TeaLovingDave

Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) at Zoo Leipzig - April 7th 2014

Not the highest-quality image taken during the time I spent observing the Chinese Pangolins, but certainly one of the most unusual; granted it is not every day you see a pangolin, but even then, it is all the rarer to see a pangolin making a break for freedom!
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What did you think of Gondwanaland in particular? If you recall from my comprehensive review of Zoo Leipzig, I had mixed feelings about it personally :p
 
Purely based on looks and concept, certainly one of the best tropical halls I know. Usually it annoys me when zoos are totally geographically inaccurate with animal combinations, but Gondwanaland is one of the few exceptions where it doesn't bother me that the free-roaming animals are quite a random mix.
The big negative about it is the lack of above-mentioned free-roaming animals. The birds and reptiles that do roam free are fairly 'standard,' not very original at all, and in the form of mammals they stay limited to 2 species (luckily these are fairly rare, so at least there is something to look for). I think Gondwanaland could benefit from stealing some ideas from for example Singapore's fragile forests and Zürich's masoalahalle. The relatively simple introduction of Javan mouse deer, Ring-tailed lemurs, Grey mouse lemurs and perhaps a second, larger species of fruit bat would improve the experience immensely.
Another something that surprised me was how quiet the hall was. The introduction of a species like screaming piha, a bird-of-paradise (perhaps a tad optimistic but hey, central park does it) or maybe even a howler monkey combined with the squirrel monkeys would also make it more alive for me.
Either way, it is still one of the most impressive halls I've ever visited, and if I lived a little closer I'm sure one could find me there every other weekend. All it needs is a couple more interesting species, and then it'd be absolutely perfect.
 
@devilfish Excellent! I have now also seen the mainland subspecies of Chinese pangolin... Does that make me the only member of a 3,5 pangolin club? :p
 
@Giant Eland that was in 'Save Vietnam's Wildlife' in Cuc Phuong National Park (next to EPRC) in Vietnam. They had around 6 Sunda pangolins and a Chinese pangolin a month ago, though of course being a rescue center I doubt all of those are there permanently.
 
@Giant Eland I visited in the evening, at around 19:00, when all animals were being fed (and thus fairly active). I did know people working there though, so I don't know if my tour was an 'official' one people can actually take or not...
 

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