British Isles Cup Redux - League A - Twycross vs Cotswold Wildlife Park

[TeaLovingDave]

In terms of birds it again seemed to me that Twycross had a fuller hand with their species like the silvery cheeked hornbill, African grey hornbill, glossy ibis, white stork, village weaver, turacos, pink backed pelicans. Still quite a close one though as Cotswold apparently has some African storks, owls, ibis, the ostrich and of course Ruppel's griffon vulture.

You think 12 species is a fuller hand than 34 species? especially when two of the Twycross species you specifically highlight (white stork and red-crested turaco) are also at CWP!

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

You think 12 species is a fuller hand than 34 species? especially when two of the Twycross species you specifically highlight (white stork and red-crested turaco) are also at CWP!

Again, admittedly I sort of went with Twycross based on its range of mammal species kept.

Also there really didn't seem to be that many African bird species listed on the Cotswold website.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Twycross has large African megafauna like zebra, black rhino , giraffe, nyala and small hoofed mammals like Kirk's dik dik.

As opposed to the Chapman's Zebra (same species as at Twycross), White Rhinoceros, Rothschild's Giraffe (same species as at Twycross) and Kirk's Dik-dik (same species as at Twycross) which are held by CWP?

Primates were another a decisive factor in the favour of Twycross which has four African monkey species (compared to a single species kept by Cotswold) and all three of the African great ape species represented with gorillas, chimps and bonobos held on site.

As noted the primate count only shifts if one refuses to regard Malagasy species as relevant, but the great ape point is definitely a valid one..... although given the fact you made it clear you prioritise exhibit quality over species quantity elsewhere in the Zoo Cup, I am somewhat surprised you aren't marking Twycross down for their primate enclosures!

I sort of went with Twycross based on its range of mammal species and there didn't seem to be that many African bird species listed on their website.

Yeah, relying on zoo websites to gauge their collection can cause problems half the reason ZTL is often inaccurate for UK collections is that there are two or three people who keep deleting species if they aren't mentioned on the zoo websites!

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

As opposed to the Chapman's Zebra (same species as at Twycross), White Rhinoceros, Rothschild's Giraffe (same species as at Twycross) and Kirk's Dik-dik (same species as at Twycross) which are held by CWP?



As noted the primate count only shifts if one refuses to regard Malagasy species as relevant, but the great ape point is definitely a valid one..... although given the fact you made it clear you prioritise exhibit quality over species quantity elsewhere in the Zoo Cup, I am somewhat surprised you aren't marking Twycross down for their primate enclosures!

Wasn't aware that CWP hold Kirk's dik dik too but stick to my original assessment / vote especially given that Twycross hold the black rhino which is considerably more endangered than the white rhino.

As I said, I don't really consider Malagasy mammals, birds or reptiles as African (unless also found on the African mainland) but rather as Madagascan. This given the island's isolation from the African mainland so I tend towards discounting the Malagasy fauna like lemurs, birds and reptiles held by CWP under that category.

That said, if the contest was based purely on Malagasy fauna held by each zoo then CWP would most probably sway my vote in their favour. Cotswold seems to have a lot of Madagascan species and some very endangered ones too (Madagascan pochard is particularly impressive).

I've never been to either Twycross or CWP and am not aware of the enclosure designs at Twycross other than in the zoochat gallery. Sure, these enclosures seem somewhat utilitarian and outdated but then again many enclosures for primates in zoos in South America are too.

The African great apes and monkeys definitely figured into my vote for Twycross as did their involvement in in-situ conservation programes. On that note I also forgot to mention in my previous comment that they currently hold the studbook for the Roloway monkey, a critically endangered species, so another point in their favour from me.