...still very much trumps the Zurich orangutans being stuck with a single indoor exhibit which looks like this for the foreseeable future:
The Zürich orangutans do actually have a second indoor enclosure, not quite as big as the first, just visible to the right, and I could be mistaken but I believe there is at least one more offshow? And of course they do have outdoor access, abysmal though it may be, which the Paris ones don't. Strangely, and I seem to be in the minority here, I actually thought the indoor orangutan enclosure at Zürich wasn't too bad, only that the outdoors was appalling. I certainly prefer the indoors at Zürich to Paris, with natural substrate, mesh walls for climbing, and several ropes and branches. Paris' outdoor enclosure is better (but still awful), although from reading what others are suggesting, they don't even have access to that at the moment as it is being renovated (which is of course fantastic in the long-term, but for the purposes of this Cup hinders them). As an enclosure, it is indefensibly awful, and I don't want to come across as though I am in support of it, as I am not and I cannot wait for the Ape House to be demolished and for all three species to move out. But on my Zürich visit, and to this day, I got the impression that if the indoor area was connected to a better outdoor enclosure, nobody would complain.
I do feel as though, especially with the outdoor enclosure, closed, these two atrocious enclosure cancel one another out, and the quality elsewhere at Zürich earns them a comofortable win. Not just the world-class elephant complex, but the beautiful reef displays and the excellent theming throughout. Definitely not a strength for either zoo and Zürich got lucky, really, that they drew it against similarly weak oppositon.
