Europe's 100 must see exhibits

[pachyderm pro]

51. Afrykarium
Zoo Wroclaw, Poland
Opened: 2014
Size: 14.000 square metres
Inhabitants, Cape fur seal, common hippo, Antillean manatee, a large array of fish as well as an array of birds, reptiles and small mammals.

By total volume this would have been the second largest aquarium of the continent. At closer look the total volume of 13.6 million litres is to a large extent thanks to the non-fish displays. The Cape fur seal and African penguin tanks are 6 million litres when combined, which makes them the largest for their kind on the continent. Seeing penguins swim longer distances in a deep pool is wonderful and makes one wonder why so many zoos only provide shallow tanks. Unfortunately both outdoor enclosures suffer from the same disease as the main building: being impressive is more important than effective landscaping. The giant black shoe box that is the Afrykarium dominates a significant area of the zoo and inside the focus is on a few big exhibits, often with questionable landscaping, rather than on smaller tanks. The thematic focus is on saltwater and freshwater habitats of the African continent. The mix of “naturalistic” design, with modern architecture works pretty well in the rainforest section, where the greenery softens the concrete. But in the savannah section with its questionable all-indoors hippo enclosure the mock rock just reinforces the bareness of the naked concrete. This building was a massive step forward for Zoo Wroclaw and Polish zoos in general, but with a bit more love and attention to details and cross-viewing, it could have been more than just a massive piece of modern architecture with large enclosures.

@lintworm

@LaughingDove

@lintworm

@lintworm

@lintworm

@lintworm


Similar exhibits: There is nothing quite like it yet, though the future Orientarium in Lodz Zoo, Poland, might come close in certain regards.

The broader concept of the Afrykarium is super interesting to me. The idea of these large aquariums that center around a specific geographical theme has some serious untapped potential. Imagine the potential of an Amazon themed aquarium at this scale, for example. Side note; as unconventional as it is for a zoo exhibit, I think the architecture of this building is fantastic. Totally unlike anything I’ve seen in a zoo before.

It does surprise me a bit that they chose to give the penguins an outdoor exhibit but not the hippos. Not saying penguins don’t deserve an outdoor exhibit, just that they are far better suited to an all indoor exhibit than the hippos. Was there ever a plan for an outdoor hippo area? It seems like a glaring flaw that should have been a priority in the design plan.

 

[Marco Penello]

The broader concept of the Afrykarium is super interesting to me. The idea of these large aquariums that center around a specific geographical theme has some serious untapped potential. Imagine the potential of an Amazon themed aquarium at this scale, for example. Side note; as unconventional as it is for a zoo exhibit, I think the architecture of this building is fantastic. Totally unlike anything I’ve seen in a zoo before.

It does surprise me a bit that they chose to give the penguins an outdoor exhibit but not the hippos. Not saying penguins don’t deserve an outdoor exhibit, just that they are far better suited to an all indoor exhibit than the hippos. Was there ever a plan for an outdoor hippo area? It seems like a glaring flaw that should have been a priority in the design plan.

No, there is no plan for an outdoor hippo enclosure.

 

[Jurek7]

Grzimek House

Like several other top exhibits, shows that it pays to a zoo to use somebody with artist skills. After over 40 years, the exhibits remain attractive, like the eroded stones in the hyrax exhibit or fake rainforest buttress roots in an elephant shrew exhibit.

In contrast, the ugly entrance bat puppet was put sometime in the 1990s and unfortunately, did not decay yet.

Afrykarium

It was the most expensive zoo project in Poland ever and navigating funding, local politics and planning was a masterpiece by itself. Compromises had to be made. Building plans were designed for a separate attraction at the zoo perimeter. The wining plan was then chosen by a city committee where zoo people were in the minority. This is the reason why the building resembles some financial institution and completely does not fit its surroundings, and hippos lack an outdoor pool. The zoo director suggested that hippos in European zoos get arthritism from unheated outdoor pools, but anyway. Construction was rushed ahead of schedule to be open before local elections. Therefore some exhibits are under-furnished. Especially the manatee tank is raw concrete. Nevertheless, manatees bred several times already, and, arguably, manatees are not known to play with or otherwise use tank decorations.

Afrykarium, however, won an ultimate award for a zoo exhibit: it already has been copied by the Orientarium in Lodz Zoo, and an aquarium project in Gdansk. Is Poland to become a center of the outdoor-indoor animal exhibit complexes?

Coldwater aquarium
Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria

I feel the main tank at Aquatis is better, especially as the paddlefish grow. One can look straight through their mouth and gills to the other side.

There are several small places in Europe with an underwater view into an outdoor pond, which should be perhaps mentioned there.

 

[lintworm]

The broader concept of the Afrykarium is super interesting to me. The idea of these large aquariums that center around a specific geographical theme has some serious untapped potential. Imagine the potential of an Amazon themed aquarium at this scale, for example. Side note; as unconventional as it is for a zoo exhibit, I think the architecture of this building is fantastic. Totally unlike anything I’ve seen in a zoo before.

It does surprise me a bit that they chose to give the penguins an outdoor exhibit but not the hippos. Not saying penguins don’t deserve an outdoor exhibit, just that they are far better suited to an all indoor exhibit than the hippos. Was there ever a plan for an outdoor hippo area? It seems like a glaring flaw that should have been a priority in the design plan.

Funny you mention African penguins as being more suited to indoor only accomodation. I don't think that is the case and in Europe indoor only penguin enclosures are very rare, except for the sub-antarctic species (though in Spain there are multiple for Spheniscus species). For African penguin the only all-indoor facility I know is in Nausicaa, and that exhibit is far too small.

Grzimek House

Like several other top exhibits, shows that it pays to a zoo to use somebody with artist skills. After over 40 years, the exhibits remain attractive, like the eroded stones in the hyrax exhibit or fake rainforest buttress roots in an elephant shrew exhibit.

In contrast, the ugly entrance bat puppet was put sometime in the 1990s and unfortunately, did not decay yet.

Afrykarium

It was the most expensive zoo project in Poland ever and navigating funding, local politics and planning was a masterpiece by itself. Compromises had to be made. Building plans were designed for a separate attraction at the zoo perimeter. The wining plan was then chosen by a city committee where zoo people were in the minority. This is the reason why the building resembles some financial institution and completely does not fit its surroundings, and hippos lack an outdoor pool. The zoo director suggested that hippos in European zoos get arthritism from unheated outdoor pools, but anyway. Construction was rushed ahead of schedule to be open before local elections. Therefore some exhibits are under-furnished. Especially the manatee tank is raw concrete. Nevertheless, manatees bred several times already, and, arguably, manatees are not known to play with or otherwise use tank decorations.

Afrykarium, however, won an ultimate award for a zoo exhibit: it already has been copied by the Orientarium in Lodz Zoo, and an aquarium project in Gdansk. Is Poland to become a center of the outdoor-indoor animal exhibit complexes?

Coldwater aquarium
Alpenzoo Innsbruck, Austria

I feel the main tank at Aquatis is better, especially as the paddlefish grow. One can look straight through their mouth and gills to the other side.

There are several small places in Europe with an underwater view into an outdoor pond, which should be perhaps mentioned there.

Thanks for the background on Wroclaw.

I disagree with you on Aquatis, the main tank is certainly more impressive, especially with the paddlefish, but it is basically just a big tank (with smart lighting) with big fish from multiple continents. Whereas in the Alpenzoo there is a clever and beautiful display of a specific local region. Probably 99% of regular visitors would prefer the Aquatis tank, but this thread is for the connoisseurs and nerds .

 

[Bengal Tiger]

Which raises an interesting secondary question - which zoological collections have the most comprehensive or highest-quality rare breed displays? As I've noted in the past, I have a soft spot a mile wide for such exhibits the Hannover example was certainly one of the few areas I liked all that much at said collection!

On a related note, I did make a thread about that, I have a couple of examples there.

 

[lintworm]

53. Mountain ungulate cliffs
Zoo Praha, Czechia,
Opened: ?
Size: 13.400 square metres
Inhabitants: West-Caucasian tur, Barbary sheep, Barbary macaque, Himalayan tahr

Some enclosures are simply stunning, despite their simplicity. The rocky cliffside that divides the upper and lower half of the Prague Zoo has been converted into a trio of brilliant mountain ungulate paddocks, by not doing much more than fencing them in. Spanning an altitude difference of about 50 metres they provide excellent climbing opportunities and abundant space. These enclosures have been in existence for decades and there hasn’t been a need to make any major adaptations in that time. These enclosures are one of the highlights in Prague and some of the most recognizable and impressive exhibits of the continent. Prague has shown how to make use of this rocky hillside in other ways too, by using it as an impressive backdrop for a pair of large aviaries.

@LaughingDove

@lintworm

@LaughingDove

@MagpieGoose

Similar exhibits: Fortunately there are a number of European zoos that use natural rocky outcrops as mountain ungulate enclosures. Good examples exist in Zoo Halle, Germany for West Caucasian tur and Korkeasaari Zoo, Helsinki, Finland for markhor. Parc Animalier d’Auvergne, Ardes-sur-Couzes, and Parc Animalier des Pyrenees, Ayzac, both in France, even have large walkthrough enclosures on a hilly and/or rocky site with a mix of different mountain ungulates.

Korkeasaari Zoo

@lintworm


Zoo Halle

@lintworm


Parc Animalier d’Auvergne

@literaturezoologique

@literaturezoologique


Parc Animalier des Pyrenees

@Maxime

@Maxime

 

[Ned]

Do keepers ever have to clean these enclosures? If so they'd have to abseil down then.

Off the top of my head Salzburg and Liberec have pretty steep goat / sheep enclosures.

 

[lintworm]

Do keepers ever have to clean these enclosures? If so they'd have to abseil down then.

Off the top of my head Salzburg and Liberec have pretty steep goat / sheep enclosures.

They will only clean at the bottom part, where they are also fed. Much of the enclosure is inaccessible to humans.

There are plenty other examples too with cliffy or steep enclosures for mountain ungulates indeed. Overall they seem to be a more lucky species group

 

[HOMIN96]

Do keepers ever have to clean these enclosures? If so they'd have to abseil down then.

They will only clean at the bottom part, where they are also fed. Much of the enclosure is inaccessible to humans.

As I know people who worked/are working there I can chime in and it's pretty much like @lintworm says. The stables, concrete yards, and flat parts around that are cleaned daily, the moats when deemed necessary and the rest is left on Mother Nature Also, once in a while special commando of arborists with rock climbing equipment arrives and they trim the trees in the exhibit and around the fences a bit.

 

[lintworm]

54. Baboon enclosure
Parque de la Naturaleza de Cabárceno, Obregon, Spain
Opened: 1989
Size: 2.8 hectares
Inhabitants: Guinea baboon

Cabárceno is built on the site of a former open pit iron mine on a karstic hilly site. The zoo now located here profits from this dramatic landscape and the typical red iron rich soils, making it a unique place in Europe. For some species just fencing in a huge portion of this landscape is enough to create a breathtaking exhibit that comes close to the natural habitat of the animals. The Guinea baboon cliffs are an example where this works and this is by a margin the largest baboon exhibit in Europe. As this is a species that does normally also live in big groups, there are no welfare compromises by keeping a large enough group that allows visitors to actually have a chance at seeing them.

@Maguari

@SivatheriumGuy

@SivatheriumGuy

@Maguari

@Maguari

Similar exhibits: Though huge, this is not even close to being the largest primate exhibit, the larger of the two enclosures at the Trentham Monkey Forest, UK, is well over 16 hectares, housing a large troup of Barbary macaques.

@zoogiraffe

@CZJimmy

 

[lintworm]

55. Yellow-throated marten enclosure
Tiergarten Nürnberg, Germany
Opened: 2008
Size: 720 square metres
Inhabitants: Yellow-throated marten

Most zoos still base their enclosure size on the size of the chosen inhabitants and group size of said inhabitants. That does however completely ignore the fact that even small animals can have gigantic home ranges or be extremely active. Due to this dogma, martens often get the short end of the stick, even in new enclosures. Giving martens a large well-structured enclosure does however result in an attractive exhibit with often highly active inhabitants. The marten enclosure in Nürnberg is just that, a piece of woodland the size of some “modern” lion enclosures has been fenced off and nicely landscaped. If the martens are awake, this is a pure joy to watch and shows that martens aren’t just frantically pacing animals, but are smart and playful too. This enclosure, designed by American Martin Schuchert was more or less the start of the new era of this zoo where large natural and often innovative enclosures are the standard.

@lintworm

@lintworm

@Maguari

@twilighter


Similar exhibits: Many zoos still keep their yellow-throated martens in cages, but Ree Park, Ebeltoft, Denmark has also has a well-wooded open-topped enclosure for their yellow-throated marten. Another species group that is small but highly active are squirrels. Some zoos have fixed this with a zoo360 design, but large open-topped squirrel enclosures are rare, but the Parc Animalier d’Auvergne, Ardes, France, does have one for Eurasian red squirrels. Seeing squirrels is however the challenge here.

Ree Park

@Hvedekorn

Parc Animalier d'Auvergne

@literaturezoologique

 

[Jurek7]

Similar exhibits:

Open-topped pine marten exhibit exists at Otter Centre, DE: ZooLex Exhibit - Pine Marten Forest
Wroclaw, PL has yellow-throated martens in an aviary-type exhibit with wire tunnel going around some trees.
There are some spacious open exhibits for wolverines, which are very close cousins of martens and similarly active. One at Amneville, FR is much more active and uses the exhibit much better than brown bears with which it cohabits.
Large, well vegetated, open-topped exhibits for polecat and American mink are in Fasanerie Wiesbaden, DE and the Otter Centre, and for European mink at Neuwied, DE.

Almost 100 years ago (!) the pioneer ecologist Konrad Lorentz said that unhappiest animals in a zoo are small carnivores like martens and foxes which move long distances in the wild. Sadly, the trend of large showcase exhibits for big cats, meerkats or even otters has largely bypassed their cousins.

Also, there is a growing number of large open-topped fox and small cat exhibits. Red foxes in Goldau, CH are partially walkthru, and serval at Arnay sous Vitteaux, FR has the luck in living in a former lion exhibit on a huge grass lawn.

 

[Bubalus]

It genuinely surprises me that more people don't speak about Cabárceno. I visited when I was younger and it blew me away the sheer scale of the exhibits. The elephant exhibit was one of the most vast exhibits I've seen within Europe. I'd very much like to go back now with my "zookeeper head" and really get a feel for the place again

 

[birdsandbats]

55. Yellow-throated marten enclosure
Tiergarten Nürnberg, Germany
Opened: 2008
Size: 720 square metres
Inhabitants: Yellow-throated marten

Most zoos still base their enclosure size on the size of the chosen inhabitants and group size of said inhabitants. That does however completely ignore the fact that even small animals can have gigantic home ranges or be extremely active. Due to this dogma, martens often get the short end of the stick, even in new enclosures. Giving martens a large well-structured enclosure does however result in an attractive exhibit with often highly active inhabitants. The marten enclosure in Nürnberg is just that, a piece of woodland the size of some “modern” lion enclosures has been fenced off and nicely landscaped. If the martens are awake, this is a pure joy to watch and shows that martens aren’t just frantically pacing animals, but are smart and playful too. This enclosure, designed by American Martin Schuchert was more or less the start of the new era of this zoo where large natural and often innovative enclosures are the standard.

@lintworm

@lintworm

@Maguari

@twilighter


Similar exhibits: Many zoos still keep their yellow-throated martens in cages, but Ree Park, Ebeltoft, Denmark has also has a well-wooded open-topped enclosure for their yellow-throated marten. Another species group that is small but highly active are squirrels. Some zoos have fixed this with a zoo360 design, but large open-topped squirrel enclosures are rare, but the Parc Animalier d’Auvergne, Ardes, France, does have one for Eurasian red squirrels. Seeing squirrels is however the challenge here.

Ree Park

@Hvedekorn

Parc Animalier d'Auvergne

@literaturezoologique

How often does one actually see martens in an enclosure of this size?

 

[Shruikan]

How often does one actually see martens in an enclosure of this size?

I actually see them every time i am there, pictures of them show up very offen on social media too

 

[Hvedekorn]

I also saw a yellow-throated marten pretty much immediately when I visited Nuremberg. Same with Ree Park. I don't think yellow-throated martens are too difficult given that they tend to be diurnal - it's the European martens that require luck and perseverance.

 

[Tim Brown]

Not being a person who spends too much of his time looking at a computer screen( I`m already forced to do too much of this in my business) I only just came across this thread and I must say what an enjoyable few hours or so I had reading it all. Im happy to say ive seen all but four of the exhibits...and could write a book on agreeing or disagreeing with each one Ive seen,but I must,and will,resist that.
Just a couple of comments therefore...I was recently in Northern Spain,obviously I went to Cabarceno (possibly the world`s greatest "unknown" zoo)...that baboon enclosure(like some others there) is jaw-dropping but ,for all that,the size of the enclosures does create something of a disconnect quite frequently in that the animals are often miles away (almost literally). Does anyone know why they have such a large number of Tigers? Must be to do with breeding. Later in the trip Icame across an exhibit that would wager will not make this list... Aquarium Finisterrae at A Corruna must have the finest Common Seal exhibit ive ever seen - by some way!

 

[Tim Brown]

If we have time next week I will get someone to upload some pictures onto the media section(Ive no idea how to do it and little inclination to find out !). Additionally ,I have pictures of six collections that are not featured at all...I do recognise the importance of such an archive.

 

[SivatheriumGuy]

Not being a person who spends too much of his time looking at a computer screen( I`m already forced to do too much of this in my business) I only just came across this thread and I must say what an enjoyable few hours or so I had reading it all. Im happy to say ive seen all but four of the exhibits...and could write a book on agreeing or disagreeing with each one Ive seen,but I must,and will,resist that.
Just a couple of comments therefore...I was recently in Northern Spain,obviously I went to Cabarceno (possibly the world`s greatest "unknown" zoo)...that baboon enclosure(like some others there) is jaw-dropping but ,for all that,the size of the enclosures does create something of a disconnect quite frequently in that the animals are often miles away (almost literally). Does anyone know why they have such a large number of Tigers? Must be to do with breeding. Later in the trip Icame across an exhibit that would wager will not make this list... Aquarium Finisterrae at A Corruna must have the finest Common Seal exhibit ive ever seen - by some way!

The tiger populations have been high because the zoo has tried for many years to keep a group of this species, within general negative degrees of success. Some years ago fatal tiger fights were more of a recurrent thing than what a zoo should allow, but the park has insisted on this method of keeping this species of big cat.
Attacks have decreased now since the zoo keeps eight tigers in three different groups that rotate through the day; The first group consists of Pluja, Neu, Rayo, Liso, and Rota, two males and three females coming from TerraNatura Benidorm that live alongside each other due to their young age (they are all five-year-olds, and if I remember correctly they are genetically related). The second group consists of Peché and her cub Candy. The only member of the third "group" is a male called Larios, the father of Candy.
Until recently there was another group in this rotation, consisting of a pair of white tigers. One of the individuals passed away earlier last year and the last animal was sent away to Nucleo zoológico el Bosque in Asturias. I've never been a fan of this way of keeping tigers, and I hope they retake the plans the park started making to phase out non-subspecific tigers from their grounds and bring a breeding pair of Amur or Sumatran tigers (These plans were being done a long time ago and they ended up deciding to get white tigers, so I don't know if anything will ever come from these ideas...).

 

[Tim Brown]

Everything i needed to know..many thanks. I saw the white Tiger at El Bosque therefore...it must have had rather a culture shock! On the other hand it may be quite happy in its "snug" little cage with the public on either side - I shouldn`t presume that because I disliked the zoo(and it IS poor) that the Tigers feel the same way. Have you any information on the huge amount of Brown Bears in one vast enclosure at Cabarceno? Last question - promise!