European (Tea)Cup - HEAD-TO-HEAD: Chester vs Prague (CARNIVORES)

[merlin]

Just so I am at least a little bit useful, I'm gonna add some photos with Prague's exhibits, the same way I did in the previous round. It would be nice if someone could do the same with Chester - I could post some photos from ZooChat myself, but I can't say much more about it than what I know from pictures, videos and zoochat. Unfortunately.
Also, I don't know if I will actually complete this list, but I'll try my best.

Let's start with the Feline and Reptile house. I'll start with the only carnivore here that's actually not a feline - fosa. Two young animals arrived at the zoo last year. I believe fossa's indoor exhibits are probably the best ones in the pavilion, considering how much space they got. The fosas are kept separated for now.

credits to me

On the other hand there's the exhibit for Palawan leopard cats. It's been already mentioned in this thread that they don't have any access to the outdoor. I would be very happy if they got some, but I also believe this exhibit is actually better than the one for tayras for example. This photo was taken in 2019 and the enclosure looks a little different (= better) nowadays.

credits to @/FunkyGibbon

There are also cats that you can see only outdoors. The Amur leopard cats! Their exhibit is very nice - I mean, all the outdoor exhibits for smaller carnivores in this house are pretty good actually.

screenshot from mapy.cz

Unfortunately, I did not find any current photos of the Geoffroy's cat exhibit...

credits to @/Maguari

The fishing cats would maybe deserve more water, but it's still the best enclosure for fishing cats in Czechia. Overall a very cool outdoor enclosure. I aprecciate there's also a small pool indoors too. By the way, if you ever visit Prague and can't find the fishing cats, just approach the enclosure from the side, since the right rear corner seems to be one of their favorite resting spots!

credits to @/Maguari

credits to @/Kalaw

credits to @/twilighter (unfortunately there are no better pictures of this one)

Although I love almost all the exhibits I've shown on here so far, I need to move onto the tiger and lion enclosures which I really am not a fan of. I will try not to comment on them too much, just provide some more info...
The Asiatic lion exhibit has a big moat, but it's drained to provide the lions more space to roam. The zoo currently keeps a pair, if I'm not wrong. The construction of this exhibit started more than 40 years ago.

credits to @/Kalaw

credits to @/ronnienl

Behind the lion enclosure are two exhibits for two tiger subspecies ("subspecies"). The first one is where the Malayan tigers live, the second one is inhabited by Sumatran tigers. The exhibits are very similiar to the lion enclosure, but the trees in these two provide the animals more shade. Also, there's water in the moats usually during summers. As there are only old pictures of those enclosures in the gallery, I decided not to use those, since there's much more greenery nowadays.


screenshots from mapy.cz

credits to @/JigerofLemuria

That's it for the Feline and Reptile house. Though, there is one more exhibit in this area, located right next to the pavilion - the cheetah enclosure.

credits to @/Kalaw

credits to @/Maguari

 

[merlin]

Right behind the entrance is one of the oldest exhibits in the whole zoo. Built in 1931, this enclosure was once home to wolves. Definitely too small for those canids, but it works perfectly for red pandas! This exhibit is one of the only two exhibits built according to Hagenbeck's plan.

credits to me

Let's take a look in the Indonesian jungle house. There used to be more carnivore species in the past, but currently there are only two. The Indochinese smooth-coated otters share an exhibit with Palawan binturongs. They have no access to the outside, but I don't think it's such a big issue in this case. There's currently less greenery than shown in the photo...

credits to @/Zebraduiker

Close to the pavilion stands the infamous polar bear exhibit. Opened to public in 1936, it held brown bears at first. Polar bears were supposed to get an enclosure at the opposite side of the zoo, but that did not happen because of economical issues. For some time, this exhibit was inhabited by two species of bear at once. The American black bears were kept in one of the enclosures just 20 years ago!

credits to @/vogelcommando

credits to @/LaughingDove

Above the polar bear exhibit is a North American river otter enclosure. This is a standard otter enclosure, but quite spacious.

credits to the nice guys who posted these in the mapy.cz gallery

The path continues with enclosures for South American carnivores. Jaguarundis and tayras live in neighbouring exhibits. Both of the species would deserve a bigger and nicer space. Especially tayras since they are very active animals. When the old polar bear exhibit is gone, I will probably view these two as the worst ones in Prague.

credits to @/Robaque

The bush dog exhibit is much bigger than the previous two. I have only one issue with it - there's just a small water pool which is empty most of the time and I believe this species should have access to more water!

credits to @/lintworm

credits to @/vogelcommando

Maned wolves have recently switched places with eastern wallaroos and so there are no current pictures of their exhibit. I liked the former one more, but they are actually very similiar... But I don't find the view very enjoyable.

screenshot from mapy.cz

White-nosed coatis were given lots of space. They used to share the exhibit with maras, but those are no longer present. Although it's one of the most beautiful exhibits in summer season, it is among the ugliest ones in winter - I don't really understand how.

credits to @/Zebraduiker

credits to @/LaughingDove

Eurasian wolves are occupying a decently sized forest exhibit. The only issue here is the poor view in my opinion, although there are multiple viewing spots. I'm actually starting to see a pattern that I probably just don't enjoy looking at animals from above...?

credits to @/vogelcommando

credits to @/Balgur (photo from 2008, the exhibit is much greener now)

The brown hyenas are the only hyena species kept in Prague and the individuals are quite old now. I know some people are especially fond of this one, but it's not even my favorite hyena enclosure in the country, so... But it's nice to see such a big exhibit in this zoo.

credits to @/Baldur

credits to @/Robaque

credits to @/twilighter

 

[TeaLovingDave]

and no pinnipeds

I only mentioned the fur seals to build on another one of my previous points, that being the lack of pinnipeds at Chester.

Of course, there is a very important point to be made with regards to the lack of pinnipeds at Chester....

The Giant Otter would certainly qualify as an 'interesting smaller species' for me, not sure how I forgot them as I was considering their enclosure as one of Chester's strengths.

...to wit, the fact that this absence is precisely the reason *why* Chester now has a world-class exhibit for Giant Otter. I think this trade-off was more than worthwhile, personally!

--

I'll give others a chance to post evidence and detailed arguments in favour of Chester before wading in, but just a minor point to kick things off; as regards the on-show species of carnivore at Chester, I would argue that all are in good exhibits, almost all are in very good exhibits, and *seven* are in the best exhibits for their respective species in Europe - African Wild Dog, Fossa, Giant Otter, Jaguar, Spectacled Bear, Sun Bear, and Bush Dog. I would go so far as to say that some (particularly the Fossa, Giant Otter and Jaguar) may even be the best exhibits for their respective species worldwide.

Also, I note with a mixture of amusement, resignation and a complete lack of surprise that once again one of the votes for Prague is coming from someone who previously stated that the polar bear exhibit was poor enough that it merited automatic disqualification from any win no matter the other strengths of the zoo, yet has universally (and silently) disregarded this stance every time that it would require a vote in favour of Chester

 

[Lafone]

A few illustrations for some of the Chester carnivores, starting with the Jaguar enclosure which has a well designed and interesting building (also holding sloths in a well structured exhibit with indoor and outside access as well as other animals, which while not counting for this category, show the approach Chester takes to creating immersive exhibits).

As well as a good sized indoor house which allows for separation as required

credit @gulogulogulo

the outside has more than one area, this one illustrates the strong landscaping and water feature

credit @felis silvestris

Overall there is good viewing inside and out, while offering the cats different climbing spaces and opportunities to hide and seek shelter from rain or sun. It's a high standard all round for the species and it could be argued that as well as one of if not the best exhibit in the UK, it's a contender across Europe.

Another strong contender in this round is the Giant Otter exhibit with large outdoor space

credit @felis silvestris

credit @gulogulogulo

and well constructed indoor housing (plus off show area) which is also landscaped

credit @gulogulogulo

While there are well made enclosures with lots of space (YWP for example) the overall enclosure provision at Chester has excellent all round, on show, off show, indoor and out.

In terms of recent investments, a few of the carnivores have benefited from recent work, from the Meerkats in the new Heart of Africa area

credit @British explorer

with enclosure outside on the right

credit @Maguari

and the Yellow Mongoose also have a new space

credit @British explorer

next to the new area for the African wild dogs which offers good views again while allowing the dogs to hide if they want to, always good for some of the shy species.

credit @Maguari

Recent arrivals the Bat eared foxes also have an expansive outdoor area (right here), though I have to say the indoors is a weak point as it is inside the covered picnic area were there is a lot of noise

credit @Maguari

Snow leopards (who have produced a cub recently) have also got a large new space, which is well landscaped and has height.

credit @ZooTripper365

The Andean bear enclosure is also a sizeable space with good landscaping and thoughtful areas and the sight of the bears swimming in the moat which runs all the way around the enclosure front is always a highlight

credit @British explorer

The Sumatran tiger enclosure has two large spaces connected by a bridge for the tigers, view of the left side, the other has water access to a large pool

credit @felis silvestris

credit @felis silvestris

The Fossas are another highlight, located near the Lemurs for context with a large indoor house with viewing area and outdoor enclosures which are well planted and landscaped

credit @felis silvestris

The Sunbears and Binturong have good inside viewing (outdoor spaces on the left and right here) and although not really the best of enclosures for viewing if photographs are your thing, it's well laid out, though there is less outdoor climbing for the Binturongs than perhaps in other places

credit @felis silvestris

the outdoor area is well used by the bears though who are often to be seen up the top of the climbing poles

credit @felis silvestris

The Asiatic Lion (currently one) is housed well with outdoor areas that curve around with good viewing and an indoor house with large glass frontage

credit @gulogulogulo

@credit gulogulogulo

I couldn't find a photo for the new Bushdog encllsure at Chester as they recently moved to the former Cheetah enclosure from the Spirit of the Jaguar area, but it is a large L shaped space and the Keepers have started a burrow area for the dogs with a new mound built complete with entrance tunnels so they can have an underground space (which also offers useful viewing angles).

The Red pandas are located near the Snow Leopards now and the enclosure is typical of the provision for the species at the positive end, with outside climbing and access to large tall trees. Nothing extraordinary but a good standard and that characterises the Chester provision all together in this category for me, at minimum good and often great.

credit @Maguari

 

[Kalaw]

Of course, there is a very important point to be made with regards to the lack of pinnipeds at Chester....



...to wit, the fact that this absence is precisely the reason *why* Chester now has a world-class exhibit for Giant Otter. I think this trade-off was more than worthwhile, personally!

I can't really agree, because it isn't a trade-off. With Chester's budget, they can absolutely afford to build a new pinniped enclosure somewhere while still having the otters inhabiting the former sea lion pool. In other words, it isn't the 'absence' of pinnipeds that means Chester has a world-class otter enclosure, but rather the decision to remove them from their previous enclosure; in my opinion, no reason to overlook the absence of pinnipeds as a big fan of that clade.

and *seven* are in the best exhibits for their respective species in Europe - African Wild Dog, Fossa, Giant Otter, Jaguar, Spectacled Bear, Sun Bear, and Bush Dog.

I strongly disagree on two of those. I think Zürich's Spectacled Bear enclosure is considerably better, and Burgers' Sun Bear enclosure marginally so. I can definitely understand arguments for putting Chester's ahead of either of them though.

I don't really have a measurement, since I don't care about rarities. But if someone uses the term, I imagine they mean a species kept in less than 10 European zoos. It may be because of the place I come from though. There are just too many unique species in Czechia that would be hard to find elsewhere. Sometimes, I happen to think a species has to be common because it's on show at three zoos I visit regularly just to later find out those zoos are the only three zoos in the world with that taxon. Though, if I like something, I just do and I don't care if it's rare or not! Binturongs and giant otters are some of my favorite animals ever and the more zoos keep them the better (for me)! I mean, unless they live in inadequate premises. Also, there are not many animals I would not find interesting. They may be boring to watch, but they still probably have some unique trait! That too may be a reason why I care so much about how animals are being presented - I will happily spend an hour by watching sun bears climb or just mind their business, but that's not really something I can experience in Prague, as there are just two polar bears in a tank...

Though I differ in the sense that I do actually care about rarities, especially species that I don't see often, I broadly agree with your sentiment that animals can be enjoyable regardless of how common they are, and 'interesting' doesn't correlate with 'rare.' I know it is strictly prohibited to take future developments into account for these cup competitions, but the promise that the Polar Bears at Prague will soon be getting a new enclosure made the frankly atrocious current one sting a lot less than some other bad enclosures, at Prague and everywhere else. The fact that I adore this taxa, don't see it very often, and had my previous encounter with it at Hagenbeck tainted by their male's blatant stereotyping helped; for all those reasons, I loved watching the Prague bears swim about their pool, or play in the ice piles they were given to cool down, or sleep peacefully in their caves, and perhaps subconsciously mark down Prague for this enclosure less harshly than for other zoos with similarly poor enclosures. They were very active and entertaining on my visit, so I don't see how you say it's impossible to spend time watching them, but I do completely sympathise if the quality of the enclosure put you off as this is something I've experienced at other zoos.

And there are also a lot of enclosures at Prague that encourage a higher level of activity than what is generally the case and offer a lot of entertainment value as a result: Fishing Cats with a deep pool, same for fur seals, coatis with an enclosed portion live trees and sturdy shrubbery instead of a few artificial branches for climbing. A breeding family of Bush Dogs in a hilly section of woodland with a pool is endlessly good fun, and Brown Hyenas prowling through a forest between all sorts of little dens too.

Completely off-topic, but I'm absolutely stunned to learn that Giant Otters are bigger than African Hunting Dogs!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I'll be posting more in-depth information about the various relevant exhibits later in order to supplement the information already provided by @Lafone , but for now a minor point:

I couldn't find a photo for the new Bushdog encllsure at Chester as they recently moved to the former Cheetah enclosure from the Spirit of the Jaguar area, but it is a large L shaped space and the Keepers have started a burrow area for the dogs with a new mound built complete with entrance tunnels so they can have an underground space (which also offers useful viewing angles).

There are actually a few photographs showing the species in their "new" enclosure, as it is the enclosure they occupied before they moved *to* Spirit of the Jaguar in order to make space for the cheetah!

As this photograph isn't the best quality, I will look through my own photographs later to see if I can find any better shots.

I strongly disagree on two of those. I think Zürich's Spectacled Bear enclosure is considerably better, and Burgers' Sun Bear enclosure marginally so. I can definitely understand arguments for putting Chester's ahead of either of them though.

I suspect the fact we differ on the Burgers Sun Bear exhibit may well be a mirror of your general apathy towards large portions of Islands and other areas of Chester to wit, you visited during the winter months and have indicated that this impacted the way you feel about the appearance and feel of the exhibits in question; similarly, my sole visit to Burgers was in early February 2018 during a -6°C cold snap!

 

[pipaluk]

I have voted Prague, as last time because it has more species I want to see, many of Chester:s I can see in loads of places, including within 10 minutes of home.

I accept Chester has excellent exhibits for Jaguar, giant otter and fossa. The ones for Sun bear/binturong, Andean bear, lion,wild dogs, snow leopard I would class as good.
I don't like the new tiger exhibit though , never have.

Prague has several small cats, cape seals, ratel, brown hyaena....

Prague it is for me

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I'll start off with the exhibits which (as stated above) I believe are the best for their respective species in Europe; this first post will directly recycle maps and photos I have posted elsewhere but omit the descriptions and arguments I previously posted, with the second providing more novel material:

AFRICAN WILD DOG

This is the largest and best exhibit I have seen for this species, comprising two large paddocks - each larger than most African Wild Dog exhibits which one can see elsewhere in Europe - along with both onshow dens within a central viewing area and offshow dens on the outer perimeter of the exhibit complex, and (I believe) further hidden dens within the exhibit itself.

FOSSA

Note that the second of the photographs shows the scale of the exhibit rather well via the visible presence of one of the inhabitants.

GIANT OTTER

SUN BEAR

(continued below)

 

[TeaLovingDave]

JAGUAR

This exhibit has been the best in Europe for the species in question for a long time (and perhaps even the best in Europe for *any* big cat species) and remained so even when - in more recent years - the indoor grassland exhibit and the adjacent outdoor exhibit were used to house species such as Bush Dog and Spectacled Bear when the needs of the zoo required. However, the Bush Dogs have now vacated these exhibits and moved back to their original exhibit after the death of the final Cheetah at the zoo - and as a result the full span of exhibits has once again been made available to the Jaguars.

Firstly, the following is the area devoted to the aforementioned indoor grassland/desert exhibit and associated outdoor exhibit:



...and this is the area devoted to the indoor jungle exhibit and associated outdoor exhibit:



Outdoor "grassland" exhibit:

Indoor "grassland/desert" exhibit:

Indoor "jungle" exhibit:

Outdoor "jungle" exhibit:

BUSH DOG

As previously noted, this exhibit held Bush Dog for many years before being used as housing for the final cheetah at Chester Zoo more recently; although I have not visited since the species returned to the exhibit, I am given to understand that it has been converted to match the prior condition, with indoor dens, open areas of grass and more densely wooded/vegetated areas, along with a sizeable pool and various natural and artificial tunnels and burrows. The photo I posted above shows only the open area of the exhibit - as noted, I will check my photo records to see if I have any worthwhile shots of the woodland section.

Given the heavily-wooded nature of much of the exhibit making it difficult to spot precise exhibit boundaries, the following area map is something of an estimate:




SPECTACLED BEAR

This exhibit is extremely large, lushly vegetated and provides plenty of space for the inhabitants to hide from view with only the very front portion visible to the public; these photographs show perhaps a shade over half of the area visible to the public, with the onshow viewing extending further to the right than these images show.

Discussion, photographs and maps pertaining to other exhibits tomorrow

 

[merlin]

The reconstruction of the Cape fur seal exhibit was finished in 2009 and it has not changed at all since then. Considering the age of this exhibit I am surprised it's not bigger. The pool is filled with fresh water. The animals have access to salt water too, but those pools are hidden backstage and they are so small they probably are not even worth mentionioning.

credits to @/lintworm

credits to @/Chapman'szebra

credits to @/German Zoo World

The Africa up close is home to more African carnivores, although smaller than the fur seals. There are five species on-show in total.
The bat-eared fox enclosure is fine, providing the foxes (hopefully) enough space.

credits to @/Baldur

credits to @/vogelcommando

Honey badger exhibit is not too interesting and I think the honey badgers should be provided a climbing structure and more enrichment in general. The animals look very bored, pacing all the time, running back and forth. That's not something I see at Dvůr as often, since the zoo provides their animals various climbing options and the honey badgers take advantage of it. I think the size is enough, but it would need some touch-ups.

screenshot from a video by Prague zoo

credits to @/Robaque

The Fennec fox enclosure is the best in the country, but there's nothing special about it.

photo taken from the zoo institutes website

Yellow mongooses are animals that I enjoy watching, but only if they are provided enough space so they can actually form a group. Prague's exhibit is enough for two individuals. On the other hand, this is a species that normally lives in groups.

credits to @/Baldur

Dwarf mongooses share the enclosure with Garnett's galagos. There are only two mongooses in the exhibit and they have no access to the outside.

credits to @/vogelcommando

And the last African carnivorian can be seen at the African house. I'm talking about meerkats. I did not find any current pictures of the enclosure, so I want to point out the meerkats are now provided more enrichment.

credits to @/vogelcommando

 

[TeaLovingDave]

A rather less close result than last time, but with the same eventual victor:

Chester -- 62/110 points - 56.364%
Prague - 48/110 points - 43.636%