Which zoo has the best / most diverse suid & peccary collection ?
- Thread starter Onychorhynchus coronatus
- Start date
Way back in the Zoochat archives, there is a whole thread where someone bypassed several "no not enter" signs and gates in order to take photographs of some off-display aviaries at one UK zoo, and then posted them on the forum in an attempt to attack/shame the zoo for the standard of said aviaries, claiming they were publicly visible.... after several people pointed out that the signs indicating they were trespassing were clearly visible within their own photos, and keepers from the zoo in question joined the site to address the issue, the user in question quietly stopped using the site for quite some time
Way back in the Zoochat archives, there is a whole thread where someone bypassed several "no not enter" signs and gates in order to take photographs of some off-display aviaries at one UK zoo, and then posted them on the forum in an attempt to attack/shame the zoo for the standard of said aviaries, claiming they were publicly visible.... after several people pointed out that the signs indicating they were trespassing were clearly visible within their own photos, and keepers from the zoo in question joined the site to address the issue, the user in question quietly stopped using the site for quite some time
If they asked a keeper nicely maybe they would have received permission to go back there. Why didn’t they?
I've actually been inside the Schweinehaus - by invitation (curator & zookeeper). Didn't take any pictures, though. Its history is pretty interesting. Originally built in 1910 as the fourth swine house (the three previous versions each had to make room for various construction projects), it was considerably damaged in WW2 and later on rebuilt / renovated. It has housed quite an array of wild suids and domestic pig breeds, including Javan warty pigs and several African bushpig subspecies.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I don't think all zoos or keepers would necessarily allow that kind of request.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Way back in the Zoochat archives, there is a whole thread where someone bypassed several "no not enter" signs and gates in order to take photographs of some off-display aviaries at one UK zoo, and then posted them on the forum in an attempt to attack/shame the zoo for the standard of said aviaries, claiming they were publicly visible.... after several people pointed out that the signs indicating they were trespassing were clearly visible within their own photos, and keepers from the zoo in question joined the site to address the issue, the user in question quietly stopped using the site for quite some time
I take it that the zoochatter in question was an animal rights activist ?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Berlin zoo strikes me as one of those historic zoos which has managed to keep that balance between maintaining its history and its present / future far better than London zoo and many of the Italian ones.
They may or may not, but I’ve had good luck getting permission from keepers to photograph offshow animals, whether through scheduling appointments beforehand or asking them impromptu. They tend to be impressed or proud that species collectors visit to photograph rare animals.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Its great you have had good results from it , often it will work if asked in advance via email but I tend to think that asking keepers impromptu will often result in a no.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Sorry, @amur leopard didn't see your comment before, thank you for sharing this !
Ughhh, that isn't a very good enclosure for this species at all.
Are there not plans to improve it / update it ?
Impromptu generally worked in Japan (due to language barrier it was hard to email them beforehand); in the US I always scheduled beforehand.
It is in the old part of the Wilhelma, very 60s, tons of concrete, much of the exhibits are a bit outdated, although not necessarily too small. From what I've heard, after the new house they're building, the big cats should get new exhibits and they're in this old part of the zoo, so hopefully the Babirusa will have a better exhibit sooner or later.
When it comes to asking keepers about off-show visits or else, I found it very easy in most zoos when e-mailing prior to visit. If someone is interested I can list which facilities accepted or not, but in general, when I asked a curator, I got the autorisation, when I asked the direction or the administration, most of the times they said no or gave me the curator's e-mail.
Plzen deserves a mention for being the friendliest zoo when it comes to this.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I don't know what the big cat enclosures look like but I should think that given how poor the state of their current enclosure is the babirusa should be a priority.
Out of curiosity what did you photograph at Plzen and why were they the friendliest ?
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
That is awesome but it does pleasantly suprise me as I would have thought that Japanese zoos would be far more inflexible about these sorts of things.
Not the worst cat enclosures I've seen, but definitely not the best either. Very small, not very good looking but luckily they're pretty green, making the experience better. The lions have a better exhibit, the classic "island" separated from the public by a moat and a concrete wall.
I did not own a camera back when I visited Plzen, but they answered my e-mail really quickly, agreed to meet me that day, and even though the curator was not there, his colleague, who didn't even know I was coming, accepted to bring me off-show and to show me around. I was also allowed to stay on my own back there, keepers were not far, preparing food for the animals but still, I could move between the rooms and take a look at the species without anyone looking over my shoulder. Also, sadly I don't speak any Czech so communication was a bit hard, but they were happy to help me find species I was looking for. Highlights were the Panay cloud-rats, the most agressive Leopard cat I've ever seen and the many nice birds (Maghreb magpie, White-eared doves...). I was also gifted the yearbook with a complete stock list of all the species they have.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Some examples of suid signage and educational displays at different zoos around the world.
Great signage (IMO) for babirusa at LA zoo:
Yorkshire Wildlife park Visayan warty pig signage:
ZSL Whipsnade Visayan warty pig signage:
Red river hog sign at North Carolina zoo:
Red river hog sign at Dierenpark zoo:
Interesting Visayan warty pig signage (Alfred Russell Wallace inspired?) at Chester zoo:
Great sign on the distribution of the worlds wild pig species at Woodland park zoo:
Sign from Blackbrook zoo (apparently now closed ?) of Negros warty pig :
Example of a terrible sign (IMO) for Visayan warty pig at Flamingo Land zoo:
Underwhelming signage on babirusa at San Diego Zoo:
Babirusa sign amongst signs for rotation enclosure at Chester zoo:
Babirusa skull on display next to a babirusa enclosure at Singapore zoo:
Great suid education sign from Singapore zoo :
Collared peccary sign at Zoo Overloon :
White lipped peccary sign at Dierenpark:
Chacoan peccary sign at Fresno Chaffee zoo:
Excellent warthog education sign at Woodland Park Zoo:
Photo credits to @Macaw16, @Blackduiker, @betsy, @Chlidonias , @redpanda756 , @vogelcommando, @ajmcwhipsnade , @Mr.Weasel, @gentle lemur , @Malayan Tapir, @snowleopard.
Great signage (IMO) for babirusa at LA zoo:
Yorkshire Wildlife park Visayan warty pig signage:
ZSL Whipsnade Visayan warty pig signage:
Red river hog sign at North Carolina zoo:
Red river hog sign at Dierenpark zoo:
Interesting Visayan warty pig signage (Alfred Russell Wallace inspired?) at Chester zoo:
Great sign on the distribution of the worlds wild pig species at Woodland park zoo:
Sign from Blackbrook zoo (apparently now closed ?) of Negros warty pig :
Example of a terrible sign (IMO) for Visayan warty pig at Flamingo Land zoo:
Underwhelming signage on babirusa at San Diego Zoo:
Babirusa sign amongst signs for rotation enclosure at Chester zoo:
Babirusa skull on display next to a babirusa enclosure at Singapore zoo:
Great suid education sign from Singapore zoo :
Collared peccary sign at Zoo Overloon :
White lipped peccary sign at Dierenpark:
Chacoan peccary sign at Fresno Chaffee zoo:
Excellent warthog education sign at Woodland Park Zoo:
Photo credits to @Macaw16, @Blackduiker, @betsy, @Chlidonias , @redpanda756 , @vogelcommando, @ajmcwhipsnade , @Mr.Weasel, @gentle lemur , @Malayan Tapir, @snowleopard.
Last edited:
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Wow ! From what you have said it sounds like they really went out of their way to make sure you enjoyed your visit and got to have the experience you wanted to.
You know that kind of thing really highlights to me how great some zoos are with public engagement and just how helpful they can be, not all zoos have these kinds of organizational cultures or attitudes towards the public so it seems like with Plzen you really got lucky.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Not sure how well this kind of mixed-species exhibit works out in practice but I saw this picture in the gallery and I really like the idea of a mix of lowland anoa and babirusa.
Biogeographically correct and highlights two endangered hoofstock at once.
Photo credits to @MountainBongo.
Biogeographically correct and highlights two endangered hoofstock at once.
Photo credits to @MountainBongo.
They were very happy and impressed I went all the way there (these weren’t even the top 5 or 10 most popular zoos in Japan) to photograph their specialties. I exchanged their emails with my former bosses and mentors at the WCS, too.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Well I'm glad that they accomodated you and encouraged your interest in Japanese fauna
