Thought I would provide some photos and descriptions for some of the Whipsnade exhibits, just in case any voters aren't familiar with them.
European Brown Bear:
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@twilighter - a panoramic view of the gargantuan (6,500 sqm or 1.6 acre) enclosure, that also shows the beauty of the forested portions, and the old, rusted fencing, a testament to the enclosure's age. From experience (and with the caveat that I am much more familiar with the bears at Whipsnade than elsewhere), this is one of the few places where you are essentially guaranteed to see some activity from the inhabitants, whether it is making use of the pool or foraging for food in the long grass. Even if the bears are further back in the woodland, the occasional glimpses of one moving between the trees can, at times, be even more memorable than an up-close view!
The enclosure isn't
entirely untouched since its 1931 opening - the pool is new, as is the glass-fronted viewing shelter to the right of the image above. And to the far left, a small extension was added very recently to fix the lack of separation options (bears once had to be locked indoors if separation was necessary), which was just about the only thing that had aged poorly about this enclosure. The longevity is amazing!
Wolverine:
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@Dr. Loxodonta - showing roughly two thirds (perhaps even less) of the enclosure. No illusions, it really does stretch that far back, covering 2,900 sqm (0.7 acres). Some of the trees are 'climb-proof,' but most of them can be fully accessed by the wolverines. There are good separation options, and as seen in the image, plenty of thick bushes and rolling terrain for cover and privacy.
Siberian Tiger:
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@twilighter - again shows roughly two thirds. The beautiful foliage and size of the enclosure is best appreciable here, but the small climbing apparatus has since been replaced with a far bigger one pictured below:
@Lafone - the pond appears drained here because it had just been expanded when the photo was taken, but it is filled on most days.
The tiger outdoor enclosure totals 3,600 sqm (0.9 acres).
Cheetah:
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@JamesB - a fairly old photo, as there are weirdly no new ones showing the whole space in the gallery, but the enclosure today looks fairly similar to this. There are three onshow enclosures (totalling 3,900 sqm, around 1 acre, even excluding the moats), of which this is the largest, plus a more (not sure how many, maybe just the one) offshow. And given that, as mentioned earlier, Whipsnade is one of the most successful breeders of cheetah in Europe, they are clearly doing something right.
Lion:
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@MagpieGoose - frustratingly, no photos on the gallery provide a good view of this enclosure, presumably because the hill in the centre makes it hard to see the whole thing at once. But it is a
huge enclosure at 6,100 sqm (1.5 acres) - and, if both animals are active, which admittedly isn't often, there is quite a memorable predator-prey setup with the ostrich in the field in front. Two months ago, cubs were born - the zoo claims they are subspecies-pure Barbary, but there is rightly some dispute over the accuracy of those claims.
Northern Lynx:
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@MagpieGoose - one of the first enclosures seen after entering the zoo, it is one of the most attractively planted lynx enclosures that I have seen, and offers plenty of space.
African Hunting Dog:
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@gulogulogulo - what is surely one of the largest enclosures in Europe for the species, at 5,000 sqm (1.2 acres). Plenty of space, many dens and a sizable indoor area. Sadly, there are no enclosures depicting the full enclosure in the sumer, when the huge trees in the background are fully leaved and the grass is considerably longer. A shame the enclosure no longer holds wolves, who suited the distinctly European vegetation much better, but all the same, the experience of searching for the hunting dogs amongst the long grass is quite something.
Red Panda:
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@MagpieGoose - I am not sure if I have ever seen a Red Panda enclosure even close to this one in terms of size, at 1,000 sqm! I could be mistaken, as I am not familiar enough with Berlin to guarantee that I have accurately drawn the boundaries, but I believe that is only marginally smaller than Berlin's outdoor
lion enclosure! The number and height of some of the trees at Whipsnade is also incredibly impressive, as the above photo demonstrates.
Asian Short-clawed Otter:
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@MagpieGoose - not the most glamorous of enclosures, but an aesthetically pleasing and very effective repurposing of what was actually once a seal pool!
Meerkat:
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@Kalaw - last but not least we have the most ubiquitous of zoo animals, the Meerkat. A former Red River Hog enclosure that they share with porcupines (and aardvarks at certain times) it spans an absurd 1,500 square metres, which unless I am misdrawing the boundaries, is
more space than Berlin offers their lions. Not to mention its welcome variety of substrates, some of which enable digging, something that surprisingly few meerkat enclosures in zoos facilitate.
All the above measurements came from the google maps area calculator tool, so should be accurate so long as I have correctly judged whereabouts the enclosure barriers are, which I believe I have.
As twilighter correctly pointed out, ZSL's carnivore collection is in a slight decline (there are no plans to replace the sloth bear, sadly, whose enclosure now houses Babirusa and Javan Langurs) - but in terms of exhibitry, the reverse is happenig, as some very commendable improvements have been made to the carnivore enclosures in recent years. The Meerkat and Red Panda enclosures were both too small, but now the former have a huge lawn with various substrates for burrowing and foraging, and the latter have a massive island. The tiger and brown bear enclosures were already world-class but each had minor issues (lack of climbing in the former, lack of separation options in the latter), which over the past two years have been accounted for. If I am not mistaken, the hunting dog indoor space has been renovated recently as well.
I know that I am repeating myself, but I want to say it again for full clarity - I have never been to Zoo Berlin, whereas both ZSL collections are my locals. I know a lot more about one contestant than the other, and therefore I have a bias that is quite difficult to account for.
But then again, Whipsnade's meerkat enclosure is bigger than Berlin's lion enclosure - the gulf in the standards of exhibitry in ZSL's favour is arguably, although harder to define, greater than the gulf in collection size in Berlin's favour. When you consider also ZSL's monumental conservation efforts, the historic value of their enclosures, the rarity of the mongooses - to me, I feel comfortable in saying that this isn't just my bias speaking, and that ZSL is genuinely far ahead in this category.
and I agree with many of the points made in favour of ZSL. But... 
