at the back of the exhibit and the binturong are not the most active display
- Domestic rat: formerly an enclosure for sugar gliders (and prior to that, an indoor area for guinea pigs), this is a very simple enclosure mocked-up to appear like a kitchen; it has a tiled floor, a table and a worktop with a sink; several cereal boxes and pots are on the worktop although the illusion is ruined somewhat by the small wire pet ladders connecting all the shelves – better than a wire cage but wild-type rats would probably work just as well here
- Giant anteater: formerly one of the better enclosures for small mammals at the zoo; over the years however the exhibit has become so overgrown with bamboo that seeing the animals when they are outdoors is extremely challenging; the addition of a large concrete model of an anteater in the corner of the enclosure (that the live anteaters can access) is also very jarring
- Smooth-coated otter: in my opinion, the best small mammal enclosure at Colchester (possibly the best enclosure for any animal at the zoo) – very large and with dense plantings that evoke a tropical setting in good weather, large glass-fronted viewing areas so visitors can spread out and are not always crowded into one place, a large flat patch of mock-rock where the otters can communally rub their coats dry, one on-show and one mostly off-show indoor area with at least two small dens also available, one large clear-water pool with a pebble-lined bottom allows visitors to see the otters swimming while a second pool is very murky and resembles much more closely the water the otters would swim in in the wild – it is a joy to watch the otters here; the only thing really missing is an underwater view but I am not sure how necessary it is here – the large group of large otters make a good enough display as they are
- Linne’s two-toed sloth: a very similar exhibit to the tamandua enclosure (written in detail about below) and situated opposite, with the chest-high glass walls separating the two enclosures from the middle walkway; the sloths here share with golden lion tamarins; another pair of sloths live in another walkthrough enclosure that houses golden-headed lion tamarins and Geoffroy’s marmosets – a nice if slightly ordinary outdoor walkthrough enclosure
- Meerkat: quite a big exhibit (to be expected, as there is a large group) with several large log formations for the meerkats to climb and deep sand for them to dig in; otherwise there is not much to make this an outstanding exhibit although the sheer monotony of meerkats has possibly dulled me to the actual exhibitry
- Nepalese red panda: not especially impressive as an exhibit – by no means bad, just ordinary; a simple climbing frame with two flat-topped sleeping boxes dominates the exhibit with clumps of dense bamboo planted around the exhibit which is viewed from two separate areas, allowing clear views of the red pandas from either angle
- Red-necked wallaby: a simple hoop-shaped walk-through exhibit around a small hillock planted with eucalyptus trees for an all-male group of wallabies – not the most inspiring display, but then I have very rarely (if ever) seen a wallaby enclosure that can be described as ‘inspiring’
- Southern tamandua: two indoor enclosures connected to a netted outdoor enclosure separated from the public by a chest-high glass wall; the enclosure is a mixed-species display also housing Geoffroy’s marmosets and coppery titi monkeys; it works well for the animals, evidenced by the fact the pair have bred in this enclosure
- Syrian rock hyrax: an all-male group of hyraxes live in a mixed enclosure with a breeding group of L’Hoest’s guenons; they have a large mock-rock tableau on a small hillock but otherwise the enclosure seems largely designed for the monkeys; when the monkeys breed the hyraxes are confined off-show in a small hutch – when the two species are on display together however it is one of the more engaging exhibits for small mammals
In terms of Salzburg, these are the three enclosures for small mammals I have found in the gallery:
