Europe's 100 must see exhibits

[HOMIN96]

Maybe Lintworm remembered about the European fish exhibit at Plzen and thinks it deserves a spot here due to its uniqueness ?

It was more of a joke because I know well lintworm's opinion on Plzen and he mentioned it here in other threads many times before

Although Plzen will always have special place in my heart and I appreciate some of its exhibits, I wouldn't call them "must see". There are two exhibits that might have a very outside chance to be on the list, but I think both have even better exhibit on similar theme elsewhere in Europe. I'll keep them for myself for now and see if there will be surprise or not.

Late edit: It's actually 3 exhibits with an outside chance, forget about one (but here I'm not sure if it can be counted as an exhibit on its own by lintworm's rules...and its surroundings will certainly drag it down)

 

[antonmuster]

Really looking forward to this thread!

Exhibits I suspect might make the list:

Burger's: Mangrove, Desert, coral reef tank, bush
Berlin zoo: Aquarium (i.e. the entire house)
Wilhelma: gibbons
Frankfurt: Grzimek house
Hagenbeck Hamburg: Africa panorama
Hannover: Yukon Bay
Leipzig: Pongoland
Nuremberg: desert house
Bern: riverside enclosures, 'Bern Bear Pit' (possibly)
Zurich: Masoala, spectacled bears, 'Kaeng Krachan' elephants (possibly), geladas (possibly), yaks & cashmere goats (possibly)
Basel: Etosha, Aquarium (possibly)
Prague: hillside (i.e. cliffside) hoofstock enclosures
Doué: South American aviary
Beauval: hippo aviary, bird show (though not an exhibit per se)
Vienna: bird house, rat house, cat house (possibly)
Chester: bat house
Edinburgh: Budongo
Loro Parque: Penguinarium, parrots

 

[lintworm]

@lintworm: While I can absolutely understand or even share your opinion of Salzburgs African Savanna regarding the fantastic view, I have also to disagree because of the same reason. Common visitors (and even some zoonerds) don't get an "African feeling" here. What you see is a lush grasy habitat (so far still okay because you can see that in e.g. South Africa during the year too) surrounded by clearly Eurasian (looking) trees and European style houses. Also the mountain in the back is not really "African" to me, although I must confess that this type of formation could occur in Africa too.

On the other hand, I couldn't find anything against the excellent fitting chamois exhibit from Natur- und Tierpark Goldau. Deserves with no doubt a place in your Top-100-Ranking.

It would be boring if we would all agree, then this thread would be rather obsolete... I am not quite sure I follow you with your reasoning, does any great or must-see exhibit invoke the feeling of the native habitat of the animals? If so, than except a few looming exceptions like Masoala and Doué's okapi aviary, most zoos showing exotic species do a pretty poor job. I still don't really know what for me the definition of an optimal exhibit would be, apart from that the animals need should be met first and foremost.

Maybe also to re-iterate the goal of the thread: must-see does not equal great in any interpretation of the word. As exhibits with a vista go, I thought Salzburg really stood out and I quite like the fusion of a pretty European landscape (these mountains are indeed not very African) with exotic species. If Australia would have been part of the thread, this entry would have been replaced with the giraffes of Taronga. As zoo views go, that is maybe the most iconic of them all.

It was more of a joke because I know well lintworm's opinion on Plzen and he mentioned it here in other threads many times before

Although Plzen will always have special place in my heart and I appreciate some of its exhibits, I wouldn't call them "must see". There are two exhibits that might have a very outside chance to be on the list, but I think both have even better exhibit on similar theme elsewhere in Europe. I'll keep them for myself for now and see if there will be surprise or not.

Late edit: It's actually 3 exhibits with an outside chance, forget about one (but here I'm not sure if it can be counted as an exhibit on its own by lintworm's rules...and its surroundings will certainly drag it down)

This post will already be the 4th time Plzen is mentioned, so not bad .

It is a pity COVID derived you of the opportunity to show me around and convince me Plzen is better than I believe . Overall I have tried to put personal preferences aside somewhat and also include stuff I am not a fan of per se, but still has its value. Whether that is good enough for Plzen we will see

 

[lintworm]

3. Realm of the Red Ape
Chester Zoo, UK
Opened: 2007
Size: 4920 square metres
Inhabitants: Bornean orangutan, Asian small-clawed otter and a selection of Southeast Asian birds, reptiles and invertebrates

Displaying orangutan in the most natural way is not easy. In fact, it is so hard that Wim Mager, founder of Apenheul, didn’t think it was worth it. Their arboreal nature, combined with their complex solitary yet social behaviour is challenging to say the least. Few zoos have succeeded, but the Realm of the Red Ape (RotRA) is used as a best practice example for a reason. The key is providing a large number of enclosures: 3 indoor and 4 outdoors with a high network of tunnels making a large number of combinations possible and have the ability to let apes avoid each other. Additionally there is the height. Each of the indoor enclosures is ten metres high, with enough climbing material that the animals are stimulated to use the height and avoid the ground, a place too many zoo orangutans do still use. Even though some of the enclosures have all the charm of an industrial playground and visitor viewing is limited, for the orangutan this is what gets them closest to their natural behaviour.

@MagpieGoose

@Mr.Weasel

@Writhedhornbill

Similar exhibits: Apenheul, Netherlands, is the closest. After Wim Mager left, they did try and while their outdoor islands are spacious and complex, indoor size is rather limited (⅓ of the size of RotRA). But with four 4 indoor and 4 outdoor enclosures and an opportunity to easily move animals between enclosures, this is another good one.

@snowleopard

@Toddy

 

[HOMIN96]

It is a pity COVID derived you of the opportunity to show me around and convince me Plzen is better than I believe

"For now" I hope the day when we meet there will come soon enough. I don't want to convince you though, it's good and enriching to have different views and I actually think that we'll share some views If you want to be convinced please refer yourself to the head of Zoochat's fanclub of Plzen Zoo, the magnificent @TeaLovingDave

Overall I have tried to put personal preferences aside somewhat and also include stuff I am not a fan of per se, but still has its value

I wouldn't expect anything else from you

 

[TeaLovingDave]

If you want to be convinced please refer yourself to the head of Zoochat's fanclub of Plzen Zoo, the magnificent @TeaLovingDave

He says, knowing full well that the main reason I fought tooth-and-nail for the collection during the Zoochat Cup organised by @CGSwans was that I feel Plzen is better nowadays than its reputation of "just" being a stamp collection sometimes is held to demonstrate, and not that it's one of my top collections

 

[Fallax]

3. Realm of the Red Ape
Chester Zoo, UK
Opened: 2007
Size: 4920 square metres
Inhabitants: Bornean orangutan, Asian small-clawed otter and a selection of Southeast Asian birds, reptiles and invertebrates

Displaying orangutan in the most natural way is not easy. In fact, it is so hard that Wim Mager, founder of Apenheul, didn’t think it was worth it. Their arboreal nature, combined with their complex solitary yet social behaviour is challenging to say the least. Few zoos have succeeded, but the Realm of the Red Ape (RotRA) is used as a best practice example for a reason. The key is providing a large number of enclosures: 3 indoor and 4 outdoors with a high network of tunnels making a large number of combinations possible and have the ability to let apes avoid each other. Additionally there is the height. Each of the indoor enclosures is ten metres high, with enough climbing material that the animals are stimulated to use the height and avoid the ground, a place too many zoo orangutans do still use. Even though some of the enclosures have all the charm of an industrial playground and visitor viewing is limited, for the orangutan this is what gets them closest to their natural behaviour.

@MagpieGoose

@Mr.Weasel

@Writhedhornbill

Similar exhibits: Apenheul, Netherlands, is the closest. After Wim Mager left, they did try and while their outdoor islands are spacious and complex, indoor size is rather limited (⅓ of the size of RotRA). But with four 4 indoor and 4 outdoor enclosures and an opportunity to easily move animals between enclosures, this is another good one.

@snowleopard

@Toddy

Nice to see this here, ROTRA is an exhibit which I have seen a lot of varied opinions on (with almost all of the negative being people thinking it looks "too artificial") but I do personally land on the side of it being great, not just for the orangutans and gibbons (the latter I noticed you didn't mention ) but also I think the smaller animals also make it stand out, the species on show are of a decent variety and interesting in their own right.

I think when talking about this exhibit, comparisons must be drawn towards Chester's other orangutan exhibit in Monsoon Forest, which, while still good is inferior to ROTRA for a few reasons, mostly the viewing areas have a tendency to get more cramped up inside.

Hoping to see more of Chester's exhibits on the list, of which I'm sure there will be!

 

[TNT]

ROTRA is certainly a stand out exhibit and worthy of a place on this list. It's got me wondering how many, or even if any other UK exhibits will make the list.

Imo, the Sitatunga exhibit at Exmoor zoo is out of this world. It's not only beautiful, but near perfect for its inhabitants... Possibly one of my favourite zoo exhibits.

I guess we (I) shall have to wait and see.

 

[twilighter]

The Realm of the Red Ape is definately a must see exhibit. I can briefly mention the Kristiansand new Orangutan facility (2020) with three islands and three houses (8 meters high indoor quarters).

Your choices from the top zoos like Chester with at least five candidates for this list will be another very intriguing subject.

 

[lintworm]

4. European herpetofauna exhibits
Freilandterrarium Stein, Germany
Opened: from 1971 onwards (with renovations)
Size: n.a.
Inhabitants: ~15 European amphibian and reptile species.

Great exhibits do not need a wow-factor or show the most sexy species. It can be just as worthwhile when something small is done well. The open air terrarium of Stein, near N|urnberg, is a little gem, it shows only European species, most of them native to Germany. The individual terraria are relatively simple "boxes", placed in such a way to provide optimum amounts of sun or shade for their inhabitants. A good terrarium can be a beautiful diorama of the native habitat of the species on display and that is the case here. Combine that with showing the beauty of native species and it is worth a detour when visiting Nürnberg

Unfortunately there is no Zoochat gallery for this collection, there are however some pictures on their website (or via google images):
Freiland-Aquarium und -Terrarium Stein

The terraria are somewhat similar in design as the ones in Tiergarten Schönbrunn

Similar exhibits: A number of zoos also display native amphibians and reptiles in pretty outdoor terraria. Good examples include Tierpark Dählhölzli Bern, Switzerland, Tiergarten Schönbrunn Vienna, Austria, Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria, and Zoo Augsburg, Germany.

Zoo Augsburg

@Sun Wukong

Tiergarten Schönbrunn

@LaughingDove

Tierpark Dählhölzli

@TheoV

 

[snowleopard]

I know that @lintworm delights in showing all of us obscure exhibits that might not be at the top of other lists. His 4th selection is a place that ZERO zoo nerds would have guessed and if 100 zoo enthusiasts made 100 lists then they'd all be different . We were probably all thinking about Masoala in Zurich, or Islands at Chester, or other world-famous exhibits, but I'm guessing that instead @lintworm will include the Casson Pavilion at London Zoo (a huge grey blob), or maybe the Mountain Anoa paddock at Krefeld Zoo in Germany, or even the walk-through Squirrel Monkey forest at Apenheul (which really is a magnificent exhibit!). He loves to seek out the unknown, which in truth makes for an entertaining thread.

 

[lintworm]

I know that @lintworm delights in showing all of us obscure exhibits that might not be at the top of other lists. His 4th selection is a place that ZERO zoo nerds would have guessed and if 100 zoo enthusiasts made 100 lists then they'd all be different . We were probably all thinking about Masoala in Zurich, or Islands at Chester, or other world-famous exhibits, but I'm guessing that instead @lintworm will include the Casson Pavilion at London Zoo (a huge grey blob), or maybe the Mountain Anoa paddock at Krefeld Zoo in Germany, or even the walk-through Squirrel Monkey forest at Apenheul (which really is a magnificent exhibit!). He loves to seek out the unknown, which in truth makes for an entertaining thread.

Obscure exhibits and surprising choices are what makes this fun . I shall surprise, you in particular, at least 3 more times by the time we come to exhibit 10. And there are still multiple exhibits left that aren't covered on zoochat after that. That is not to say there won't be some regular greats soon too.

 

[Bengal Tiger]

Great exhibits do not need a wow-factor or show the most sexy species.

Huh!?? Little bit of an odd way to phrase it...

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Similar exhibits: A number of zoos also display native amphibians and reptiles in pretty outdoor terraria. Good examples include Tierpark Dählhölzli Bern, Switzerland, Tiergarten Schönbrunn Vienna, Austria, Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria, and Zoo Augsburg, Germany.

Other good examples include Prague Zoo in Czechia and Wilhelma (Stuttgart) in Germany although Alpenzoo is certainly up there with the gold standard methinks!

 

[IndianRhino]

Really enjoying this thread @lintworm! I didn't even know a few of these habitats existed prior to reading this thread so it'll definitely help expand my knowledge of really nice habitats outside of the US. Hopefully a thread like this will be created for North American zoos some day!

 

[lintworm]

5. Sangay cloud forest,
Zoo Zurich, Switzerland
Opened: 1995
Size: 4000 square metres
Inhabitants: Spectacled bear and South-American coati

When the old bear pits were demolished and this new immersive spectacled bear exhibit was constructed, it felt rather out of place. As the first step in the modernization of the Zurcher Zoo it did set a trend though, which could hardly be further away from the concrete heavy zoo of that time. Even after almost 30 years it has aged exceptionally well and still plays in the champions league of tropical bear enclosures. The cloud forest consists of three enclosures, separated by dry moats, which can be connected, and all are well-structured with some dense planting. There are several viewing options, but these are cleverly constructed, so that there is no cross-viewing and they give a feeling of space, as some enclosure borders are precisely out of view.

@FunkyGibbon

@antonmuster

@antonmuster

Similar exhibits: of all tropical bears, spectacled bears got lucky, other top-notch enclosures exist in Zoo Givskud, Denmark, Chester Zoo, UK, and Zoo Frankfurt, Germany, among many others.

Chester Zoo:

@Jordan-Jaguar97

Zoo Frankfurt

@snowleopard

 

[aardvark250]

Which Pairi Daiza exhibit will be included for the "absolutely unnecessary over the top theming that did limited good exhibit" representative?

 

[MRJ]

4. European herpetofauna exhibits
Freilandterrarium Stein, Germany
Opened: from 1971 onwards (with renovations)
Size: n.a.
Inhabitants: ~15 European amphibian and reptile species.

Great exhibits do not need a wow-factor or show the most sexy species. It can be just as worthwhile when something small is done well. The open air terrarium of Stein, near N|urnberg, is a little gem, it shows only European species, most of them native to Germany. The individual terraria are relatively simple "boxes", placed in such a way to provide optimum amounts of sun or shade for their inhabitants. A good terrarium can be a beautiful diorama of the native habitat of the species on display and that is the case here. Combine that with showing the beauty of native species and it is worth a detour when visiting Nürnberg

Unfortunately there is no Zoochat gallery for this collection, there are however some pictures on their website (or via google images):
Freiland-Aquarium und -Terrarium Stein

The terraria are somewhat similar in design as the ones in Tiergarten Schönbrunn

Similar exhibits: A number of zoos also display native amphibians and reptiles in pretty outdoor terraria. Good examples include Tierpark Dählhölzli Bern, Switzerland, Tiergarten Schönbrunn Vienna, Austria, Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria, and Zoo Augsburg, Germany.

Zoo Augsburg

@Sun Wukong

Tiergarten Schönbrunn

@LaughingDove

Tierpark Dählhölzli

@TheoV

I saw excellent outdoor terrariums at Bern and Aplinzoo as well. I was surprised given the climate. Given our climate here in Australia I'm surprised we have not done more. We really have not gone past the basic reptile pit, and the reptile house reigns supreme.

 

[MRJ]

5. Sangay cloud forest,
Zoo Zurich, Switzerland
Opened: 1995
Size: 4000 square metres
Inhabitants: Spectacled bear and South-American coati

When the old bear pits were demolished and this new immersive spectacled bear exhibit was constructed, it felt rather out of place. As the first step in the modernization of the Zurcher Zoo it did set a trend though, which could hardly be further away from the concrete heavy zoo of that time. Even after almost 30 years it has aged exceptionally well and still plays in the champions league of tropical bear enclosures. The cloud forest consists of three enclosures, separated by dry moats, which can be connected, and all are well-structured with some dense planting. There are several viewing options, but these are cleverly constructed, so that there is no cross-viewing and they give a feeling of space, as some enclosure borders are precisely out of view.

@FunkyGibbon

@antonmuster

@antonmuster

Similar exhibits: of all tropical bears, spectacled bears got lucky, other top-notch enclosures exist in Zoo Givskud, Denmark, Chester Zoo, UK, and Zoo Frankfurt, Germany, among many others.

Chester Zoo:

@Jordan-Jaguar97

Zoo Frankfurt

@snowleopard

I don't imagine I'll be able to comment much on this thread given my limited experience of European zoos. However I have seen this one, and thought it a lovely exhibit, great for the bears and great for people. Can't say it convinced me I was in the Andes, though had a brown bear popped out I would have have not been at all surprised.

 

[lintworm]

I saw excellent outdoor terrariums at Bern and Aplinzoo as well. I was surprised given the climate. Given our climate here in Australia I'm surprised we have not done more. We really have not gone past the basic reptile pit, and the reptile house reigns supreme.

There is quite a number of hardy reptile and amphibian species around in Europe, some occur above 2000 meters altitude in the Alps or up to northern Scandinavia. Diversity is low, I had just as much reptile species in my hut in Madagascar as there occur in the whole of the Netherlands... But for a willing zoo there is enough to work with. There are quite some pit displays in Europe too, Wilhelma Stuttgart and Opel-Zoo Kronberg come to mind, but these are clearly less attractive than displays at eye-level. Reptile houses also reign supreme here, as native species, except tree frogs get much less attention...

I guess it could work in Australia too, Auckland Zoo has some nice open air terraria for native geckoes/skinks as well as exotic species. An issue might be the heat, most reptile species, especially in the tropics, are more active at slightly cooler temperatures..