ZooChat Cup Match #33: Prague (1) vs Colchester

[CGSwans]

And that's the first round over and done with. From here on in even the losers can console themselves that they won *something*.

Prague, the first seed, got here with an effortless 22-0 win over Amsterdam, despite drawing a category - large carnivores* - that didn't really suit it so much either. Colchester came through a rather easier opponent - Salzburg - winning 13-7 on small mammals*.

Now, though, they have a new category and new opponent to deal with: ungulates and friends. Odd-toed, even-toed, no-toed - elephants, sirenians and cetaceans fit here too.

Important: I've been keeping track of how things move back and forth in tighter votes. Games have slowed down on the second day and basically concluded on the third day, with the fourth being more or less inactive. So I'm going to close voting after three days, as a test run.

ZooChat Cup

In summary, the rules of the game are as follows:
- You may choose whatever criteria you like to decide how to vote, as long as it only relates to the category above.
- You can use whatever resources you like to inform your vote, including Zoolex, Zootierliste, the ZooChat gallery, trip reviews, zoo maps, books and wherever else. You don't have to have visited both zoos to vote.
- Votes are public and can be changed at any time before the poll closes.
- The aim of the game is to provoke debate. Post explaining why you voted the way you did, and why others should join you.
- Voting closes in three days
- The one thing you can't do is vote based on anything other than the relevant category.

*The way I set up the 'large carnivore' and 'small mammal' categories didn't work quite how I hoped. From here on they will be replaced by 'carnivore' and 'other mammals' categories. The latter encompasses rodents, lagomorphs, bats, hyraxes, aardvarks, xenarthrans, armadillos, pangolins, colugo, marsupials, monotremes, elephant shrews and probably a couple of other small-statured orders I've forgotten about/didn't know were in captivity. Carnivores does just what it says on the tin.

Tomorrow: Bristol vs Zlin.

 

[DesertRhino150]

Should be a rather easy win for Prague - the hoofstock exhibits at Colchester are as follows:

- A simple walkthrough paddock for domestic sheep and goats
- Llamas and alpacas living in a dusty mixed paddock with Darwin's rhea
- A rather simple bark-floored exhibit for a trio of Kunekune pigs
- A stable block type exhibit that houses shire horses or donkeys; when not here the horses are kept in a paddock off-view behind the nature reserve
- A series of paddocks for four African elephants (several are rescues from the Chipperfield circus); none of the elephant paddocks have grass and are mostly a morass of mud
- Just like the elephant paddocks, the mixed savannah for giraffe, white rhino, greater kudu and maneless zebra (along with ostrich and crowned crane) are muddy and rarely even sprout grass anymore
- The pygmy hippopotamus enclosure, as it stands, is the worst exhibit in the zoo. Only one outdoor enclosure shared between a pair and on poor-weather days the male is confined to a narrow corridor-like display. Fortunately, from what I gather a renovation for them is due to begin in the near future.
- Kirk's dik-dik in a small treed exhibit shared with crowned cranes
- Blue duiker in a small, circular and more densely vegetated exhibit shared with blue cranes
- Quite a large, dusty paddock for a small group of warthog, with several fenced islands containing trees in the middle of the enclosure
- A long, narrow enclosure housing a group of red river hogs
- A reasonably large mixed exhibit for a breeding group of Philippine spotted deer and a bachelor herd of Visayan warty pigs; the species have to be separated when the deer have fawns

Also, a seasonal ungulate exhibit:
- Around Christmas time, domesticated reindeer move into a temporary paddock near to the main entrance

From what I gather, the quality of enclosure and collection is so much greater at Prague than at Colchester for this group of animals.

 

[Giant Panda]

An easy win for Prague, I think. The rock outcrop is obviously the standout, the African Wetlands is an underrated gem, and the wooded/hilltop enclosures rival Tierpark Berlin for taste and charm. The elephant complex and savanna are also much stronger than Colchester's.

 

[sooty mangabey]

Few zoos could rival Prague here. Those African wetlands enclosures mentioned by @Giant Panda are indeed wonderful, as are the various paddocks close to the elephant area - and that elephant thing is none-too-shabby either. The Cliffside enclosures are amongst the best in Europe.

Meanwhile, in Essex, I just don't get that African paddock. It's so overcrowded that it is permanently muddy, and its design is wholly unremarkable. I can't see that a paddock this size can support giraffes, zebras, kudu, and a sizeable herd of rhino. Not good!

 

[SabineB]

I am fairly convinced, that Prague will be hard to beat by any zoo in just about any area. It is just an outstanding institution. Much of what makes Prague the winner has been written already. Giant Panda is right, the African Wetlands are just great and the hilltop enclosures are just something I was previously used to only at the Tierpark. Prague it is!

I have to say that I like Colchester a lot but it stands no chance against my pick for overall winner....

 

[lintworm]

I am fairly convinced, that Prague will be hard to beat by any zoo in just about any area. It is just an outstanding institution. Much of what makes Prague the winner has been written already. Giant Panda is right, the African Wetlands are just great and the hilltop enclosures are just something I was previously used to only at the Tierpark. Prague it is!

It has two main weaknesses: Ectotherms (no aquarium....) and large carnivores, it is still better than many zoos in the competition, but it could pay dearly for that when up to a zoo like Vienna.

 

[SabineB]

It has two main weaknesses: Ectotherms (no aquarium....) and large carnivores, it is still better than many zoos in the competition, but it could pay dearly for that when up to a zoo like Vienna.

It does not really belong in here, but I am just not really impressed by Vienna. I can't even explain it. But the polar bears in Prague are a downer, that is true. On the ectotherms I would have to really dig into to make a judgement (have not done that yet).

 

[Dassie rat]

Colchester
Aardvark
Syrian rock hyrax
African elephant (including South African elephant)
Selous’ zebra*; southern white rhinoceros
Red river hog; Negros warty pig; Common warthog*; llama; reticulated giraffe; Visayan spotted deer; greater kudu; western blue duiker; western pygmy hippopotamus

Prague
Yellow-spotted rock hyrax
South-east Asian and Sri Lankan elephants
Przewalski’s horse; Grant’s and Grevy’s zebras; eastern kiang; South American and Malayan tapirs
Collared peccary; alpaca; vicuna; Bactrian camel; Rothschild’s giraffe; Chinese Reeve’s muntjac; Javan rusa; white-lipped deer; Eurasian moose; Eurasian forest reindeer; Mishmi takin; Himalayan tahr; West Caucasian tur; Barbary sheep; northern blue sheep; California bighorn*; southern and European bison; eastern bongo; common eland; Kafue lechwe; black sable antelope; scimitar-horned and beisa oryxes; addax; blesbok

I accept that including the aardvark is contentious, as sengis, golden moles and tenrecs could be included as afrotheres, but not 'ungulates and friends'. The aardvark was included in the 'ungulates' before the Afrotheria was devised.
Prague Zoo has a far larger and more diverse collection. Colchester has 3 species of pig and a rhinoceros, but Prague has a peccary and 2 species of tapir.

 

[FunkyGibbon]

Oh dear, this is where Prague really shows its class.
You could discount the cliff paddocks, remove the forested deer enclosures and forget the paleolithic themed yards (Prague's best bits, especially for hoofstock) and it'd still come out ahead of Colchester.

I'd like to hear @Welsh Zootographer justify their lone vote for the contestant from East Anglia.

 

[lintworm]

I accept that including the aardvark is contentious, as sengis, golden moles and tenrecs could be included as afrotheres, but not 'ungulates and friends'. The aardvark was included in the 'ungulates' before the Afrotheria was devised.

If I remember correctly, both Aardvark and Hyrax should not be put in this category, I had the same question to @CGSwans before....

 

[Dassie rat]

I can understand why the aardvark would be excluded, but the hyrax is more contentious. Technically, sirenians and elephants shouldn't be included with ungulates.

 

[lintworm]

I can understand why the aardvark would be excluded, but the hyrax is more contentious. Technically, sirenians and elephants shouldn't be included with ungulates.

No but for both Hyrax and Aardvark you can easily argue them into the small mammals category, where this would never work for Manatee and Elephant.

 

[CGSwans]

No, but they are not going to have a category all of their own, are they? So it's a matter of convenience.

I've responded to the confusion about the previous approach, and every species now fits solely within a single category. For elephants, sirenians and cetaceans it is the ungulates (plus others) category. Hyraxes and aardvarks go with the miscellaneous other orders. This is about zoos, not taxonomy.