European (Tea)Cup - League D - Tierpark Berlin vs Plzen & AkvaTera

[TeaLovingDave]

This, I hope, will be an interesting one - both competitors are highly-regarded by many zoo enthusiasts, but equally both have a fairly solid number of detractors and critics, and as such there is a lot of scope for discussion and debate there.

Similarly, the category is MOUNTAINS AND POLES - one which I think provides a lot of material for discussion, debate and (ultimately) your votes.

 

[twilighter]

You mentioned that the Tierpark Berlin will suffer soon, but will not be in this game..

Tierpark's terrific Hymalaya zone is complimented by Polar and Spectacled Bear rocks, remarcable Birds of Pray aviary, Mountain Goats, Mountain Reedbuck, Mountain Zebra, Reindeer, Vicunia paddocks, vast space for Geladas and more.

Plzen is very diverse zoo and will fight with Golden Takins, Dall's Sheep, Snow Leopard, European Mountains botanical display, Penguin exhibit, Siberian Aviary, great Chinese Goral exhibit, etc, but the result is more 4-1 for Tierpark Berlin than 3-2, in my opinion.

 

[CrashMegaraptor]

In terms of "Mountains and Poles", Tierpark Berlin has a serious shot of being considered one of the best, if not the best, of any of the competitors, purely on the Himalaya section, which has a wide variety of species in a very hilly setting which enhances the viewing experience (even if it IS a little tiring to get around).

 

[lintworm]

Tierpark Berlin might be the favourite here, but I think the difference is quite small. The polar bear enclosure really drags it down imo. It is an impressive looking design with a lot of water, but the land part is just far too small and boring. Plzen has no such obvious weaknesses in this category and quite a lot of nice on offer. Especially the wooded part is very good with the wolves, brown bears, goral, bobcat & Canadian lynx (if mountain reedbuck and mountain zebra count, these should all count too, I find this a difficult category...). I could even see a possibility for a 3-2 for Plzen here.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Plzen has no such obvious weaknesses in this category

Given the fact that you are one of the primary critics of Plzen where their bird exhibits are concerned, I'd imagine you might rethink that statement on recalling that there are a fair few category-relevant birds at the collection

 

[twilighter]

I don't think that anything in Plzen can come closer to the array of species and exhibits Himalaya zone has to offers. It is indeed broad category that can include also some borderline species from both zoos. Tierpark Berlin have also Canadian muskox breeding herd, which founders arrived from the legendary Alberta Game Farm. Scenic Barbary Macaque ruins. Even Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo and Tasmanian Eastern grey kangaroo can potently fit here.

 

[lintworm]

Given the fact that you are one of the primary critics of Plzen where their bird exhibits are concerned, I'd imagine you might rethink that statement on recalling that there are a fair few category-relevant birds at the collection

No need to remind me of that . That said, I revisited Plzen in September 2024, 7 years after my prior visit and I was glad to see that the worst display (owls near taiga forest) was gone and overcrowding seemed to be somewhat less of an issue in many aviaries, but certainly not everywhere. There are still some major issues like diving ducks kept in a tiny pool with a depth of 20 cm, tiny winter accomodation and overcrowding, but things seemed to have improved. When I wrote the post I couldn't immediately think of species in a bad setting that count for this challenge but there are some (borderline for this challenge) birds in such conditions.

 

[Philipine eagle]

I hesitate between 3-2 and 4-1 in favor of Tierpark Berlin. Agree with the criticism of the polar bear enclosure, and I also think the spectacled bear enclosure is far too small.

However, there are also a nice number of species in the pheasantry that fall within this contest.

And in the ABH : Mangshan pit viper, Mandarin Trinket snake and probably Zhou's Box turtle and others can be included as these live up to 1500-2000m.

 

[lintworm]

And in the ABH : Mangshan pit viper, Mandarin Trinket snake and probably Zhou's Box turtle and others can be included as these live up to 1500-2000m.

Altitude is a very bad easy way to gauge whether an animal is montane, especially in the tropics. Otherwise basically all big savanna animals fit here because central Kenya and the area around Ngorongoro and Serengeti national park also range up to 2500 metres... Altitude matters, but what altitude is montante depends very much on the location....

When it comes to reptiles, the biggest speciality that is countable here (although the animals are of doubtful origin) is kept in Plzen too, their crown on their excellent venomous snake collection is the only pair of spider-tailed vipers in a zoo.

 

[Mickey]

their crown on their excellent venomous snake collection is the only pair of spider-tailed vipers in a zoo.

And what a nice display! Although I'm not sure if the animals benefit from it or are stressed out...

I second you in the altitude statement, but this category needs a bit of clarification in my opinion, do we count mountain in the altitude, ecological or latitude definition?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Although the result was never in doubt, the degree of victory was in flux throughout - which kept things interesting!

Tierpark Berlin - 81/130 points - 62.308%
Plzen & AkvaTera - 49/130 points - 37.692%

For future notice I reckon that the "mountain" part of this category is probably best viewed as a matter of ecology and geography rather than pure elevation, but at the end of the day just highlight any borderline examples and I'll make a case-by-case decision