Kalaw
Well-Known Member
2023 is very nearly over, and with it a fantastic year of zoo-visiting has come to an end. Now feels like a good time to look back on the year. I thought a good way to do this would be to create a selection of categories, and decide what zoo-related offering impressed me the most in those areas, so let's begin.
Best new zoo of the year - Zoo Zurich: Easily the best zoo that I have ever visited, everything about Zoo Zurich amazed me. The quality of its enclosures is renowned around the world, but its ability to satisfy all the traditional expectations of a zoo, while also being innovative (so much so that it is almost questionable at times), coming up with ideas that are truly quite original. Of course there are the big three exhibits (Masoala Regenwald, Kaeng Krachan Elefantenpark and Lewa Savanne) which are the most commonly given reasons for praising Zurich, but I was equally impressed by the smaller hidden enclosures that you aren't expecting, but prove thoroughly delightful when you turn a corner to find them, such as the Exotarium, Pantanal, Tortoise House, Himalaya, Semien Highlands and Sangay Bergnebelwald.
Best visit of the year - Tierpark Hagenbeck:
Not including Zurich, which almost feels too obvious, my visit to this historic zoo was one that was years in the making. I recall first seeing Hagenbeck's map when I was very young, and my excitement when I learnt of its role in establishing some of the techniques used to this very day to give the illusion of immersion and naturalism in zoos. Being surrounded by these gorgeous monuments of such historic value was a bit magical, and that magic was only enhanced by the number of excellent species and lifeticks I saw here, with one in particular, detailed in a later award, standing out above the rest!
Best return visit of the year - Whipsnade Zoo:
After a three year hiatus, I finally returned to my favourite zoo this year, and did so again in October. Returning to old favourites (the wolverines, the hippos, and above all the gaur), seeing how things have changed (the new aardvarks, porcupines, langurs, babirusa and warty pigs) and even discovering things that were far before, but that I simply had not noticed (the owl and pheasant aviaries, the semi-offshow bird breeding centre, and the former Bison Hill) was so tremendously fun. Even longing for the return of childhood favourites that have long since departed (sea lions, sloth bears, wolves and particularly the moose!) was also nice, as there is nowhere else on earth that I am close enough attached to to feel those sorts of emotions in response to simple change. It was delightful to return, and to gradually familiarise myself with the place once again, and I am hoping to visit again next year for a milestone tenth time!
Honourable mention - Noah's Ark Zoo Farm: with how much I disliked the place on previous visits, it was lovely to return, realising it wasn't so bad, and is, in its current state, a respectable and rapidly improving establishment. The mightily impressive bull elephant, 'Shaka,' and Europe's only Spix's Guan were the highlights.
Best exhibit of the year - Masoala Regenwald:
I don't think I even need to explain this one. Masoala is just so far ahead of anything that I have ever seen in a zoo it makes me genuinely wonder if it is real. It is evidence of what zoos can accomplish when they properly get their act together and invest in something wonderful. And, to top it off, there are clear and close links to conservation. It is just perfect, by all meaning of the word.
Best surprise of the year - Shaldon Zoo:
1 acre of cliffside woodland in the tiny coastal village of Shaldon is home to a treasure trove of rare animals, a surprising powerhouse in conservation, and one of the most beautifully, thoughtfully and resourcefully designed zoos in the countries. My first Owston's Civets, Lemur Leaf Frogs and Bengal Slow Loris (with the latter having unfortunately passed away since) were certainly the highlights, but the entire thing was thoroughly charming.
Best lifetick of the year - Pacific Walrus:
After years of staring up at the stunning stuffed mount of the species at my local Horniman Museum and wondering what the species would look like in person, as a living, breathing and swimming creature, I finally got an answer - and it was magnificent. They are majestic and beautiful yet bestial and brutish at the same time, and intelligent as well. Fascinating creatures to watch, and I spent about three hours, if not more, of my Hagenbeck visit doing so. While the oxpecker, the polecat, the vontsira and the civet may have all been rarer, this was easily the most exciting lifetick on the year.
Best wildlife encounter of the year - European White Stork:
When I first saw a wild white stork while cycling through Gelderland last year, I was amazed and captivated. Then I went to Germany, cycled along the Elbe from Hamburg to Magdeburg, and saw around 30 in just five days of cycling. Just as I was beginning to take them for granted, thinking that they would never be able to recreate the excitement of the first time that I saw them, I went to le Parc de l'Orangerie, a park in Strasbourg, home to the site of a now-closed zoo, and saw at least fifty of them, some drinking from the fountains, some vanishing among the flowers, some patrolling the ground, some flying, some nesting, some eating. I didn't know where to look, and was so captivated that I had to return to L'Orangerie the following day to get another look. Particularly in nice weather (which we unfortunately didn't get on the second day), this is highly recommended to any who visit Strasbourg.
If anyone else wants to give out their own awards for the same (or different) categories, then feel free to do so!
Best new zoo of the year - Zoo Zurich: Easily the best zoo that I have ever visited, everything about Zoo Zurich amazed me. The quality of its enclosures is renowned around the world, but its ability to satisfy all the traditional expectations of a zoo, while also being innovative (so much so that it is almost questionable at times), coming up with ideas that are truly quite original. Of course there are the big three exhibits (Masoala Regenwald, Kaeng Krachan Elefantenpark and Lewa Savanne) which are the most commonly given reasons for praising Zurich, but I was equally impressed by the smaller hidden enclosures that you aren't expecting, but prove thoroughly delightful when you turn a corner to find them, such as the Exotarium, Pantanal, Tortoise House, Himalaya, Semien Highlands and Sangay Bergnebelwald.
Best visit of the year - Tierpark Hagenbeck:
Not including Zurich, which almost feels too obvious, my visit to this historic zoo was one that was years in the making. I recall first seeing Hagenbeck's map when I was very young, and my excitement when I learnt of its role in establishing some of the techniques used to this very day to give the illusion of immersion and naturalism in zoos. Being surrounded by these gorgeous monuments of such historic value was a bit magical, and that magic was only enhanced by the number of excellent species and lifeticks I saw here, with one in particular, detailed in a later award, standing out above the rest!
Best return visit of the year - Whipsnade Zoo:
After a three year hiatus, I finally returned to my favourite zoo this year, and did so again in October. Returning to old favourites (the wolverines, the hippos, and above all the gaur), seeing how things have changed (the new aardvarks, porcupines, langurs, babirusa and warty pigs) and even discovering things that were far before, but that I simply had not noticed (the owl and pheasant aviaries, the semi-offshow bird breeding centre, and the former Bison Hill) was so tremendously fun. Even longing for the return of childhood favourites that have long since departed (sea lions, sloth bears, wolves and particularly the moose!) was also nice, as there is nowhere else on earth that I am close enough attached to to feel those sorts of emotions in response to simple change. It was delightful to return, and to gradually familiarise myself with the place once again, and I am hoping to visit again next year for a milestone tenth time!
Honourable mention - Noah's Ark Zoo Farm: with how much I disliked the place on previous visits, it was lovely to return, realising it wasn't so bad, and is, in its current state, a respectable and rapidly improving establishment. The mightily impressive bull elephant, 'Shaka,' and Europe's only Spix's Guan were the highlights.
Best exhibit of the year - Masoala Regenwald:
I don't think I even need to explain this one. Masoala is just so far ahead of anything that I have ever seen in a zoo it makes me genuinely wonder if it is real. It is evidence of what zoos can accomplish when they properly get their act together and invest in something wonderful. And, to top it off, there are clear and close links to conservation. It is just perfect, by all meaning of the word.
Best surprise of the year - Shaldon Zoo:
1 acre of cliffside woodland in the tiny coastal village of Shaldon is home to a treasure trove of rare animals, a surprising powerhouse in conservation, and one of the most beautifully, thoughtfully and resourcefully designed zoos in the countries. My first Owston's Civets, Lemur Leaf Frogs and Bengal Slow Loris (with the latter having unfortunately passed away since) were certainly the highlights, but the entire thing was thoroughly charming.
Best lifetick of the year - Pacific Walrus:
After years of staring up at the stunning stuffed mount of the species at my local Horniman Museum and wondering what the species would look like in person, as a living, breathing and swimming creature, I finally got an answer - and it was magnificent. They are majestic and beautiful yet bestial and brutish at the same time, and intelligent as well. Fascinating creatures to watch, and I spent about three hours, if not more, of my Hagenbeck visit doing so. While the oxpecker, the polecat, the vontsira and the civet may have all been rarer, this was easily the most exciting lifetick on the year.
Best wildlife encounter of the year - European White Stork:
When I first saw a wild white stork while cycling through Gelderland last year, I was amazed and captivated. Then I went to Germany, cycled along the Elbe from Hamburg to Magdeburg, and saw around 30 in just five days of cycling. Just as I was beginning to take them for granted, thinking that they would never be able to recreate the excitement of the first time that I saw them, I went to le Parc de l'Orangerie, a park in Strasbourg, home to the site of a now-closed zoo, and saw at least fifty of them, some drinking from the fountains, some vanishing among the flowers, some patrolling the ground, some flying, some nesting, some eating. I didn't know where to look, and was so captivated that I had to return to L'Orangerie the following day to get another look. Particularly in nice weather (which we unfortunately didn't get on the second day), this is highly recommended to any who visit Strasbourg.
If anyone else wants to give out their own awards for the same (or different) categories, then feel free to do so!