First things first, here are the species lists for the two collections per ZTL.
Wrocław:
Barbary Macaque
Black-and-white Colobus
Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur
Black Howler
Common Chimpanzee
Common Mangabey
Common Marmoset
Crowned Lemur
Diana Monkey
Eastern Putty-nosed Monkey
Golden-headed Lion Tamarin
Goodman's Mouse-lemur
L'hoest's Monkey
Lac Aloatra Gentle Lemur
Lar
Northern Talapoin
Northern White-cheeked Gibbon
Olive Baboon
Pileated Gibbon
Red-ruffed Lemur
Ring-tailed Lemur
South American Squirrel Monkey
Sulawesi Crested Macaque
White-faced Capuchin
White-faced Saki
Yellow-breasted Capuchin
Total: 26
Prague:
Barbary Macaque
De Brazza's Monkey
Ganzhorn's Mouse-lemur
Garnett's Greater Bushbaby
Goeldi's Monkey
Goodman's Mouse-lemur
Javan Gibbon
Kikuyu Colobus
Mexican Spider Monkey
Moholi Bushbaby
Northern Talapoin
Ring-tailed Lemur
Senegal Bushbaby
South American Squirrel Monkey
Sumatran Orangutan
Sunda Slow Loris
Sunda Pig-tailed Macaque
Western Lowland Gorilla
White-belted Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur
White-fronted Lemur
Total: 19
So all in all, Wrocław leads by some margin on species numbers alone. Prague arguably has a more appealing collection with rarities such as Sunda Slow Loris and Garnett's Greater Bushbaby, although it is worth noting that both mouse-lemur species are offshow, and the Polish collection has several scarcely kept species of its own, such as the Putty-nosed Monkeys, the Goodman's Mouse-lemurs (onshow here, unlike at Prague) and White-faced Capuchin. I could be mistaken, but as I have no recollection of seeing them, I believe Prague's Goeldi's Monkeys are offshow, too, meaning just 15 onshow species in the Czech capital.
Moving away from the collection, I know very little about Wrocław, but can run through some of Prague's most notable offerings, both the best and the worst, in the hope of allowing others to cast a more informed vote.
@Robaque - orangutan outdoors
@Kalaw - Sunda Pig-tailed Macaque island
INDONESIAN JUNGLE - the Sumatran Orangutan enclosure is quite mediocre, although personally it has never struck me as truly bad as many others would say. I thought the Pig-tailed Macaque enclosure was quite large and enriching, although the concrete is an eyesore and its all-indoors. In the nocturnal corridor is a very nicely designed enclosure for what may be the only Sunda Slow Loris in European zoos.
@Robaque - Senegal Bushbaby enclosure (normally nocturnally lit during visitor hours, but I assume this was taken very early in the morning when the lights were still on?)
AFRICA UP CLOSE - there is a rather standard-sized and densely planted cage for Ring-tailed and White-fronted Lemurs in the outdoor portion of this exhibit. Indoors, the highlight for me was the huge troop of Senegal Bushbabies; I am not sure exactly how many are kept, but I counted 9 in a large nocturnal room shared with giant jumping rats, with the many branches allowing for endless joy watching the lively animals leap between them. An adjacent enclosure mixes Moholis with tenrecs, and elsewhere in the building Garnett's Greater Bushababy, who sadly proved very elusive on my visit, share with mongooses.
@MagpieGoose - gorilla family indoors
@twilighter - gorilla family outdoors
DJA RESERVE - one of Prague's newest exhibits holding a family group of Western Gorillas, sharing with Kikuyu Colobus. The indoor room for them is surely one of the largest in Europe, certainly the largest that I have seen, and it offers a solid amount of climbing and various different substrates for foraging, too. The outdoors is also huge with an acceptable amount of climbing, but for a rainforest species it is simply far too sparse. Maybe this will change in due time, with the occasional trees and bushes maturing with age. Elsewhere in the building, De Brazza's Monkeys share with Red River Hogs in a great enclosure (for the monkeys, less so for the hogs) and Gabon Talapoins share with porcupines.
@Kalaw - view from below
@Kalaw - view from above
ROCK OUTCROP - only one primate enclosure here, but it's a good one. Prague's outstanding cliffside mountain bovid enclosures are well-renowned, but what is rarely discussed is that one of the three enclosures (for Barbary Sheep) also houses Barbary Macaques. In places, the drop is near vertical, and to add to the aesthetic awe there are several trees littered across it. Surely one of the best primate enclosures in the world, and I would be surprised if Wrocław has anything that can equal it.
@FunkyGibbon - gorilla outdoors
MÉFOU CENTRE - once known as the Gorilla Pavilion, but renamed to help distinguish it from Dja, this exhibit houses a small bachelor group of Western Gorillas. The indoors was closed for renovations on my visit, but looks decent in photos. The outdoors is somewhat small, but not too small, and may be one of the best-landscaped gorilla enclosures which I have ever seen in person, with several trees, all fences obscured by the undulating design and the placement of rocks, and a nice water feature. It is great that the zoo can keep both a bachelor and family group.
@Kalaw - Mexican Spider Monkey island
@Chapman'szebra - squirrel monkey island
WATER WORLD AND MONKEY ISLANDS - last but not least, this very charming area of the zoo, which is littered with streams creating small islands, in many places traversed by small bridges, features, among other things, five different primate enclosures. The squirrel and spider monkey (the latter of the rarely seen Mexican subspecies) islands are amongst the best-looking I have ever seen, with near limitless climbing for the animals found in mature trees. On my visit, I got lost in the labyrinth of moats and missed the Javan Gibbon enclosure, but it looks nice in photos. Similarly attractive and enriching is the walkthrough Ring-tailed Lemur island, with a bizarre glass-walled tower serving as their indoor cage. My personal favourite, purely due to the liveliness on offer during my visit, is the Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur island.
All in all, Prague is reasonably strong in terms of primates, but it is arguably its weakest of the four mammal-based categories, with a somewhat small onshow collection and a rather mediocre orangutan enclosure. Certainly, with the outstanding macaque enclosure, multiple delightful gorilla houses, the wonderful islands in the lower portion of the zoo, the massive troop of Senegal Bushbabies and the several rarities, I would say the strengths outweigh the weaknesses here, but there are some zoos that could exploit Prague on this category. I am not sure if Wrocław is that zoo, but I don't know enough about it to comment, and would be very much interested to hear the opinion of someone more familiar with the Polish side than myself. With their numerical advantage and the occasional area of weakness at Prague, I feel as though, unless Wrocław is shockingly poor enclosure-wise, they have the potential to garner a few votes here and generate some interesting discussion, although it all seems a little one-sided at the moment.
