Amur leopard's Summer travels

[amur leopard]

These reviews are incredible, @amur leopard , although I cannot deny that I am getting very, very envious.

This year has been my best ever in terms of foreign zoos visited, with 3 (4 including the tiny Voliere Zurich, which I personally count, but perhaps I shouldn't), but this puts it to shame. I hope you enjoyed your travels, and I very much look forward to reading the rest of your reviews!

Its completely irrelevant to the zoo reviews, but I am very surprised to hear that you have never had to pay for a toilet in the UK. I find it to be a very common thing, especially in London and especially at major train stations (Waterloo and Paddington come to mind). I too had some issues with Deutsche Bahn when travelling in Germany in terms of delays, and found the trains in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland to be far better. Even still, it is miles more convenient than National Rail in my opinion.

And regarding the signage, it does seem to be a very common thing in aquariums, both within zoos and as independent attractions, which I assume is down to the sadly short lifespans of certain fish species. Although the turtle signage seems particularly bad, and I am grateful that I have never encountered such a thing myself.

I promise next year will be nothing like this; a lot of things clicked right into place for these travels to happen so I’m very lucky for sure .

Odd about the toilets, I’d never encountered it before but I guess it’s just a coincidence that I’ve never needed the toilet inside one of the stations you mentioned. As for National Rail, it’s again probably an issue of small sample size with regards to Deutsche Bahn but I’ve never really had major issues with trains - maybe because I typically stick to London and environs nowadays but…

Thanks @amur leopard for your informative writing about your journeys in Europe. When I spent over a month in western Europe, visiting 95 zoos in the summer of 2019, I was astonished to see toilets everywhere that required a fee to enter. That is totally unheard of in North America and I've been all across Canada, all 50 U.S. states and into Mexico on several occasions and never once paid for the use of a toilet. In Europe, it's a rampant idea.

I, in stark contrast to you, had a wonderful time at Aquazoo Lobbecke Museum (Dusseldorf, DE). I really struggled to see it all in two hours as the facility has 25 rooms packed with an astonishing 126 animal exhibits. I counted only 5 mammal species and 5 bird species, but 57 reptile/amphibian species and 26 invertebrate species. I didn't bother with fish, as it would have been an overwhelming task! The Aquazoo has a layout that might be unique and a LOT to see within a building that is not huge. Everything is densely packed and it's really too bad that the whole train situation 'derailed' your day because otherwise you might have loved this place.

I’m sure I’d have definitely enjoyed it much more were it not for the factors in play but I guess that’s just the thing with travel, very easy for small things to affect your view of a place. As you say though it’s a very large collection despite a lot of off show species and quite an interesting visit.

Anyway, should have the next review up fairly imminently .

 

[amur leopard]

Day 2

Got a good night's sleep at the hostel after meeting a bunch of really cool people there. In general I can't recommend such a trip enough for social purposes, was really easy starting conversations with strangers by the end and just hearing the life story of dozens and dozens of people throughout the trip on public transport, in hostels etc made it really worth it.

Anyway, bright and early to reach the zoo for opening time - it was about 20 minutes away on foot so fairly accessible. I made it at opening time, at which point it was really quite empty. As a note to people who haven't visited before, the ticket includes access to both the zoo and aquarium/terrarium but only once each as they are separate. I wish I could have gone back into the aquarium building but there we go.

The Aquarium/Terrarium building is absolutely outstanding. I have been to few better, probably none better actually as in my opinion it outstrips even Berlin's legendary one. Species list to be posted tomorrow of the entire place as I took pictures of signs, but in the meantime, suffice to say it consists of a massive collection of both fish and herps, with easily the most choice herp lineup I've seen in a zoo. Very few common species in the entire building - almost every terrarium was a new discovery for me. The terraria were all outstanding, very well built and with loads of privacy, making spotting the species within so engaging; the building has lots of natural light and greenery and the cherry on the cake are displays for their breeding successes. Particularly nice to see were the tadpoles of several rare Indochinese newts. Monitors are also strongly represented here, with 8 species currently on show, but it's a hotspot for rare amphibians and Madagascan and Southeast Asian fauna in particular too.

The aquarium area is also speciose and well done - a gradual transition from saltwater to freshwater regions, with a European freshwater area viewable through circular portholes on one side. It's generally well thought through and signage is good and up to date. Some aquaria were potentially a little small for the species within, but otherwise it was also excellent. The insectarium was similarly interesting, though mostly for its sizeable stick insect collection and wasn't quite as well done as the rest of the building. But overall this area of the zoo was top drawer and one of my favourite buildings in any zoo - certainly one of the best executed traditional aquarium/terrarium buildings in Europe.

Moving into the zoo proper, I moved up along the right side initially, first passing a pair of nice paddocks for zebra and camels. Beyond were good exhibits for Raccoons and Eurasian otters, and an excellent and spacious Meerkat exhibit which I actually enjoyed watching for a while as I'm actually quite partial to the little creatures and the exhibit offered great viewing opportunities. Further up came four bear grotto type exhibits which had been converted fairly well and offered decent hiding spots for the animals in spite of everything. To the left is a fairly typical cheetah exhibit with very active inhabitants (saw one climb a tree), flamingos and the ubiquitous duck ponds around the zoo. A note on the duck ponds - they're everywhere and generally quite spacious and nice (though of course the ducks are flight-restricted). They're generally geographically accurate or at least have some sort of order to them, which was nice to see and made such a massive collection much more palatable and memorable.

Next up was the South American House. In all honesty this was also outstanding. The building is from the late 19th Century and initially was a bird house, designed to look like a Russian cathedral for whatever reason. Either way it's a lovely building both inside and out and what they've done with it is great. On either side are large netted areas, one for Geoffroy's cat and the other for a mix of Venezuelan red howler, Black faced ibis and Guira cuckoo. Really interesting species and fabulous exhibits for them. Inside is a free flight area for a number of great bird species and a few primate species too. Sloths and armadillos complete an excellent house and a good use of an old building. Beyond that the South American theme continues with a number of primate exhibits, a few paddocks with ample swimming area for anteaters, tapirs capybaras etc. Overall a great corner of the zoo.

Things don't let up there - a series of great big cat exhibits, a lovely area for okapis and duikers and the Rainforest House. This is preceded by a large aviary for Brahminy kites, peafowl and a few others, and the building itself was under renovation in part when I visited, meaning the birds of paradise and fruit doves were all off show. Having said that the rest of the building was fairly good for the animals still there and I enjoyed the little turtle garden for endangered Cuora species. Next door is the ape complex, for a plethora of primate species and with outstanding outdoor exhibits for the animals. I've seen few better netted primate exhibits, especially when it came to space, foliage and climbing opportunities. I was very impressed indeed, and since the apparently quite poor douc exhibit is gone the building's indoors is good too. Overall, very impressive stuff for the apes for a city zoo.

Next to them is a spectacular elephant exhibit. I know this has been said many times before but the elephant indoor building is outstanding and so spacious, the signage is great and the architecture really does add something. The outdoors is big and has large water features but is less unique and impressive than the indoors. Around the corner are pools for California sea lions, which I thought were ok but lack any sort of privacy or interaction with the animals. I prefer exhibits like Hannover's which allow visitors to fully appreciate the grace and agility of these animals underwater. It was a rare exhibit which I thought was just permissible in this zoo. Further down came another - the Madagascar House was quite borderline by now. All the species but the mouse lemurs have outdoor areas but there's definitely a sentiment that it's really at the smaller end of acceptable. At least they've decreased the species list to three larger lemur species (all three being very choice species - Coquerel's sifakas (my new favourite primate), Greater bamboo lemur and Blue eyed black lemur). It's reaching the end of its shelf life and honestly needs some sort of redevelopment similar to what's been done with the South America House. It isn't a black mark but it's probably the worst area of the zoo and should be next up for construction. Nearby is a large complex for larger birds, with some lovely aviaries and really interesting species. I enjoyed seeing Blue coua for the first time here (but far from the last time...) along with Pink eared duck and various roller species. Most aviaries were fabulous for the animals.

Similarly the vontsira exhibit is great for the little animals, with loads of hiding spots and space. Finally the Hippodom is a large greenhouse-type building for not only hippos but Nile crocs and a plethora of rare African birds and reptiles (and Northern narrow-striped bokies now). It's all outstanding, with substantial underwater viewing for both hippos and crocs and a wonderful environment for the birds, who are visible despite the size and great height of the building. It's great and yet it was among a bunch of buildings in the zoo that were just as good, if not better.

Overall, I enjoyed Koeln massively. I thought it was the second best zoo I visited during the trip and whether I think it is also the second best zoo in the country will have to wait until I get around to seeing places like Nuernberg, Stuttgart and so on but suffice to say I was very impressed. A great example of a fairly old city zoo that has done really well for itself and created some outstanding buildings in particular which would be fit to grace any city zoo in the world. If it deals with the one slightly sticky point in the Madagascar House and keeps going the way it's been progressing of late it could well become a real force to be reckoned with not just in Europe but worldwide, particularly considering its standing with regards to large involvement in conservation efforts in Wallacea, Indochina and Madagascar. I would highly recommend Koeln to anyone passing through the area, particularly if you enjoy waterfowl, primates or rare herps.

I finished up in Koeln a bit early so I decided after the failed attempt at Krefeld the previous day to try and get up there again. I rushed to the train station and again eventually got a train after multiple delays, change of platforms etc. Knowing that it would be tight (the zoo closed at 7, so I assumed last entry would be around 6), I got off the train at Krefeld-Oppum, which was geographically closer to the zoo. Unfortunately Oppum isn't the best area of Krefeld and almost immediately after getting off the train I found myself in the uncomfortable situation of being alone in a street with three guys who were clearly up to no good. I accelerated a bit and crossed the road. They then fanned out behind me and two of them took out knives. I'm lucky I've done track here and there because I've never run quite so fast.

I didn't look back until I was half a dozen blocks away. As I was solo the prospect of being mugged meant losing my phone, passport, wallet and I really wasn't eager to stick around and see the extent to which they actually used the knives in Germany. It's a very uncomfortable situation to be in, particularly when you have no fallback and are only two days in, so I'm lucky I got away but the thought of that lingered in the back of my mind for pretty much the entire trip after that and despite normally being a trusting person I found it hard walking through bits of Germany without checking my back. It didn't really affect my enjoyment of the zoos but it did make my appreciation of the country dip a bit as things were never quite as peaceful as they would otherwise be.

Anyway after all that the ticket office for Krefeld was closed by the time I got there. Oh well, wasn't to be.

 

[amur leopard]

Koeln Aquarium/Terrarium species list - 31/08/23

Terrarium
1. Fernand's skink, Mochlus fernandi
2. Quince monitor, Varanus melinus
3. Black backed mangrove monitor, Varanus yuwonoi
4. Green tree monitor, Varanus prasinus
5. Panther chameleon, Furcifer pardalis
6. Giant day gecko, Phelsuma madagascariensis
7. Solomon eyelash frog, Cornufer guentheri
8. Merrem's swift, Oplurus cyclurus, Madagascar beautyhead, Paroedura lohatsara, White throated gecko, Gonatodes albogularis
9. Banded bullfrog, Kaloula pulchra, Black striped frog, Sylvirana nigrovittata, Spot-legged tree frog, Polypedates megacephalus, Olive tree skink, Dasia olivacea, Vietnamese golden gecko, Gekko badenii
10. Vietnam crocodile newt, Tylototriton vietnamensis
11. Black breasted leaf turtle, Geoemyda spengleri
12. Red bamboo snake, Oreocyptophis porphyraceus laticincta
13. Gia Lai pricklenape, Acanthosaura nataliae
14. Tartar sand boa, Eryx tataricus
15. Rough scaled boa, Morelia carinata
16. Huulien leopard gecko, Goniurosaurus huuliensis
17. Bony head toad, Ingerophrynus galeatus
18. Mitchell's water monitor, Varanus mitchellii
19. New Guinea ground boa, Candoia aspera
20. Solomons skink, Corucia zebrata
21. Chinese water skink, Tropidophorus sinicus
22. Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus crocodilurus
23. Vietnamese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus vietnamensis, Vietnamese mossy frog, Theloderma corticale
24. Cat Ba leopard gecko, Goniurosaurus catbaensis
25. Lau banded iguana, Brachylophus fasciatus
26. Ocellated skink, Chalcides ocellatus
27. Blue spotted tree monitor, Varanus macraei
28. Sakishima grass lizard, Takydromus dorsalis
29. Cryptic golden tegu, Tupinambis cryptus
30. Purple kukri snake, Oligodon purpurascens
31. Rhinoceros snake, Gonyosoma boulengeri
32. Turquoise monitor, Varanus caerulivirens
33. Little rock frog, Staurois parvus
34. Stimson's python, Antaresia stimsoni
35. Diamond python, Morelia spilota spilota
36. Rainer Guenther's monitor, Varanus rainerguentheri
37. Anthony's poison frog, Epipedobates anthonyi, Yellow banded poison frog, Dendrobates leucomelas
38. Bronze mabuya, Eutropis macularia
39. Bloody Bay poison frog, Mannophryne olmonae
40. Marbled rainfrog, Scaphiophryne madagascariensis
41. Chinese stripe necked turtle, Mauremys sinensis
42. Mindanao water monitor, Varanus cumingi
43. Philippine crocodile, Crocodylus mindorensis
44. Burmese star tortoise, Geochelone platynota
45. Ziegler's crocodile newt, Tylototriton ziegleri
46. Reeves' butterfly lizard, Leiolepis reevesii
47. Peters's butterfly lizard, Leiolepis guentherpetersii
48. Blue legged mantella, Mantella expectata

Might have been a couple more mixes but that's all the species I think. 56 species in about 48 exhibits.

Aquarium

1. Long-snout seahorse, Hippocampus guttulatus, Yellow banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus pessuliferus, Coral catshark, Atelomycterus marmoratus, Clown anemonefish, Amphiprion ocellaris.
2. Banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus, Bristle-tail filefish, Acreichthys tomentosus, Neon goby, Elacatinus oceanops, Banggai cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, Peppermint shrimp, Lysmata wurdemanni, Upside down jellyfish, Cassiopeia sp.
3. Pineapplefish, Cleidopus gloriamaris
4. Skunk clownfish, Amphiprion akallopisos, Bristletail filefish, Acreichthys tomentosus
5. Razorfish, Aeoliscus strigatus, Dancing shrimp, Rhynchocinetes durbaniensis, Splendid garden eel, Gorgasia preclara
6. Land hermit crab, Coenobita sp., Hermit crab, Calcinus sp.
7. Vermiculate wrasse, Macropharyngodon bipartitus, Dispar anthias, Pseudanthias dispar, Copperband butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus, Tomini bristletooth tang, Ctenochaetus tominiensis.
8. Yellow tang, Zebrasoma flavescens, Palette surgeonfish, Paracanthurus hepatus, Unicornfish, Naso sp., Blue green chromis, Chromis viridis, Giant clam, Tridacna gigas.
9. Long-snout hawkfish, Oxycirrhites typus, Blue striped rabbitfish, Siganus doliatus.
10. Blue ring angelfish, Pomacanthus annularis, Bluestreak cleanerwrasse, Labroides dimidiatus
11. White banded cleaner shrimp, Lysmata amboinensis, Blue surgeonfish, Acanthurus coeruleus, Jack knifefish, Equetus lanceolatus, Royal gramma, Gramma loreto, Blue damselfish, Chromis cyanea.
12. Ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris, Bicolor blenny, Ecsenius bicolor
13. Sea goldie, Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Red toothed triggerfish, Odonus niger, Yellowtail tang, Zebrasoma xanthurus, Marginated damselfish, Dascyllus marginatus
14. Mandarinfish, Synchiropus picturatus, Shrimp goby, Amblyeleotris guttata, Snapping shrimp, Alpheus bellulus
15. Sterlet, Acipenser ruthenus, Eurasian ruffle, Gymnocephalus cernuus.
16. European zander, Stizostedion lucioperca, European bream, Abramis brama.
17. Barbel, Barbus barbus, Common perch, Perca fluviatilis
18. Northern pike, Esox lucius, Carp, Cyprinus carpio
19. European chub, Leuciscus cephalus, Pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus
20. Nase, Chrondrostoma nasus, European roach, Rutilus rutilus
21. Tench, Tinca tinca, Round goby, Neogobius melanostomus
22. Chinese giant salamander, Andrias davidianus
23. Janss' pipefish, Doryrhamphus janssi, Leaf scorpionfish, Taenianotus triacanthus
24. Longsnout seahorse, Hippocampus reidi, Yellow banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus pessuliferus, Mandarinfish, Synchiropus splendidus
25. Banggai cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, Sunburst butterflyfish, Chaetodon kleini
26. Banded archerfish, Toxotes jaculatrix, Figure eight puffer, Tetraodon biocellatus
27. Cardinal tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi, Peppered cory, Corydoras paleatus
28. Common hatchetfish, Gasteropelecus sternicla, Coral Red pencilfish, Nannostomus morthertaleri, Adolfo's cory, Corydoras adolfoi, Giant whiptail, Sturisoma aureum.
29. Vogelkop blue eye, Pseudomugil reticulatus
30. Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, Pig nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta, Boeseman's rainbowfish, Melanotaenia boesemani
31. Marbled hatchetfish, Carnegiella strigata, Splash tetra, Copella arnoldi, Firehead tetra, Hemigrammus bleheri, Panda catfish, Corydoras panda.
32. Endlers guppy, Poecilia wingei, Sterba's corydoras, Corydoras sterbai, Porthole catfish, Dianemia longibarbis.
33. Mexican blind cave fish, Astyanax jordani
34. Valencia toothcarp, Valencia robertae
35. Glass catfish, Kryptopterus bicirrhis, Dwarf rasbora, Boraras maculata, Kuhli loach, Pangio kuhlii
36. Long snouted freshwater pipefish, Doryichthys boaja, Bumblebee fish, Brachygobius xanthozonus
37. Vietnamese cardinal minnow, Tanichthys micagemmae, Vietnamese multi banded zebra loach, Yunnanilus cruciatus.
38. Celestial pearl danio, Danio margaritatus, Amano shrimp, Caridina japonica, Red fire sakura shrimp, Neocaridina heteropoda.
39. Red piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri, Redhook silver dollar, Myleus rubipinnis, Silver prochilodus, Semaprochilodus taeniurus, Rainbow tetra, Nematobrycon palmeri.
40. Finescale splitfin, Allodontichthys polylepis
41. Sakaramy killifish, Pachypanchax sakaramyi, Nosy Be cichlid, Ptychochromis oligacanthus
42. African butterflyfish, Pantodon buchholzi, Long nosed elephantfish, Gnathonemus petersii, Kribensis, Pelvicachromis pulcher, Blue lyretail, Fundulopanchax gardneri
43. Crystal rheocles, Rheocles vatosoa
44. Pinstripe damba, Paretroplus menarambo
45. Damba, Paretroplus damil
46. Madagascar rainbowfish, Bedotia madagascariensis, Mangarahara cichlid, Ptychochromis insolitus, Loiselle's ptycho, Ptychochromis loisellei
47. Sahara aphanius, Aphanius saourensis
48. Congo tetra, Phenacogrammus interruptus, Yellow belly albert, Haplochromis aeneocolor, Blotched upside down catfish, Synodontis nigriventris
49. Denison barb, Sahyadria denisonii, Redtail sharkminnow, Epaizeorhynchos bicolor, Tiger hillstream loach, Sewellia lineolata, Pearl gourami, Trichogaster leerii
50. Sailfin silverside, Telmatherina bonti, Peacock goby, Tateurndina ocellicauda
51. Sentani rainbowfish, Chilatherina sentaniensis
52. Red backed paradise fish, Macropodus erythropterus
53. Celebes halfbeak, Nomorhamphus sp., Dwarf chain loach, Ambastaia sidthimunki, Scarlet badis, Dario dario, Neon green rasbora, Microdevario kubotai
54. Humpback grouper, Cromileptes altivelis, Map puffer, Arothron mappa, Laced moray, Gymnothorax favagineus.

134 species in 54 exhibits.

Insectarium

Just going to list binomials as most were without common names.

Tenebrionidae sp., Graphidostreptus giganteus, Poecilotheria metallica, Hogna ingens, Gryllus bimaculatus, Steatoda paykulliana, Homeogryllus xanthographus, Chaetopelma olivacea, Monocentropus balfouri, Therea olegrandjeani, Lasiodora klugi, Gandanomena sp., Extatosoma tiaratum, Peruphasma schultei, Heteropterix dilatata, Ancylecha fenestrata, Pachnodus fregatensis, Sliquofera grandis, Phyllium philippinicum, Hypocytrus scythrus, Gromphadorrina portentosa, Eurycantha calcarata, Hadogenes bicolor, Bachypelma hamorii, Heterometrus scaber, Nuichua rabaeyae.

26 species, 25 exhibits.

So in total the building holds about 216 species in 127 exhibits. Impressive numbers, even without the various corals, anemones etc that were also signed. There's definitely a solid chance I missed some of the invert terrariums though or forgot to take photos of one or two signs, so it might not be perfectly complete. There's also the fact that in the reptile area there were species that had two or three terrariums (one for young animals and another for adults, plus a series of exhibits for Philippine crocs and stripe-necked turtles. In reality the number of exhibits is probably closer to 150 or so if anyone cares, but species should be about right.

 

[Prochilodus246]

What a fantastic species list and a comfort to read that the corals and anemones are also signed. Visiting Cologne in the near future is going to be dream!

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks for compiling a list of Cologne's species and exhibits. It's much appreciated! The reptile/amphibian collection is world-class. When I visited in 2019 I also took hundreds of photos and made my own lists and here are the numbers that I came up with. I wasn't as comprehensive with the number of species as you were, but I did count all the individual enclosures.

Terrarium: 58 species in 60 exhibits

Aquarium: 68 exhibits

Insectarium: 42 exhibits (including the short walk-through butterfly area)

Total: 170 different exhibits

Reptile House species list (58 species): Philippine Crocodile, New Guinea Ground Boa, Tartar Sand Boa, Green Tree Python, Stimson’s Python, Rough-scaled Python, Diamond Python, Red Bamboo Snake, Purple Kukri Snake, Rhinoceros Snake, Scarlet Kingsnake, Blue-spotted Tree Monitor, Quince Monitor Lizard, Rainer Gunther’s Monitor, Common Water Monitor, Turquoise Monitor, Line-tailed Pygmy Monitor, Yellow-banded Philippine Water Monitor, Black-backed Mangrove Monitor Lizard, Green Tree Monitor, Lau Banded Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Cryptic Golden Tegu, Panther Chameleon, Chinese Cave Gecko, Manapany Day Gecko, Yellow-headed Gecko, Marbled Gecko, Giant Day Gecko, Golden Gecko, Chinese Crocodile Lizard, Collared Iguanid Lizard, Bronze Mabuya, Dwarf Bearded Dragon, Mountain Horned Dragon, Natalia’s Pricklenape, Chinese Water Skink, Fire Skink, Many-lined Sun Skink, Solomon Island Skink, Vietnamese Forest Lizard, Reeves’ Butterfly Lizard, Burmese Starred Tortoise, Chinese Striped-necked Turtle, Black-breasted Leaf Turtle, Santa Fe Frog, Spot-legged Tree Frog, Small Tree Frog, Black-spotted Stream Frog, Yellow Stream Frog, Indonesian Floating Frog, Bloody Bay Poison Frog, Yellow-banded Poison Dart Frog, Phantasmal Poison Dart Frog, Bony-headed Toad, Cayenne Stubfoot Toad, Vietnamese Newt and Yunnan Newt.

 

[Coelacanth18]

Unfortunately Oppum isn't the best area of Krefeld and almost immediately after getting off the train I found myself in the uncomfortable situation of being alone in a street with three guys who were clearly up to no good. I accelerated a bit and crossed the road. They then fanned out behind me and two of them took out knives. I'm lucky I've done track here and there because I've never run quite so fast.

It didn't really affect my enjoyment of the zoos but it did make my appreciation of the country dip a bit as things were never quite as peaceful as they would otherwise be.

Sorry to hear this happened to you @amur leopard, and I'm glad you made it out unscathed. Thanks for sharing this story with us; it's a reminder that even in countries considered relatively safe by global standards, you can easily end up in the wrong place at the wrong time... hopefully knowledge of this can inform future forum members about the safest route to Krefeld Zoo as well.

I'm at least glad to hear that it didn't dampen your enthusiasm of the zoos These reviews are great reads and I'm looking forward to hearing more. Koeln really sounds like a best-case scenario for a major urban zoo, so it'll be interesting to read a contrast with your other visits.

 

[amur leopard]

Sorry to hear this happened to you @amur leopard, and I'm glad you made it out unscathed. Thanks for sharing this story with us; it's a reminder that even in countries considered relatively safe by global standards, you can easily end up in the wrong place at the wrong time... hopefully knowledge of this can inform future forum members about the safest route to Krefeld Zoo as well.

Indeed - and I think the safest route to and from the Zoo is to go directly to Krefeld Hauptbahnhof and then take the tram service which takes ~15 minutes to the zoo or walk it (~40 minutes). Krefeld-Oppum is best avoided, even in a rush.

Anyway, onto happier things - here's Day 3.

Got up early to catch the train to Wuppertal, a service which ended up being the only Deutsche Bahn train I took (of about two dozen) that was not either delayed or cancelled and made a welcome change. When I got Wuppertal HBF a fight broke out between five or so people on the platform and an arrest was made. No idea if this is how things are normally in Germany but maybe trouble follows me around .

After that brief interlude I took the quick train to the zoo, which is fairly far out West with regards to Wuppertal proper. It's a nice little stroll through a pretty old neighbourhood to get to the zoo from there.

Zoo Wuppertal is another late 19th Century zoo and you can definitely tell it came through the war more unscathed than most, as its buildings are much more of a cross-section of its history than some of the other zoos I visited, a sign that very little was actually destroyed. As a result you end up with an old core of buildings at the bottom of building and a gradual progression towards more modern as you climb further up towards the top of the zoo.

Unfortunately I visited Wuppertal on a day where it rained almost constantly, starting a half hour after opening. As a result I mostly stuck to indoor areas, only poking my head out to run around some of the larger outdoor areas at the top of the zoo (lions, tigers, takins etc.). In general, I didn't like Wuppertal nearly as much as Koeln, but the latter wasn't affected by rain in the same way, so I don't want to make any concrete statements just yet, but I'll explain my reasoning as I progress.

Wuppertal's collection has always been a strongpoint, particularly among New World birds. This hasn't changed, with horneros, fruitcrows, trogons, various tanagers, kiskadees etc. Entering, I turned left to see Aralandia, a massive habitat for Hyacinth macaws and flamingos. The macaws can fly freely throughout the 1200 square metre (13000 sqft) flight cage. Adequate height and foliage throughout makes it a brilliant habitat for the birds, and makes seeing the macaws so much rewarding. Not quite on par with the best of the best (going to have to mention Doue for the second time this thread) but it is excellent and a good start to the zoo.

Just past that is another sealion pit-type exhibit with a pool. It's pretty grim to be honest, less good that Koeln's. Near there is the South America House, with outdoor areas for pudus, peccaries and Baird's tapir, plus an indoor sloth area. And again, after Koeln the previous day, it wasn't on the same level and felt a bit disappointing. The tapir stuck to an ante-room only partially visible from the visitor area and sloths remained hidden. It could be great with a bit of vision but for now it's just ok. Okapis and Yellow-backed duikers (another lovely species, so much bigger than the other duiker species I've seen) are just below in a good exhibit in general. Upwards is the Bird House, which holds most of Wuppertal's most notable avian inhabitants. Tacked onto the side are numerous outdoor aviaries which are fairly small but seem to work fine for the birds. Inside first comes a large row of clearly quite old glass fronted aviaries. Looking beyond some of the amazing species exhibited, this area just didn't do it for me. The birds had nowhere to hide at all; the aviaries were for the most part really small for the birds and a bunch of the exhibits were empty anyways. It's made even more ironic by the fact that the visitor pathway is about 3 metres too wide so there could be so much more space for the birds, but then again it's not a recent build. Beyond that is a free-flight hall which is significantly better but almost slides to the other extreme. Some of the species are fairly showy (fruitcrows, certain tanagers) but others you're just never going to see given the visitor path only goes through a small percentage of the aviary. Either way, much better than what was just before it for me.

Bird House species list: Little friarbird, Blue faced honeyeater; Blue headed quail dove; Timor zebra finch, Diamond dove, Gouldian finch, Cut throat finch; Beautiful fruit dove, Red billed leiothrix; White rumped shama; Golden backed weaver, North African mastigure, Black hardun, Egyptian tortoise; Great kiskadee, Green backed trogon (unsigned); Bay headed tanager, Vermilion flycatcher, Purple honeycreeper; Purple throated fruitcrow, Green backed trogon.

Free flight area: Brazilian tanager, Paradise tanager, Turquoise tanager, Bay-headed tanager, Silver-throated tanager, Purple honeycreeper, Vermilion flycatcher, Ultramarine grosbeak, Thick-billed euphonia, Purple throated fruitcrow, Pacific hornero, Green backed trogon, Spangled cotinga, Sunbittern.

Around there I passed a fairly ordinary ibex exhibit and then entered the Aquarium/Terrarium. Again I feel this place suffered from the comparison with Koeln the day before. It was an ok building, really quite small and some of the terraria were too small, particularly for Dwarf crocs. Nearby is the penguin exhibit, which I thought was brilliant honestly, with a fantastic underwater area with a curved tunnel area which allowed you to really appreciate the penguins' grace underwater. Just a bit to the side is the carnivore area of sorts. First comes a building for medium-sized cats with a fabulous species lineup but is starting to look its age a bit. The outdoor cages are fine because each species has several typically but they're starting to look a bit like they're falling apart to be honest, and similarly the indoors is pretty sterile and bare for each species. Inside are Asiatic golden cats, a lone female Indian leopard, Clouded leopards, Ansell's mole rats, Speckled padloper and a few agamid species. I stayed in this house for about an hour partly due to the weather but also because the leopard was unbelievably flighty so took ages to get her to not immediately run off when I moved. After a while she was more curious and got much more comfortable when I was there. The mole rats came out when a keeper showed up with food (always the best of bribes) and I was struck by just how tiny the padlopers were. Cloudies stayed invisible throughout.

Just uphill are a series of large wooded cages for Snow leopards which I though were good and then some again quite old and grim glass fronted exhibits for Gordon's wildcat and Sand cats, but I guess they were adequate once combined to form two contiguous exhibits for each species. Tiger exhibit was great and lion exhibit easily the best I've seen in my life and I stuck around for a bit even though the rain had now turned every path into half-inch deep rivers . Takin exhibit similarly great but further on the elephant exhibit wasn't so great, with a fairly small house (especially in comparison with Koln) and not the greatest outdoors either. Primates aren't very well housed at Wuppertal typically. Drills and other smaller monkeys each have pretty tiny and bare indoors, apes have similar style indoors and outdoor areas very much on the smaller end and without many climbing opportunities. This was the point in my visit where I started thinking about leaving as I was lugging around a 20kg backpack with my entire life inside and the rain wasn't exactly helping matters. I missed some of the zoo (the little bit on the right of the map, but otherwise I'd seen everything. I took one last pass at a few of the indoor areas and subsequently left.

In summary, Wuppertal is very much a progression from old to new as you go uphill. Again, I'm left to wonder if I'd have liked Wuppertal more if I had Koeln's weather and didn't have my bag with me, but it's a largely futile question. Wuppertal has a collection that appeals massively to me given I love felids and birds, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would. Looking objectively at exhibit quality, in all but lions, takins, penguins and maybe tigers (?) it was thoroughly eclipsed by Koeln the day before and while I recognise the latter probably has more to work with budget-wise, I still think Wuppertal has the means to do something with some of their not so great areas. Aralandia is great but it feels as if that probably wasn't the area that needed the most work - though I was very glad to see that the Polar bears were long gone from the ghastly exhibit signed as their former enclosure. It was never going to be as good as Koeln but it still didn't feel as if it was doing enough with what it had, especially since there is space at the top of zoo. I'd still visit Wuppertal in hindsight of course, if only because of the few highlights collection-and-enclosure-wise but overall it fell short of expectations, even when the weather conditions during my visit are put to the side.

Caught the train to Osnabrueck for an overnight stay in the city. Once you reach the historical centre of Osnabrueck it's really quite pretty, I recommend it for a maybe a half-day visit if you like that sort of thing, there's some very aesthetic streets and quaint churches etc.

 

[amur leopard]

Day 4 - 02/09/23

No time to waste this morning in Osnabrueck. Immediately got up and made my way to the train station to hop on a bus to the zoo, which is actually surprisingly far from the city centre. On another note, I noticed that in every hostel I stayed in, I was first up (at 8?) except in Osnabrueck, where I woke up at 7:20 and all seven of my roommates were gone. Strange.

Anyway, nipped down to the zoo and reached it just before opening. As a result I was the first into the zoo. I decided to leave the Underground Zoo just to the right of the entrance till last as I'd read up about it beforehand and wanted to leave best till last. I instead moved up towards 'Manitoba', the North American zone of the zoo. First I had to pass through 'Mapungubwe Ost' an area for lions. It was an exhibit only viewable from an elevated walkway, meaning the largely grassy exhibit with a big fake baobab in the middle was largely bereft of privacy unless the lions were in their indoors. It was fairly large but I wasn't a massive fan of it as I find with big cats it's hard to appreciate their size and power from above and an eye-level viewing always works better, whereas elevated walkways are always good for hoofstock I find.

Anyway moved on towards Manitoba, passing a Maned wolf exhibit - got a rare sighting of the elusive creatures and boy is it true about the smell... Reached Manitoba. This is an area that begins on an elevated walkway through two pretty massive wooded exhibits for American black bears and 'Arctic' wolves and then you return to the ground to view a variety of other North American species. The bear exhibit was fantastic, with a ground level viewing as well as numerous opportunities to see them from the elevated walkway. As I was the first to pass through that day, all the animals were fairly curious and active and it made for an even better experience. Next up is a good exhibit for bison, and then came a great series of smaller (but still substantial) exhibits for Arctic foxes, North American porcupines, Striped skunks, Eurasian beavers and Alpine marmots (both replacements for their American counterparts). Really great exhibits all round and was lovely to see Arctic foxes as it's been a while. Nearby was another great pair of aviaries for Harris's hawk (walkthrough) and Snow owl (inside a barn). As someone who is part Canadian, the theming was generally tasteful and laid back, which was nice to see.

Past there was Angkor Wat. Here the theming is not so tasteful. The whole ruined temple thing that apparently has largely overrun most of North America fares no better here and it honestly just looks pretty horrible, the viewing options suck, especially for the primates, and it's just all round a poor exhibit. The enclosures themselves are generally ok once all the awful mock rock jobs and odd theming is stripped away. Can do better.

Then there's a whole water-themed area, with the Aquarium Terrarium. Honestly pretty happy with the latter building, it's small but well done and I spent a nice half hour in there enjoying some of the nice set ups. Only thing is the signage is really frustrating with one of those supposedly interactive screens that flicks through the species really slowly. Anyway, past that is a seal and penguin area, which is honestly pretty good - deep pools, underwater viewing and not just a pit with water in it like I'd seen too many times previously this trip. Good stuff. Then a series of mainly parrot aviaries which were fine.

Sort of kicking myself because I didn't go to the South America House but found out later that's where the Mona monkeys are - oh well, for another time. The outdoor pampas exhibits are of a good size though. In Mapungubwe West are exhibits for Lesser kudu and White rhino, which I thought were fine and always nice to see a little rhino having a run around. I was really pleased to see a lot of breeding success in the zoos I visited. The Lesser kudus were nice to see as they've gotten progressively less common in zoos from my perspective. Beyond that is a pretty random and flung together area dubbed 'Kajanaland'. It's basically a bunch of exhibits for a really odd lineup of species viewable from elevated walkways - Raccoons, European mink (not on-show at the time of my visit), reindeer, wolverine, lynx but then also Silver fox and oddly enough a Grolar (or Pizzly?) bear. Not that I didn't like it, but just felt really strange walking through a fairly random assortment of animals after a similar woodland area with much better continuity (Manitoba) was just across the zoo from it. Anyway, didn't see the mink as the zoo had pulled them off-show for the day but did eventually see the hybrid bear - very interesting-looking animal, really easy to see both the maritimus and arctos blood - very polar bear-like shape and limbs, very grizzly-like face.

Moving on swiftly, you then walk through an area called 'Samburu' which is a big long African savanna for various antelopes, which was well put together and offers ample space. Then beyond that was Takamanda, which I though was outstanding. It's essentially a loop around a Central and East African area which sticks to the theme pretty well and offers a number of great enclosures and mixed species exhibits in particular, such as a Forest buffalo/Drill mix which I think might just have been the highlight of the zoo but for a certain quite dark exhibit to come later. Really interesting seeing the animals around each other and the exhibit was massive and well-furnished to satisfy all parties involved. The chimp exhibit is similarly outstanding, as is the enclosure for Servals. There were a bunch of other species in there that I haven't mentioned but they all had great enclosures and I was really pleased with this area.

Finally the Underground Zoo takes you down a tunnel into a maze of walkways underground. Lights are dim and few and far between, so bumping into other visitors is almost part of the experience. The species lineup for this exhibit is outstanding and the exhibits don't disappoint. The animals don't appear to be too disturbed by the visitors, and it's really a way more engaging and innovative way of displaying them than most setups in the zoos I've been to. I actually saw a hedgehog tenrec for once for example. Really exceptional exhibit and one that fully also deserves it's spot in Europe's top 100.

Revisited a couple of areas after that and then quickly moved on towards the next destination; Hannover, where I was staying the night. I did actually have time for the zoo, so here's the review of that, but not before a quick addendum on, once again, train delays. In Osnabrueck station, I at one point was looking at a board of the next 15 train services - all but one was delayed (??), including some over an hour. Hoping this isn't a common occurrence and it was just bad luck or a coincidence, but I don't know if there's some sort of institutional issue in DB? Maybe the fact that the entire system is largely trust based means it's almost entirely subsidised, but just speculation.

Anyway, Hannover. This one's much closer to the centre of the city and honestly I was really happy with it. The entrance is really quite modern and pleasant, and you pass largely around a loop through the entire zoo. The African area is themed, but not obnoxiously so. The variety of path types, viewing angles and the little boat trip makes it quite immersive for the visitor. The enclosures themselves are generally pretty decent but it's the frills that make it a substantially better exhibit. The irony is that normally I'm not a great fan of theming, but here it's done in a way that ...works? Thought the rhino exhibit could be bigger though for sure. The African primate area is great too, with an excellent netted exhibit for Drills and some other nice enclosures. The low point of the zoo however are the older lemur exhibits just beyond. For some reason this is also the zoo's smoking area and it's just a pretty awful area both in exhibit and olfactory terms. Should definitely be the next thing seeing the bulldozer.

Two excellent North American areas in a day? This one is actually arguably better, with first a Hagenbeck style wolf and (actual) caribou area separated by an invisible barrier. The theming is less subtle than in Osnabrueck but I thought so much time and money was put into all the little details as well as the megastructures that I was actually pretty happy with it all? Nearby is a large sea lion exhibit with great underwater viewing, amphitheatre seating at one end and a jostling crowd of sea lions (plus a couple of Grey seals; didn't see any fur seals regrettably). The underwater viewing also offers a glimpse into the polar bear pool, which is just as deep and well constructed. The whole area is meant to be a sort of abandoned port up North, and the polar bears can be viewing both from above and below from a multi-tiered ship. I wonder if the gigantic crane above the enclosure has any logistical usage during feedings or whatever. Great exhibit, pretty decent size, loads of viewing options. Only thing is for some reason there are African penguins, but maybe we have a 'Madagascar' film scenario on our hands.

Beyond that are some smaller exhibits, which I actually enjoyed even more. Much more quaint and humble, with an honestly pretty decent attempt at an old hunting lodge with American red squirrels, Striped skunks and an aviary for Mourning doves (?) and Northern cardinals stuck onto the side. A couple of owl exhibits later is the Asian area. This was where the theming started pushing its luck a bit. It wasn't anything preposterous but what can I say the Asian temple theme just doesn't really work. The elephant exhibit is on the small end and quite barren, with the only plus seeing the young ones having a (scheduled) swim. Not sure how ethical this is or what sort of training has taken place, but on the face of it the two little ones seemed happy enough to cool off (though it does beg the question of why they don't do it of their own accord at other times?). There's also a small exhibit for Northern treeshrews and a decent area for langurs. Anyway, pretty bang average tiger exhibit and a better area for (North Chinese) leopards later and you're into the Oceanian area.

This area was really good I think but mostly for the animals. First was a spacious Kangaroo, Wallaby and Emu area. The Swamp wallabies were nowhere to be seen but I actually thought it was really well done otherwise. Then was a wombat exhibit in which there is approximately zero chance of actually seeing the animal because it's (a) fairly large (b) mostly covered in thick vegetation and (c) pockmarked with burrows which aren't at all viewable to the public. Anyway, its a fabulous exhibit for the animals and I was quite happy to see it in spite of the slightly obvious point about the animals being no-shows. Then you loop around an area which is pretty miscellaneous, part children's zoo part discovery area-type thing. There's an amphibian building opening in due course so hopefully that'll bolster the herp count in a zoo with pretty paltry numbers of such species actually on-show. The children's zoo is really pleasant and takes up a bunch of space but I do wonder if maybe some of that might be better used for other animals.

Anyway, overall Hannover was a pleasant surprise and a zoo that I quite enjoyed. I do recommend it to those passing through, but admittedly it's not as 'complete' a zoo as it might be, particularly with regards to ectotherms. Very interesting visit though and though I didn't get to spend too much time in there it was a nice few hours, especially the excellent Yukon area. Maybe if Koeln and the Berlins pitch in with the Canadian exhibits we could have every province nailed down in a few years' time .

On a serious note the Tierpark should actually try a North American exhibit, think it would be really nice...

You may well be thinking at this point that I'm really pushing it with two fairly large zoos in a day in cities two hours apart. And you would be very right indeed.

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks again for all these great reviews. You loved Cologne and that makes sense as it is a magnificent zoo, you seemed a bit ambivalent towards Wuppertal, and I found myself nodding in agreement when reading your thoughts on Osnabruck and Hannover.

Osnabruck has some really terrific areas (Underground Zoo, Samburu African area, Manitoba, etc.), but I agree that the Angkor Wat area is hugely disappointing. Overall, I enjoyed the zoo more than Munster, as I did them on the same very long day in 2019 thanks to Osnabruck's early morning opening time.

As for Hannover, the North American area is brilliant and world-class, but some of the other parts of the zoo didn't appeal to me as much. Everything is so heavily themed there that it's a little off-putting.

 

[amur leopard]

Day 5

This was an interesting one, entirely devoted to one of the best bird parks in the world. Walsrode is about 40 minutes by train North of Hannover (and 5 minutes from Hodenhagen in case you're the most rapid zoo visitor ever). Walsrode itself is really quite pleasant and the walk to the zoo from the train station was a lovely respite from the city centres of the last few days. Lovely forest and lots of birdlife all around.

I'm pretty sure I was the only person under 35 at Walsrode, but in a way this was great as the whole affair was really quite relaxing. I've never been bombarded with so many new and incredible species in a single day and as a result it was really quite overwhelming at times. I'm not going to go through every exhibit in turn but rather just give a rough overview of the place, touch on a few areas of interest and mention a few highlights.

Walsrode has a laughably good collection. No other park in the world can use Scaled pigeons or Stock doves as borderline filler species but stunningly this seemed to be the case in Walsrode. Around every corner was a new surprise - even when you thought you were safe turns out it's actually a Javan brown wood owl not just any old one . Nowhere is this more apparent than in Pukara, which is basically a building crammed with aviaries for all sorts of rainforest birds.

Now here's the thing. I don't really know what conditions these birds need so I don't feel too comfortable making sweeping statements about the cages, but to me, looking back, aren't they a bit on the small and barren side? I mean it's great for someone trying to see absolutely every species in the place but I'm not sure it's great for the birds. Again, I know nothing when it comes to this, I'm very much asking for second opinions, but to me it was a bit off, even though it is of course the only place in the world where you can see half a dozen aracari species in a row and still have space for toucanets. And that's only scratching the surface.

On the flip side, birds of paradise were pretty tough to spot - only Raggiana and Twelve wired showed up, and only because they were in the Fasanerie, while all of the species in the dedicated BOP area were invisible. Good exhibits for them, but you wonder if they ever actually do venture outside? I thought some of the 'off-show' aviaries were brilliantly, especially the kagu/treepie aviary (sounds ridiculous putting that mix on paper but there we have it). The owl area was also brilliant, really loved the walkthrough in particular. Seeing a Harpy eagle for the first time ever was amazing and the birds absolutely live up to the hype. Moment of appreciation for Seoul Zoo though because of all of these excellent zoos I've visited since not a single one has come close to the same level of bird of prey exhibitry.

Finally the hummingbird house was a real pleasure to see. I've heard so much about hummingbirds and their stunning abilities on the wing, but after seeing a Carmine bee eater in Koeln hovering I thought seeing the hummers doing it wouldn't be as impressive. I was very wrong - the way they stay absolutely still and can make fractionally small movements backwards and forwards, up and down while staying almost robotically hanging in the air is incredible. Not just one hummingbird species - five, of course.

Overall Walsrode is almost an overload of the senses - a stunning collection, in mostly brilliant environs. A great bird show too, featuring a presenter cracking what I'm sure were very witty and humorous remarks if my German was good enough to actually fully understand them. Very cool to see a condor in flight though. There were a couple of points where I thought the birds could have better exhibits but on the flip side there were some great enclosures. It just feels like the best bird park in the continent without even having visited many others. Makes a really interesting comparison with the new Jurong though, if anyone is lucky enough to have visited the both of them - very different styles of bird park, but both great in their own ways I'm sure.

I spent almost the entire day at Walsrode and honestly it was great. On the train back to Hannover though I had a bit of an introspective moment which was surprisingly revealing in the end, but more of that in a separate post as I feel it's pretty important for others attempting trips like this.

By the end I was exhausted and so had a quick dinner and then had a really brief but lovely discussion with a certain other Zoochatter as they arrived in Hannover (not sure whether they want to be namedropped so I won't) who was so kind as to walk me back to my hostel as it was getting dark. Unfortunately I was too exhausted to be very conversational at the time but it was a great talk nonetheless .

Next up will be the post I've detailed above.

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks for the Walsrode review. It's funny that you mentioned how you were perhaps the only person under 35 at the park, as in my 2019 review I remarked that "I saw more elderly visitors than at any other zoo on this entire trip". Walsrode used to have a million annual visitors in the 1960s, came close to closure around a dozen years ago, and now has maybe 300,000 per year. Lots of those people are older individuals, which is fascinating.

The bird show is phenomenal (the best I've ever seen), the range of species is mouthwatering for bird nerds, there are many terrific exhibits, but I still feel that Walsrode lacks a "wow" area and I agree that there are far too many small, very basic aviaries.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

all of the species in the dedicated BOP area were invisible. Good exhibits for them, but you wonder if they ever actually do venture outside?

Conversely, the day afterwards myself and Helly had no trouble spotting further Twelve-wired and Raggi in this area, plus Lesser nor have prior visits presented much difficulty in this regard. The King BoP in this area are almost universally invisible however!

then had a really brief but lovely discussion with a certain other Zoochatter as they arrived in Hannover (not sure whether they want to be namedropped so I won't) who was so kind as to walk me back to my hostel as it was getting dark.

And it was a great pleasure on the part of myself and Helly to meet you too, however briefly

The bird show is phenomenal (the best I've ever seen), the range of species is mouthwatering for bird nerds, there are many terrific exhibits, but I still feel that Walsrode lacks a "wow" area

I would aver that Walsrode and it's setting - especially when visited during the late spring when the flower displays and gardens are at their best and the air is alive with bees, hawkmoths and the smell of chrysanthemum - is the "wow" area of which you speak; however, considering the fact that before your trip you were somewhat dismissive about the idea of visiting Walsrode (which you didn't originally intend to do) and regarded it as "just a lot of birds" I think that your opinion has changed massively, and we are now pretty strongly in agreement about the zoological collection in question, even if we do amiably disagree about the environs counting as such a factor

 

[amur leopard]

The bird show is phenomenal (the best I've ever seen)

If that's the case you should probably try heading back to France for Beauval at some point because the latter still has by far the best bird show I've seen - a massive, open air amphitheatre and they basically just let dozens and dozens of raptors, parrots, pelicans etc (consecutively, not necessarily all at once) fly all around you. Truly amazing show, would recommend having a look on Youtube if you don't reckon you'll ever get to see it in person.

Conversely, the day afterwards myself and Helly had no trouble spotting further Twelve-wired and Raggi in this area, plus Lesser nor have prior visits presented much difficulty in this regard. The King BoP in this area are almost universally invisible however!

Oh well - must have been an unlucky day - would have been nice to see the Lessers. Apparently I might have also missed a trick at the Hatchery as well as there might have been Red BOP chicks in there...

Anyway, I've put a fair bit of thought into what I'm going to try and convey here and I really hope it makes sense. On my way back from Walsrode I came to the realisation that I'd just visited 6 fairly major zoos in 5 days. And I think I clocked that I wasn't just exhausted but also I was moving further away from why I actually like zoos as I continued to visit them at that crazy pace. I've always loved zoos for the animals, not lifeticks. But when you visit so many zoos with astounding collections and new species it's really hard not to fall into a pattern of moving around the zoo at breakneck pace to see every little rarity. After Walsrode I realised that zoos are a form of relaxation for me, not a boxticking exercise, and that part of the joy of visiting a zoo lay in the fact that it's not a massively common thing for me.

Another factor was exhaustion for sure - after my time in Oppum I was almost constantly on the alert subconsciously and that feeling of never entirely being at ease, plus 40,000 steps a day, plus not sleeping quite as well as I normally do, plus constantly moving around and not having enough time to just simply stop and appreciate any one place meant I was just knackered. There was also disappointment that I hadn't had the time to visit the cities themselves - I'd had a morsel of time in Koeln and Osnabrueck but otherwise it'd been zoos zoos zoos. At least for me, it was really tough to maintain this rhythm, especially on my own.

So in retrospect, I'd change a lot. I wouldn't pack all those zoos into one trip for starters. My planned itinerary wasn't going to get any more relaxed really - 4 days in Berlin (all for zoos in some way or another), 2 in Prague, 2 in Plzen, 2 in Vienna, and then one apiece in Nurnberg, Frankfurt and Antwerp. There was quite literally only time for the zoos in any of those places, and with the benefit of hindsight, it was far, far too much, especially as it was my first time travelling substantially by myself, in countries where I had limited (or no) grasp of the language, first time regularly staying in hostels, first time visiting zoos two days in a row... For anyone else who might at some point have an opportunity to do something similar, I'd really recommend slowing it all down, cutting places out if it even remotely feels like too much and appreciating the places you're visiting for more than just their zoological prowess. I'm not sure how much the Ruhr metro area actually offers in terms of natural sights but I know I could have stopped for a day at Lueneberger Heide just North of Walsrode for a day, or really taken the time to soak in Koeln or Osnabrueck by cutting out one or two zoos. It really does make the trip so much more enjoyable and breaks up the constant zoo visiting, at least for me. I of course have immense respect for those who can visit dozens of zoos in a short time span, and if you can do that, that's great; I'm just saying in case there are a few others who feel some of what I've said resonates.

As a result I came to decision to cut the trip short and come back after Berlin. I didn't lose much money at all as most of the bookings were cancellable and it just felt like the right decision. I hope it's understandable and I'm not sounding overly dramatic. The good thing I guess is that I haven't regretted it at all since coming back even though Prague and Plzen were probably both in my top three places I wanted to see, and I guess that comes down to not wanting to see these zoos in a context where I knew I wouldn't appreciate them in the way I should. Anyway thanks for reading my waffle and hopefully it might resonate with a couple of people - maybe as I get older and more used to solo travelling it all might get a bit easier.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Apparently I might have also missed a trick at the Hatchery as well as there might have been Red BOP chicks in there...

Pretty certain they weren't there a day later - we always check that area carefully just in case!

Lesser is pretty much unmissable at Pairi Daiza for what it's worth

 

[amur leopard]

Day 6 & 7

As a result of all this thinking I decided to take it easy and just slowly make my way to Berlin. I eventually reached the city around lunchtime and checked into my hostel. Then made my way by U-bahn to the Mauermuseum, an small but incredibly dense place right next to Checkpoint Charlie. I'd highly recommend it for learning about the 20th Century in detail, it has exhibits on a large variety of issues well beyond Germany or even Europe but of course the focus is on the wall and how it shaped Berlin and to a more general extent Europe. I really enjoyed it and learnt a lot. I spent about two and a half hours in there reading and I think I saw about a fifth of the museum. There's easily a weeks' worth of information in there if you really wanted to stop and read everything, but even seeing just a bit of it is highly informative and makes it well worth a visit. Then went North for some dinner and went back to the hostel to get ready for the next day - the Tierpark.

The zoo is essentially set in a massive forest, sprawling across the ground of Schloss Friedrichsfelde, a lovely mansion on the Western side of the zoo. The gardens immediately around the Schloss are very pleasant and a nice walk in themselves, but a bit further afield are a few rows of deer paddocks set in the thick forest. It's a lovely place for them and for me felt quite fitting given the grounds around the Schloss were in all likelihood probably used for hunting deer at some point (though maybe not the species present ). Was really nice to just slowly walk along these long paths and watch the deer or the pelicans adjacent to them. In fact the whole zoo struck me as a really nice place for a jog if you're local and willing to pay for an annual pass. Beyond there you come to two massive bison paddocks for both species. It was great to see a bison rolling around in the dirt and a great reminder of just how massive they are. I then walked up through the largest patch of contiguous forest I reckon to the bear area. These are essentially a pair of grotto-type exhibits and definitely one of the weaker parts of the zoo. Polar bears in particular have little to no privacy but then again I don't remember seeing very many Polar bear exhibit where they had anywhere to hide, so I guess that's nothing new. Big moat to swim in though, which both bears used, so nice to see that.

Then you hit the Alfred Brehm Haus. This house has been recently renovated to cater for Southeast Asian and Wallacean rainforest species and it sticks to this brief with great precision. I don't think there was a single major deviation from this theme throughout the entire house. It's comprised of outdoor exhibits for Sun bears, Sumatran tigers and on the other side Javan leopards, cloudies Southeast Asian golden cats. While the tiger exhibit could be bigger, the exhibits for the rest, particularly the small cats, are superb. The cloudie took coming back to its exhibit both indoor and outdoor six or seven times to show at the end of the day but it was absolutely worth it. The whole thing is slightly confusing at first but by the end of the day I'd got the hang of it. Within the building itself, there is a large walkthrough rainforest with free-flying birds, chevrotains and in a couple of separate pools, Sunda gharials and various Asian turtles. It's amazing and I spent a good deal of time looking for the various birds and the chevrotains, which I did eventually find. Everything was active and generally quite showy and while it didn't exactly feel like a rainforest, it's a wonderful place for the animals and combined with an elevated walkway a story up it makes for a great experience for the visitor too.

Around the entire house are a plethora of terraria for Southeast Asian herps, often really well furnished and with lots of privacy. It works well and seeing the Mangshan pitvipers very well hopefully made for a nice preview to what we might be getting in London imminently. It's a lovely concept and it works well. Along with this there are indoor exhibits for cloudies, the bears, tigers and tree kangaroos, but perhaps most notably of all, Bear cuscuses. Bear cuscuses are, like sifakas, the kind of animal that I could watch for the entire day. They're clumsy and bumbling but so human simultaneously. I returned to their exhibit half a dozen times and every time something different was happening. At one point the female dropped a piece of aubergine and spent ten whole minutes gazing forlornly down at it while a whole platter pull of greens awaited it a short waddle away. Their faces are so expressive, just like sifakas, and it was a real pleasure watching them. Next door was a treeshrew and tortoise exhibit, which I also thought was great. Finally possibly the exhibit highlight of the house was the tree kangaroo and pademelon walkthrough, an area where you could get breathtakingly close to both species and where I also lingered for a while. I've never seen anything like it for tree kangaroos and as I have a bit of a soft spot for them it was amazing.

Walking around a loop to the side, you come to a spacious vulture walkthrough with a variety of species. You then pass a nice enough cheetah exhibit and an outstanding penguin exhibit which I don't think is talked about enough on here. This mini South African area leads into another excellent series of African hoofstock exhibits for Beisa oryx, Grevy's and Hartmann's zebras, wildebeest, Thomson's gazelles and more. I think they've done a really good job here and it will be even better when it leads into the gigantic new elephant complex. I can't wait to come back and see what they've made for the elephants but it looks immense and excellent. Lucky elephants.

Walking around the construction you pass a couple of hyena exhibits, a nice dhole enclosure and a lovely little ruffed lemur walkthrough which I thought was great for the animals and visitors alike and a very peaceful spot to sit back and soak it all in. Then is a great giraffe exhibit with a lovely elevated walkway through forest and a series of African hoofstock exhibits for some great species - Gerenuk, Mountain reedbuck, Dama gazelle. Came back to the gerenuks a bunch of times - very charismatic animals for sure. Nearby is a wallaby walkthrough, but with a twist - they're Yellow footed rock wallabies. Then a few deer paddocks, a nice ibis and egret aviary and some more paddocks for bovids. Around the corner are the eagle aviaries. Now I know I've mentioned Seoul a couple of times with regards to BOPs but it's for good reason. These aviaries at the Tierpark might well have been the weakest point in what is in general an outstanding park. The raptor and owl collection is brilliant, but for now some of the aviaries are just not great - barren, lacking in privacy, height, size... I think the comparison with Seoul is a fairly apt one as they aren't incomparable in size terms and while in almost every other respect the Tierpark does better for its animals, birds of prey are not one of them, and I'd love to see that change. Almost every major zoo in Europe could take notes from Seoul in this respect, but it's a bit more frustrating in the TP because they have so much space to work with - it's by no means a poor area but I think there's a lot of scope for improvement.

The Himalayan area on the other hand next door is scintillating from my perspective. Theming is subtle and never detracts from the animals and it's in the perfect area of the zoo for it. No species is out of place or veers from the theme, they're even in the right 'altitudinal' positions relative to the little mound in the centre of the area. One side of the exhibit shows the more forested side of the Himalayas (Francois' langurs, Red pandas, Tufted deer, Takin, Chinese goral) in outstanding exhibits for all of them, particularly the red pandas who despite having an enclosure well over 1500 sqm in size I reckon were visible and active as were their roommates, the tufted deer. Takin and goral had fabulous exhibits and for the langurs I just there were more viewing opportunities as they remained hidden for my entire visit. Then you circle around the mountain, passing White-lipped deer, then onto the open plains in the plateaus North of the mountains with Kiang. Around this path are a fair few aviaries for native birds; monal, liocichla, leiothrix, blue magpie, which I thought were great and broke up all the mammalian exhibits nicely. As you continue around the loop you climb progressively towards higher pastures, passing Markhor, Ibex, Blue sheep and Argali. It all makes perfect sense. You then turn uphill towards the summit of the exhibit where you find a really lovely Pallas's cat exhibit which does a great job of simulating their natural habitat, a Snow leopard exhibit which I only wish comprised more enclosures and more cats, and then back down to a large Lammergeier aviary with a small rocky exhibit for Pere David's rock squirrels next door. I really hope they do get around to putting the Daurian pikas and Steppe marmots (maybe mixed in with the Lammergeiers?) on show, it would be the crowning glory to an already fabulous complex and one that is up there with the best I've ever seen.

Next to that is the Monkey House. This is mostly fantastic, with a number of giant outdoor exhibits for lemurs, howlers, capuchins, geladas and sifakas, but I found the indoor areas could be a bit bigger and better, particularly for the geladas. Sifakas had a good indoors though. Further on are a series of paddocks for cold-weather hoofstock and most of the centre of the zoo is taken up by the camel paddocks. These exhibits are really well maintained grassy expanses that see to flow uninterruptedly across the middle of the zoo, with the carefully disguised moats making it look like a giant walkthrough for the various camelids there. It works really well and makes an interesting contrast with the density of the Alfred Brehm Haus for example. The Fasanerie to the North of there is another series of aviaries for Asian passerines and fowl - generally well-furnished but not designed in the best way given the incident lighting, meaning that sometimes it's hard to actually see inside the aviaries let alone the birds. And that should be about it! It's a gigantic zoo but one which I thought was quite manageable in a day even revisiting certain areas many, many times.

The Tierpark is probably the best zoo I've ever visited. Just walking through the grounds in itself is so pleasant and the fact that there are so few not so great exhibits but a plethora of great ones, plus the amazing collection and general ambiance made it a very special visit. I'd need to revisit some places to see how they compare now but I reckon it's at the top of my all time list for now. I just wonder how long it would've stayed there with Prague on the horizon had I kept going. I'm also interested to visit places like Nuernberg or Stuttgart, the only two places that I think that I might like better in Germany.

I know I haven't got around to the review of the zoo yet but here's my ranking of the zoos I visited on this trip based on my preference (NB: there is zero attempt at objectivity )

1. Tierpark Berlin
2. Zoo Koeln (I know, I know)
3. Zoo Berlin (tough call, but I'll explain in the next post)
4. Weltvogelpark Walsrode
5. Zoo Osnabrueck
6. Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover
7. Zoo Wuppertal
8. Aquazoo Duesseldorf.

Again, this is not a ranking of which is best. This was already tough enough, particularly between 5, 6 and 7. I found it interesting that they're all very, very different places other than maybe Koeln and Zoo Berlin. I'm pretty happy with the zoos I chose to visit in the end, it's just a shame I didn't space it out more in the end. I'll explain all of these rankings in the next post once I've reviewed Berlin but I'll let them marinate here for now and see if anyone disagrees .

 

[Coelacanth18]

Bear cuscuses are, like sifakas, the kind of animal that I could watch for the entire day. They're clumsy and bumbling but so human simultaneously.

Their faces are so expressive, just like sifakas, and it was a real pleasure watching them.

Fully agree. My first (and only) time seeing bear cuscus at Memphis was a huge highlight of the visit for me, as not only was the animal fully visible but it was constantly active and moving around at various heights in the enclosure. Such a pity they are a rare sight in zoos!

It's a gigantic zoo but one which I thought was quite manageable in a day even revisiting certain areas many, many times.

The cloudie took coming back to its exhibit both indoor and outdoor six or seven times to show at the end of the day but it was absolutely worth it.

I'm really surprised to read this, as I've always heard that the Tierpark is easily a two-day zoo; the fact that you had time to enjoy it all and revisit one enclosure that many times is a big contrast to other forum members I've heard from. Was there any part of the zoo where you feel like others would have been more bogged down time-wise? Or were there any major areas that weren't open that might have kept you longer otherwise?

 

[amur leopard]

I'm really surprised to read this, as I've always heard that the Tierpark is easily a two-day zoo; the fact that you had time to enjoy it all and revisit one enclosure that many times is a big contrast to other forum members I've heard from. Was there any part of the zoo where you feel like others would have been more bogged down time-wise? Or were there any major areas that weren't open that might have kept you longer otherwise?

It is odd, I did think it was weird towards the end of the day when I had about two hours to spare to just loiter around the Alfred Brehm Haus and environs. I'm a pretty fast walker and I don't pause long for lunch, so those might be factors. I'm typically a faster zoo visitor than most but in the TP I deliberately took the time to appreciate it all and be fairly leisurely. Similarly had no issues seeing the entirety of Zoo Berlin multiple times in a day (though a floor of the aquarium was closed on the day).

 

[amur leopard]

Day 8&9

The plan was to visit the Pergamon Museum on Day 8. However this was scuppered as the museum apparently closer earlier than planned due to renovations which will take over a decade (!!) to complete. Oh well. I went South to the Jewish Museum instead, which was excellent and owed much of its poignancy to the design of the building - some really thought-provoking exhibitions here and I recommend visiting.

I ended up finishing off the day in the Naturhistorisches Museum which was really nice although a revisit. Should be high up on the list for any ZCer visiting Berlin, if only for the very impressive Brachiosaurus specimen and some impressive taxidermy.

The next day was for the zoo. I visited with someone from the hostel I was staying at who happened to be visiting the zoo on the same day as me and had already booked. This made a welcome change from visiting solo and we had a great conversation. Circled the (still great) caprid cliff areas before heading to the new Rhino Pagoda. It's a nice structure for the indoor area, with good outdoor exhibits. I don't really understand the rationale behind the species chosen - Malayan tapir would make far more sense but even then it's not particularly geographically accurate. There's nothing wrong with the exhibit really, I just wasn't especially wowed. The view inside the pagoda looking up is cool though. At the time of my visit, investors were being shown around and the carrot proffered hopefully by a keeper to tempt a rhino closer was contemptuously ignored by said rhino .

The bird of prey cliff areas are great too, with a couple of great walkthroughs, but it would be nice to have a more unusual species list given all the aviaries. As a general point, it's somewhat odd how little bird of prey variety you get in some of Europe's biggest bird collections, especially when a much larger breadth of species are bred across Europe in falconry centres etc. Just an observation, but the same is very much true for venomous snakes. The suid house and environs was one of those areas where you think 'if I strip back all of the history and some of the frills, it really isn't great'. With the last Bearded pig likely not lasting too long more now, I hope something is done with it as while it's ok it really isn't ideal.

The Antelope House in contrast is looking fabulous, just wish they added some birds to the indoors. Gerenuks a pleasure to see and were quite cooperative. Elephant quarters again didn't compare to Koeln's both inside and out. Nice meerkat and brush-tailed porcupine exhibits though. Baboon and macaque rocks looking dated now, as is the entirety of the primate house and outdoor exhibits, which, while I have some great memories from the place, really need the renovation they will soon get. Gibbons in outdoors only tall and large enough for a single Yellow-throated marten maybe.

Empire of Cats contrasts massively with the space for the primates. Was really impressed with everything in this building. The nocturnal area beneath is great too, with a very choice species list and spacious enclosures. It's a fabulous house, with so much indoor space for most of the inhabitants. Jaguar outdoors could be larger though, and Southern tigrina viewing windows suffer pretty badly from glare. I did question why the plans didn't include the Ocelot and Rusty spotted cat already at the zoo but I guess they preferred to give ample space to the species on show, and I'm not complaining as it is a very, very good carnivore/nocturnal House. Still liked Alfred-Brehm Haus better though .

Hoofstock exhibits around that half of the zoo typically range from ok to good. Generally not on the same level as at the Tierpark. Some lovely historical buildings though, with the highlights being the bison buildings. The little annex across the bridge is a nice respite from the fairly intense main area of the zoo and seeing little capybaras fighting and running around in the water was great. It is quite nondescript though. The rhino exhibit is a relic and something needs to be done with it because right now it's worse than Asa's Black rhino exhibit.

Sea lions and penguins enjoy good exhibits, as do Sloth bears in what looks like temporary but still nice enclosures. Condors are spoilt with a brilliant, massive aviary with lots of height. The pheasantry is legendary, but for me some of the aviaries are on the small side and the mixes are a bit weird at times. Signage is also a bit of a mess. Seeing all but one species of flamingo is great and all but the cages for them are pretty small and barren really. The shorebird aviary on the other hand is exceptional and seeing the birds interact with the wash thrown up by the (particularly effective) wave machine was a highlight of the visit for me.

World of Birds was fantastic I thought, with three walkthroughs plus large rooms for indoor aviaries for birds from four different continents, plus chevrotains. Outdoor aviaries are generally good although lack a bit of width for the larger parrots in particular. Walkthroughs are lovely and a good place to spend half an hour or so but signage just doesn't list most of the species within. Overall though, good building but one thing I did pick up on was just how much visitor area there was when some of the larger birds (macaws, cockatoos, hornbills) had pretty thin exhibits which could really do with a cut of the visitor areas. The Hippodom is great as ever, very cool to see the Hippos moving underwater and the design is fabulous. One thing I noticed was that the one of the hippos had a tusk embedded in their cheek and the other was missing a tusk - probably not a coincidence - hopefully it's not too painful for either animal.

The Aquarium was under renovation so the amphib and invert floor was closed on my visit. Still a lovely building and had a great time searching for the more elusive fish. Terrarium is good but nothing really special to be honest.

And that's pretty much everything covered. Now I have to explain my ranking above. Copied for ease of access below:

1. Tierpark Berlin
2. Zoo Koeln (I know, I know)
3. Zoo Berlin (tough call, but I'll explain in the next post)
4. Weltvogelpark Walsrode
5. Zoo Osnabrueck
6. Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover
7. Zoo Wuppertal
8. Aquazoo Duesseldorf.

TP Berlin was for me the superior Berlin collection by a margin, both collection and exhibitry-wise, although admittedly when looking beyond birds and mammals it is slightly lacking due to not having a conventional reptile house or aquarium. But on almost all fronts their exhibits are larger and more interesting from my perspective. The Alfred-Brehm Haus was brilliant and outshone the also fantastic Zoo Carnivore House in my opinion, while the TP Primate House, while less speciose was levels above its Westerly counterpart. Hoofstock exhibits are generally also much better at the TP and the general experience of walking through the Tierpark was much more pleasant. The zoo has nothing like the Himalayan area or on par with it exhibitry-wise in my opinion. The zoo's collection is perhaps more diverse but I think sometimes this can be undermined by the fact that pretty much every reptile, amphibian, fish and invert is packed into one building to the side. Personally I prefer having herp and fish exhibits incorporated into a larger entity along with mammals, birds etc. Again, this is all by personal preference, I'm not saying one is objectively better.

Koeln and Berlin are more similar in style and there's less between them in my opinion. But I enjoyed Koeln more and I guess here's why. For starters, Koeln excels in areas where Berlin really has some problems, most notably with regards to primates. The ape outdoors at Koeln are brilliant and should be talked about more, especially the Bonobo exhibit. They're massive, crammed with foliage and give plenty of height. The Berlin exhibits are currently nowhere near that level. Koeln's elephants have what is probably one of the largest indoors on Earth plus a pretty substantial outdoor area - Berlin's doesn't hold a candle to it. Hippodom vs Hippodom is a tough one I actually preferred Koeln's due to the addition of a dozen free-flying bird species, a lovely Nile croc exhibit, plus a bokyboky exhibit and a handful of herp terraria. It's brilliant and while Berlin's Hippodom is legendary I think Koeln's as an ensemble might be a better building. Berlin's outdoors is probably slightly better though. I loved Koeln's South American house, and Koeln's big cat exhibits don't suffer massively from comparison to those at Berlin either. Koeln's row of aviaries are better than the Fasanerie in my opinion and the rhino exhibit is also looking significantly better than the enclosure for the same species at Berlin. And finally the Aquarium/Terrarium buildings of each are pretty similar quality-wise, but for me Koeln Terrarium is better than Berlin's while the latter is better Aquarium-wise. Obviously I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this all and I haven't mentioned facets of both zoos that might be important from others' perspectives. But from my point of view, the Koeln I saw on that particular day was better than the Zoo Berlin I saw.

Walsrode is just great for anyone who loves birds (as I do) and hence it's next, followed by Osnabrueck. Osnabrueck is largely carried by its Underground Zoo, Takamanda and Manitoba. The rest is pretty lukewarm but the three areas mentioned are just fantastic and pull it up significantly. Seventh is admittedly harsh on Wuppertal but I think my perception suffered from the rain on the day and Hannover was better than I expected, especially the Yukon area.

As that's more or less the end of the reviews (other than a species list for Berlin's Aquarium if I can summon the energy) I'd really love to hear from others who've visited the places reviewed and see if my opinions are at all controversial. In the meantime thanks so much to all those who've read and provided input, much appreciated.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

due to renovations which will take over a decade (!!) to complete.

And have been underway for a decade or so already!

if only for the very impressive Brachiosaurus specimen

Giraffatitan

 

[cerperal]

Giraffatitan

I still don't quite understand their open admission it's a Giraffatitan, while continuing to call it Brachiosaurus.

Day 8&9

The plan was to visit the Pergamon Museum on Day 8. However this was scuppered as the museum apparently closer earlier than planned due to renovations which will take over a decade (!!) to complete. Oh well. I went South to the Jewish Museum instead, which was excellent and owed much of its poignancy to the design of the building - some really thought-provoking exhibitions here and I recommend visiting.

I ended up finishing off the day in the Naturhistorisches Museum which was really nice although a revisit. Should be high up on the list for any ZCer visiting Berlin, if only for the very impressive Brachiosaurus specimen and some impressive taxidermy.

The next day was for the zoo. I visited with someone from the hostel I was staying at who happened to be visiting the zoo on the same day as me and had already booked. This made a welcome change from visiting solo and we had a great conversation. Circled the (still great) caprid cliff areas before heading to the new Rhino Pagoda. It's a nice structure for the indoor area, with good outdoor exhibits. I don't really understand the rationale behind the species chosen - Malayan tapir would make far more sense but even then it's not particularly geographically accurate. There's nothing wrong with the exhibit really, I just wasn't especially wowed. The view inside the pagoda looking up is cool though. At the time of my visit, investors were being shown around and the carrot proffered hopefully by a keeper to tempt a rhino closer was contemptuously ignored by said rhino .

The bird of prey cliff areas are great too, with a couple of great walkthroughs, but it would be nice to have a more unusual species list given all the aviaries. As a general point, it's somewhat odd how little bird of prey variety you get in some of Europe's biggest bird collections, especially when a much larger breadth of species are bred across Europe in falconry centres etc. Just an observation, but the same is very much true for venomous snakes. The suid house and environs was one of those areas where you think 'if I strip back all of the history and some of the frills, it really isn't great'. With the last Bearded pig likely not lasting too long more now, I hope something is done with it as while it's ok it really isn't ideal.

The Antelope House in contrast is looking fabulous, just wish they added some birds to the indoors. Gerenuks a pleasure to see and were quite cooperative. Elephant quarters again didn't compare to Koeln's both inside and out. Nice meerkat and brush-tailed porcupine exhibits though. Baboon and macaque rocks looking dated now, as is the entirety of the primate house and outdoor exhibits, which, while I have some great memories from the place, really need the renovation they will soon get. Gibbons in outdoors only tall and large enough for a single Yellow-throated marten maybe.

Empire of Cats contrasts massively with the space for the primates. Was really impressed with everything in this building. The nocturnal area beneath is great too, with a very choice species list and spacious enclosures. It's a fabulous house, with so much indoor space for most of the inhabitants. Jaguar outdoors could be larger though, and Southern tigrina viewing windows suffer pretty badly from glare. I did question why the plans didn't include the Ocelot and Rusty spotted cat already at the zoo but I guess they preferred to give ample space to the species on show, and I'm not complaining as it is a very, very good carnivore/nocturnal House. Still liked Alfred-Brehm Haus better though .

Hoofstock exhibits around that half of the zoo typically range from ok to good. Generally not on the same level as at the Tierpark. Some lovely historical buildings though, with the highlights being the bison buildings. The little annex across the bridge is a nice respite from the fairly intense main area of the zoo and seeing little capybaras fighting and running around in the water was great. It is quite nondescript though. The rhino exhibit is a relic and something needs to be done with it because right now it's worse than Asa's Black rhino exhibit.

Sea lions and penguins enjoy good exhibits, as do Sloth bears in what looks like temporary but still nice enclosures. Condors are spoilt with a brilliant, massive aviary with lots of height. The pheasantry is legendary, but for me some of the aviaries are on the small side and the mixes are a bit weird at times. Signage is also a bit of a mess. Seeing all but one species of flamingo is great and all but the cages for them are pretty small and barren really. The shorebird aviary on the other hand is exceptional and seeing the birds interact with the wash thrown up by the (particularly effective) wave machine was a highlight of the visit for me.

World of Birds was fantastic I thought, with three walkthroughs plus large rooms for indoor aviaries for birds from four different continents, plus chevrotains. Outdoor aviaries are generally good although lack a bit of width for the larger parrots in particular. Walkthroughs are lovely and a good place to spend half an hour or so but signage just doesn't list most of the species within. Overall though, good building but one thing I did pick up on was just how much visitor area there was when some of the larger birds (macaws, cockatoos, hornbills) had pretty thin exhibits which could really do with a cut of the visitor areas. The Hippodom is great as ever, very cool to see the Hippos moving underwater and the design is fabulous. One thing I noticed was that the one of the hippos had a tusk embedded in their cheek and the other was missing a tusk - probably not a coincidence - hopefully it's not too painful for either animal.

The Aquarium was under renovation so the amphib and invert floor was closed on my visit. Still a lovely building and had a great time searching for the more elusive fish. Terrarium is good but nothing really special to be honest.

And that's pretty much everything covered. Now I have to explain my ranking above. Copied for ease of access below:

1. Tierpark Berlin
2. Zoo Koeln (I know, I know)
3. Zoo Berlin (tough call, but I'll explain in the next post)
4. Weltvogelpark Walsrode
5. Zoo Osnabrueck
6. Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover
7. Zoo Wuppertal
8. Aquazoo Duesseldorf.

TP Berlin was for me the superior Berlin collection by a margin, both collection and exhibitry-wise, although admittedly when looking beyond birds and mammals it is slightly lacking due to not having a conventional reptile house or aquarium. But on almost all fronts their exhibits are larger and more interesting from my perspective. The Alfred-Brehm Haus was brilliant and outshone the also fantastic Zoo Carnivore House in my opinion, while the TP Primate House, while less speciose was levels above its Westerly counterpart. Hoofstock exhibits are generally also much better at the TP and the general experience of walking through the Tierpark was much more pleasant. The zoo has nothing like the Himalayan area or on par with it exhibitry-wise in my opinion. The zoo's collection is perhaps more diverse but I think sometimes this can be undermined by the fact that pretty much every reptile, amphibian, fish and invert is packed into one building to the side. Personally I prefer having herp and fish exhibits incorporated into a larger entity along with mammals, birds etc. Again, this is all by personal preference, I'm not saying one is objectively better.

Koeln and Berlin are more similar in style and there's less between them in my opinion. But I enjoyed Koeln more and I guess here's why. For starters, Koeln excels in areas where Berlin really has some problems, most notably with regards to primates. The ape outdoors at Koeln are brilliant and should be talked about more, especially the Bonobo exhibit. They're massive, crammed with foliage and give plenty of height. The Berlin exhibits are currently nowhere near that level. Koeln's elephants have what is probably one of the largest indoors on Earth plus a pretty substantial outdoor area - Berlin's doesn't hold a candle to it. Hippodom vs Hippodom is a tough one I actually preferred Koeln's due to the addition of a dozen free-flying bird species, a lovely Nile croc exhibit, plus a bokyboky exhibit and a handful of herp terraria. It's brilliant and while Berlin's Hippodom is legendary I think Koeln's as an ensemble might be a better building. Berlin's outdoors is probably slightly better though. I loved Koeln's South American house, and Koeln's big cat exhibits don't suffer massively from comparison to those at Berlin either. Koeln's row of aviaries are better than the Fasanerie in my opinion and the rhino exhibit is also looking significantly better than the enclosure for the same species at Berlin. And finally the Aquarium/Terrarium buildings of each are pretty similar quality-wise, but for me Koeln Terrarium is better than Berlin's while the latter is better Aquarium-wise. Obviously I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this all and I haven't mentioned facets of both zoos that might be important from others' perspectives. But from my point of view, the Koeln I saw on that particular day was better than the Zoo Berlin I saw.

Walsrode is just great for anyone who loves birds (as I do) and hence it's next, followed by Osnabrueck. Osnabrueck is largely carried by its Underground Zoo, Takamanda and Manitoba. The rest is pretty lukewarm but the three areas mentioned are just fantastic and pull it up significantly. Seventh is admittedly harsh on Wuppertal but I think my perception suffered from the rain on the day and Hannover was better than I expected, especially the Yukon area.

As that's more or less the end of the reviews (other than a species list for Berlin's Aquarium if I can summon the energy) I'd really love to hear from others who've visited the places reviewed and see if my opinions are at all controversial. In the meantime thanks so much to all those who've read and provided input, much appreciated.

I've very much enjoyed these reviews, but I've been looking forward to the Berlin ones the most. I think overall we had very similar experiences at both collections - it's just plain unfair Berlin is such a fantastic city and has 2 of the best zoological collections in the world easily accesible by public transport. I agree with basically every assessment you've made - the elephants need more space (planned), the jag needs more outdoor space (will be completed over the next few years), the black rhino needs a new exhibit, and the Tierpark generally has better exhibits for any animals they share. But aside from that, it's a bloody good zoo. It definitely feels more like an ABC-style zoo than Tierpark, which looking at species lists isn't really true but does give a totally different feel to both. I do agree with putting Tierpark above, eeeeever so slightly

And the NHM is a very lovely place to spend a morning or afternoon, has the tyrannosaurus returned yet?

Anyway, shame these reviews are over. Hope there's more to come in the future