Is there a Plzen of the USA?

amur leopard

amur leopard

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Recently, I started trying to draw parallels between zoos in Europe and North America and what their counterparts across the pond would be. However, one of the harder ones to find was an equivalent of Plzen in North America.
My best guess would be Cleveland - from what I can gather it has a very good collection, yet never makes it into anyone's top 10 or even 20. Some of the enclosure photos I have seen have really appeared sub-standard and poor. It was furthermore not included, nominated or put on anyone's predicted list for the Zoochat cup.

Does anyone know a zoo that is more like Plzen in North America?
 
amur leopard said:
Recently, I started trying to draw parallels between zoos in Europe and North America and what their counterparts across the pond would be. However, one of the harder ones to find was an equivalent of Plzen in North America.
My best guess would be Cleveland - from what I can gather it has a very good collection, yet never makes it into anyone's top 10 or even 20. Some of the enclosure photos I have seen have really appeared sub-standard and poor. It was furthermore not included, nominated or put on anyone's predicted list for the Zoochat cup.

Does anyone know a zoo that is more like Plzen in North America?
Click to expand...
San Diego?
 
for San Diego I thought a fusion of Zurich and Prague, taking Zurich's fantastic landscaping and Prague's collection and mountainous exhibits.
 
amur leopard said:
for San Diego I thought a fusion of Zurich and Prague, taking Zurich's fantastic landscaping and Prague's collection and mountainous exhibits.
Click to expand...

From pictures I have seen I don't think San Diego gets close to Zurich in terms of exhibitry. But I haven't visited so I wouldn't like to say.

(for the record I don't think there is another zoo anywhere in the world that gets close to Zurich. Mayyyyyybe Burgers)
 
FunkyGibbon said:
From pictures I have seen I don't think San Diego gets close to Zurich in terms of exhibitry. But I haven't visited so I wouldn't like to say.

(for the record I don't think there is another zoo anywhere in the world that gets close to Zurich. Mayyyyyybe Burgers)
Click to expand...

If you look at the Google Maps streetview images of especially Monkey Trails and Tiger Trail, some of the exhibits do remind me of Zurich due to their high animal welfare standards. However, of course, the zoo doesn't hold these standards across the whole institution as Zurich (a bit like Prague really, but the quality fluctuates considerably between, say, Horn and Hoof Mesa and most of Lost Forest.

However, some zoos do get close to Zurich in some aspects. I suspect CGF in Bronx is of a similar if not higher standard than the enclosures in Zurich. The same goes for Lied Jungle, perhaps Gondwanaland and maybe Beauval's future Equatorial Dome, which is set to have a few exciting additions, not least Douc langurs, Giant otters and Harpy eagles.
The main problem with approaching Zurich is maintaining the same level of exhibitry throughout the zoo.
 
amur leopard said:
If you look at the Google Maps streetview images of especially Monkey Trails and Tiger Trail, some of the exhibits do remind me of Zurich due to their high animal welfare standards. However, of course, the zoo doesn't hold these standards across the whole institution as Zurich (a bit like Prague really, but the quality fluctuates considerably between, say, Horn and Hoof Mesa and most of Lost Forest.

However, some zoos do get close to Zurich in some aspects. I suspect CGF in Bronx is of a similar if not higher standard than the enclosures in Zurich. The same goes for Lied Jungle, perhaps Gondwanaland and maybe Beauval's future Equatorial Dome, which is set to have a few exciting additions, not least Douc langurs, Giant otters and Harpy eagles.
The main problem with approaching Zurich is maintaining the same level of exhibitry throughout the zoo.
Click to expand...

I am not just holding up Zurich for high welfare standards, the theming, interpretation and most importantly attention to detail are also in a league.

Just to point to a couple of the examples you raise:

Gondwanaland
Masoala and Burgers Bush make feel like you are walking though the rain forest. Gondwanaland makes you feel like you are walking though a zoo in a rain forest.
It's a big difference, and the reason I personally find it a real waste of potential.

Lied Jungle is routinely criticised for having some pretty awful exhibits. I am not sure it's relevant here.

Incidentally, Zurich does not maintain a high standard throughout the zoo. The ape house is pretty awful.
 
Brum said:
Especially since Horn & Hoof Mesa got bulldozed years ago to make way for Elephant Odyssey. ;)
Click to expand...

There are still parts of it left near the Polar area, aren't there? That is where notably the Giant eland are housed.
 
amur leopard said:
There are still parts of it left near the Polar area, aren't there? That is where notably the Giant eland are housed.
Click to expand...

But isn't that now part of a different exhibit/area? I don't think you can point to it and say "That's Horn & Hoof Mesa." as it is no longer called that, it's now part of Northern Frontier (I think).
 
FunkyGibbon said:
I would have thought DWA was a better option, although obviously it's not perfect.
Click to expand...

Nah, I reckon the European DWA is easily Pairi Daiza.

amur leopard said:
The same goes for Lied Jungle, perhaps Gondwanaland and maybe Beauval's future Equatorial Dome, which is set to have a few exciting additions, not least Douc langurs, Giant otters and Harpy eagles
Click to expand...

I reckon FG covers my thoughts on that point perfectly:

FunkyGibbon said:
Masoala and Burgers Bush make feel like you are walking though the rain forest. Gondwanaland makes you feel like you are walking though a zoo in a rain forest.
It's a big difference, and the reason
Click to expand...
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Nah, I reckon the European DWA is easily Pairi Daiza.
Click to expand...

I always thought Pairi Daiza was most similar to our combined zoo/amusement parks, like DAK and Busch Gardens, with its over-the-top theming/cultural elements, gargantuan size, and rapid-pace development. Omaha also comes to mind, with similar emphasis on size/impact while sometimes neglecting quality. But I haven't been to any of those except Omaha, so those are just my impressions from what I've seen online.

I think it is difficult to make a comparison between Plzen and an American zoo. The DWA is the one that comes closest to my mind for the collector mentality, but they specialize in entirely different things; additionally, the DWA is more notable for releasing large groups of imported animals unmonitored into the rooms rather than trying to create a huge postage-stamp collection. Otherwise, we just don't really have zoos on this continent trying to amass big collections like that anymore.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
I always thought Pairi Daiza was most similar to our combined zoo/amusement parks, like DAK and Busch Gardens, with its over-the-top theming/cultural elements, gargantuan size, and rapid-pace development.
Click to expand...

This fits too - but I am mostly thinking about the collector mentality at both DWA and Pairi, the sometimes-cloudy ethics and (from what I gather about DWA) the general feel of the collections.

Coelacanth18 said:
I think it is difficult to make a comparison between Plzen and an American zoo. The DWA is the one that comes closest to my mind for the collector mentality,
Click to expand...

I think the so-called "collector mentality" at Plzen is somewhat overblown on here sometimes; although it has a large collection much of it comes from local private keepers, and rather less is imported from further afield - whilst in the case of DWA and Pairi the opposite is the case.... and of course, Plzen doesn't bring in nearly as many big flashy oddities as either of these collections.
 
FunkyGibbon said:
I would have thought DWA was a better option, although obviously it's not perfect.
Click to expand...
While these zoos obviously have some similarities; large collections with lots of rarities and too small enclosures for some of their smaller species, I don't think these zoos are really comparable. Plzen is a large zoo with species from around the globe, whereas DWA is basically just a large South American Rainforest house with a small-ish Aquarium at the bottom.

To be honest I didn't think much of DWA and I'm surprised it's being compared to European heavy-weights like Plzen and Pairi Daiza.

TeaLovingDave said:
Nah, I reckon the European DWA is easily Pairi Daiza.
Click to expand...
I don't think DWA and Pairi are comparable for mostly the same reasons as for why I don't think DWA is comparable to Plzen.

One North American zoo that I think is comparable to Pairi Daiza is Columbus. Both of these are large, all-day zoos with huge collections organized into geographical areas. Both are heavily themed, although sometimes this theming can compromise exhibit quality. Both are fairly controversial on this site, although they're both generally regarded as very good facilities.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I think the so-called "collector mentality" at Plzen is somewhat overblown on here sometimes; although it has a large collection much of it comes from local private keepers, and rather less is imported from further afield - whilst in the case of DWA and Pairi the opposite is the case.... and of course, Plzen doesn't bring in nearly as many big flashy oddities as either of these collections.
Click to expand...

You have a good point on imports versus local sources; that would still put me at a loss for a comparison, though, as I can't think of any American counterpart to that collection method either (at least not for mammals).
 
TZDugong said:
One North American zoo that I think is comparable to Pairi Daiza is Columbus. Both of these are large, all-day zoos with huge collections organized into geographical areas. Both are heavily themed, although sometimes this theming can compromise exhibit quality. Both are fairly controversial on this site, although they're both generally regarded as very good facilities.
Click to expand...

I agree completely with this, and in fact I now remember that I originally also thought of Columbus before I thought of Omaha - I think that comparison still stands, though Omaha is less about heavy theming and more about impressive scale and structures.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top