European (Tea)Cup - League B - Wroclaw vs Antwerp & Planckendael

[TeaLovingDave]

An interesting match ahead of us, I reckon - both of the contenders have had a pretty successful Cup thus far, but on the surface I suspect the category at hand is one in which neither excels - MISCELLANEOUS MAMMALS.

So the question is - which has the edge?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

As noted in the introductory post, I get the feeling that neither contender is fantastic in this category.... but Wroclaw definitely has the edge given the array of unusual and interesting insectivores, rodents and chiropterans they keep, generally in rather good exhibits, along with an excellent exhibit for manatee.

As such, I think a 3:2 vote for Wroclaw is a good point to start - although I reserve the right to either switch to the Belgian duo or strengthen my pro-Polish stance depending on how the discussion goes

 

[pipaluk]

I make this 36-16 in Wroclaw's favour on species, but the Belgian zoos have a few relative rarities such as Tasmanian Devil, Goodfellow's tree kangaroo and Koala.

I will score this 3-2 Wroclaw for now but this is more likely to increase than be reversed I suspect.

The Belgian zoos are unlucky to get the wrong opponent in this category, they are stronger than several others in it.

 

[Dassie rat]

Wroclaw has 35 ZTL mammals not found at Antwerp/Planckendael and gets 45 points for mammals found in up to 10 European collections.
Antwerp/Planckendael has 10 ZTL mammals not found at Wroclaw and gets 5 points for mammals found in up to 10 European collections.

This gives Wroclaw an 80-15 win. I'll make this 4-1

It's a shame that the 2 Belgian collections have such a poor collection of miscellaneous mammals

 

[pipaluk]

Wroclaw has 35 ZTL mammals not found at Antwerp/Planckendael and gets 45 points for mammals found in up to 10 European collections.
Antwerp/Planckendael has 10 ZTL mammals not found at Wroclaw and gets 5 points for mammals found in up to 10 European collections.

This gives Wroclaw an 80-15 win. I'll make this 4-1

It's a shame that the 2 Belgian collections have such a poor collection of miscellaneous mammals

I wouldn't say their collection is poor, just nowhere near as high on numbers compared to Wroclaw, there are several zoos the Belgians would beat and probably not many who could challenge Wroclaw in this category!

 

[remar]

Actually i would also like to highlight the last remaining hammerhead bats at a Europe collection at Wroclaw.

I'm still kind of unsure how to vote, but i can't remember any really stunning exhibit at this category for Wroclaw. Sure, the manatee exhibit is large, but kind of ugly. Furthermore, i didn't like the rodent section at the Sahara house at all.

The Belgium zoos have way less species, but i really enjoyed the Oceania area at Planckendael and the tree kangaroos at Antwerp are a very interesting species.

 

[lintworm]

Actually i would also like to highlight the last remaining hammerhead bats at a Europe collection at Wroclaw.

I am not sure whether that is a + or a -. Yes they are the only European zoo to keep them currently, but it is not as if their husbandry is a success. They have bred occasionally, but the losses have been far higher...

 

[Lafone]

Voting against the general trend it seems but having been to neither collection I took a look around the pictures and decided to go for the two Belgian zoos as I'd prefer to visit them for this category in terms of the animals I would like to see. I might be persuaded the other way but not simply on numbers (describing a zoo as poor for having less species numerically is one way to look at things but it is not mine) though the rodents look very interesting at Wroclaw so 3/2 for me at present.

 

[remar]

Yes they are the only European zoo to keep them currently, but it is not as if their husbandry is a success. They have bred occasionally, but the losses have been far higher...

Actually i had a very interesting talk to one of the keepers at Wroclaw. They said, that they are horrible to keep and they would totally advise against gaining this species. First they are nearly invisible to visitors, as they are only active at night. And even more problematic, they are easily stressed out and really scared. Many of the animals at Wroclaw died out of stress, just because a keeper opened the door of the aviary.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

First they are nearly invisible to visitors, as they are only active at night.

Strangely, I've never had trouble spotting them - they generally like to roost at one of the top corners of their exhibit!

Having already heard from @remar and @Lafone it would be interesting to hear arguments from @Brum and @Haasje as the other two outlier votes

 

[Brum]

I just prefer the Belgian duos collection and exhibitry, but 3-2 is fair as Wroclaw does have some juicy stuff.

 

[pipaluk]

Disappointing match, it needed something to post something major in favour of the losers but nothing has turned up at all! 3-2 either way is fair but 4-1? Really

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Disappointing match, it needed something to post something major in favour of the losers but nothing has turned up at all! 3-2 either way is fair but 4-1? Really

Good thing the final result pretty much comes down to 3/2 as far as the percentages go, then

Wroclaw - 70/120 points - 58.333%
Antwerp & Planckendael - 50/120 points - 41.667%
.