British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Aspinall Foundation vs Cotswold Wildlife Park

[TeaLovingDave]

This one should, I think, be a match which hopefully provokes some very interesting discussions with plenty of points to be made on either side of the issue. It's a pretty broad combination of two topics - GRASSLANDS AND DESERTS - but one which I think has a reasonable amount of built-in leeway as regards species and exhibits.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Aspinall parks seems to have a greater range of mammal species from grassland / savanha biomes across biogeographic regions and more than a few that are desert dwelling species.

The difficulty in deciding is that Cotswold doesn't just have large mammals from these biomes but also small and across biogeographic regions. Moreover, it also has birds and a couple of reptile species too which are conspiciously absent from the Aspinall parks.

But ultimately I went with the Aspinall parks as they seem to have a greater range of species (though many are actually present at both Cotswold and Aspinall parks).

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I'm pretty divided on this one myself so would be very interested to hear people's breakdown of the factors involved

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

I think Marwell vs Aspinall parks in this category would be another very close one but Marwell would win IMO given their in-situ and ex-situ work with oryx.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I think Marwell vs Aspinall parks in this category would be another very close one but Marwell would win IMO given their in-situ and ex-situ work with oryx.

Well, there's no duplicate categories in a given league so you can be certain that won't happen

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Decided to break things down on species and biogeographic lines out of curiosity, keeping it to current holdings for the sake of simplicity:

Aspinall total for all category mammals - 24 taxa
Aspinall subtotal for mammals (grassland) - 21 species
Aspinall subtotal for mammals (desert) - 7 species

Cotswold total for all category mammals - 24 taxa
Cotswold subtotal for mammals (grassland) - 17 species
Cotswold subtotal for mammals (desert) - 13 species

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Aspinall total for all category birds - 2 taxa
Aspinall subtotal for birds (grassland) - 2 taxa
Aspinall subtotal for birds (desert) - 1 taxon

Cotswold total for all category birds - 22 taxa
Cotswold total for birds (grassland) - 21 taxa
Cotswold total for birds (desert) - 6 taxa

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Aspinall total for all category reptiles - 1 taxon
Aspinall total for reptiles (grassland) - 1 taxon
Aspinall total for reptiles (desert) - 1 taxon

Cotswold total for all category reptiles - 12 taxa
Cotswold total for reptiles (grassland) - 9 taxa
Cotswold total for reptiles (desert) - 7 taxa

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Aspinall total for all category species - 27 taxa
Aspinall total for all grassland species - 24 taxa
Aspinall total for all desert species - 9 taxa

Cotswold total for all category species - 58 taxa
Cotswold total for all grassland species - 47 taxa
Cotswold total for all desert species - 26 taxa

As these figures show, it is incorrect to state that the Aspinall collections have the greater range of species, even if one only looks at mammal species where they do keep marginally more grassland species but correspondingly fewer desert species. Overall, CWP keeps more than double the number of category species as a whole. When this is combined with the near-complete lack of any bird or reptile representation at the Aspinall collections in this category, compared to the wealth of such representation at Cotswold Wildlife Park, it is a pretty obvious choice for me:

2-1 to Cotswold Wildlife Park

 

[TeaLovingDave]

(though many are actually present at both Cotswold and Aspinall parks).

Actually there are only five shared category mammals between CWP and the Aspinall collections, and only one additional shared bird.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Actually there are only five shared category mammals between CWP and the Aspinall collections, and only one additional shared bird.

Giant anteater, Bactrian camel, giraffe, mara, lowland tapir, ostrich ?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Giant anteater, Bactrian camel, giraffe, mara, lowland tapir, ostrich ?

I actually didn't count the tapir for either collection (as it seemed a bit borderline for the category) and mara is only at CWP - the two you omitted were Chapman's zebra and the respective lion ssp.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

I actually didn't count the tapir for either collection (as it seemed a bit borderline for the category) and mara is only at CWP - the two you omitted were Chapman's zebra and the respective lion ssp.

Yes, tapir is an awkward one, but would definitely be under the grassland category as it is found in the Cerrado and Pampas ecosystems. It wouldn't come under deserts in any sense though it does occupy some more arid zones like the Gran Chaco of Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina and apparently did historically occur in the Brazilian Caatinga.

Ah yes, but I think that you are forgetting that it is rather a Barbary lion than an ordinary lion

 

[pipaluk]

I actually didn't count the tapir for either collection (as it seemed a bit borderline for the category) and mara is only at CWP - the two you omitted were Chapman's zebra and the respective lion ssp.

Doesn't Meerkat fall in this category?

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Doesn't Meerkat fall in this category?

Good point actually, that would be the most obvious (and unfortunate) example of a desert species kept by both and somehow missed by both me and Dave.

 

[pipaluk]

Decided to break things down on species and biogeographic lines out of curiosity, keeping it to current holdings for the sake of simplicity:




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As these figures show, it is incorrect to state that the Aspinall collections have the greater range of species, even if one only looks at mammal species where they do keep marginally more grassland species but correspondingly fewer desert species. Overall, CWP keeps more than double the number of category species as a whole. When this is combined with the near-complete lack of any bird or reptile representation at the Aspinall collections in this category, compared to the wealth of such representation at Cotswold Wildlife Park, it is a pretty obvious choice for me:

2-1 to Cotswold Wildlife Park

I don't really see the need to count a species twice if it is grassland and desert, each species should only count once as it is a single category.
However, I was not aware how many birds fell into this category so I will reverse my vote.
Aspinalls shade it on mammals, but overall Cotswold wins

 

[TeaLovingDave]

don't really see the need to count a species twice if it is grassland and desert, each species should only count once as it is a single category.

I didn't actually count any species twice in the final total - the first total in each batch shows the full number of species qualifying in some fashion, the grassland and desert subtotals are merely to indicate how well represented these biomes are and don't add up to the first figure given some species do occur in both biomes. The alternative would be trying to decide which category species such as this fit and thus showing an incorrect picture of biome representation

Doesn't Meerkat fall in this category?

Checking my hurried notes from last night I did include the meerkats but actually forgot the lions! The peril of doing a list when laid in bed trying and failing to sleep.....