Best North American Animal Collection in Europe

[zoogeekmaelstrom]

Which zoos in Europe have the best North American animal collection? For me, I believe it would be Tierpark Berlin, Prague Zoo and some of the wild animal parks they have here in Germany.

 

[Kalaw]

Burgers' Zoo would be a contender due to the Desert, which focuses on wildlife of the Sonora and Mojave deserts in Mexico and the United States. As well as being the world's largest indoor desert, the collection of animals within the building, almost all of which are geographically accurate and do indeed reside within the two deserts in question, is first-class. There are rare small mammals (Merriam's Kangaroo-rat, Ringtail), larger ones (Chacoan Peccary, Bobcat), several birds that can be seen at only one or two other European collections (Montezuma Quail, Gambell's Quail, Yellow Grosbeak and Lawrence Goldfinch) and some cold-blooded species too (Omani Bind Cave Fish, Red Diamondback Rattlesnake).

Then there is the Mangrove, which is themed to Belize. Whilst there are a few more misses here, with a few species that aren't actually from North America, this is still an outstanding collection. Manatees are the stars, but there are also free-flying birds, reptiles, an enormous selection of butterflies, and some notable fish such as Tropical Gar in the manatee pool, not to mention the world-renowned fiddler crab setup.

Granted, it is a little limited in scope, with no colder-climate species, which obviously make up a large portion of North America's fauna, being represented that I know of, and beyond the manatees, peccaries and bobcats there aren't many large mammals compared to the collections that you name. But in terms of numbers and rarity this may well be one of the best North American collections in Europe.

 

[zoogeekmaelstrom]

I've also heard of Plzen's American animal collection, which is mostly carried by its Mexican-Sonoran Desert area.

 

[remar]

I would also bring up Pairi Daiza. The last frontier and the land of the cold are two mostly North American themed. Furthermore there are some more animals in other parts of the zoo.