European (Tea)Cup - League F - Tierpark Berlin vs Antwerp & Planckendael

Tierpark Berlin vs Antwerp and Planckendael

  • Tierpark Berlin 5/0 Antwerp and Planckendael

    Votes: 1 5.0%

  • Tierpark Berlin 4/1 Antwerp and Planckendael

    Votes: 16 80.0%

  • Tierpark Berlin 3/2 Antwerp and Planckendael

    Votes: 3 15.0%

  • Antwerp and Planckendael 3/2 Tierpark Berlin

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Antwerp and Planckendael 4/1 Tierpark Berlin

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Antwerp and Planckendael 5/0 Tierpark Berlin

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .
TeaLovingDave

TeaLovingDave

Moderator
Staff member
15+ year member
The opening match of League F has many similarities with the other match starting tonight over in League E; a single monolith of the European zoo landscape faces-off against a pair of smaller collections, one of which is an old and established zoo in the city centre with little-to-no room for expansion, whilst the other is larger, more modern and located a bit further out from the urban hub.

However, we will be looking at a rather different category within this match; rather than the ecosystem-based category under discussion elsewhere, we will be discussing various factors relating to a single taxonomic category - CARNIVORES.

I think this should be a very interesting match indeed!
 
TIERPARK BERLIN
  1. Sudan Cheetah
  2. Red Panda
  3. Asian Small-Clawed Otter
  4. Binturong
  5. Asian Golden Cat
  6. Maned Wolf
  7. Spotted Hyena
  8. Chinese Dhole
  9. Sun Bear
  10. Striped Hyena
  11. Yellow-Throated Marten
  12. Honey Badger
  13. Banded Mongoose
  14. Indochinese Clouded Leopard
  15. Pallas' Cat
  16. Bat-Eared Fox
  17. Masked Palm Civet
  18. Javan Leopard
  19. Sumatran Tiger
  20. Snow Leopard
  21. Bush Dog
  22. Spectacled Bear
  23. Polar Bear

ANTWERP
  1. Yellow Mongoose
  2. Lion
  3. Meerkat

PLANCKENDAEL
  1. Sudan Cheetah
  2. Red Panda
  3. Asian Small-Clawed Otter
  4. Spotted Hyena
  5. Banded Mongoose
  6. White-Nosed Coati
  7. Asiatic Lion
  8. Snow Leopard
  9. Bush Dog

Well, the Belgian duo ain't winning this on quantity, that's for sure. They could definitely win on quality, but I thought the carnivore enclosures at TB were pretty solid when I last went, and that was many years ago... I've heard many of them have improved since.
 
There's was a moment in the last decade that TP Berlin was vulnerable on this category, especially with the Sun Bear cage and Snow Leopard tiny exhibit. Those years are far behind and after multiple renovations of ABH, Hymalay and newly built exhibits like Indonesia, they are again very strong contender in this category. Collection started to grow again and arrival of rare gems like Asian Golden Cats and White-bearded Mask Palm Civet deserves mentioning. Spectacled Bear/Bush Dog exhibit also been refurbished and probably the only weakness are the remaining Ratel cages.

I don't believe that Belgian zoos can much the overall quality either. Cheetah and Spotted Hyena exhibits at Plankandael are nice, but nothing unforgettable.

I will start with 4:1 for Tierpark Berlin.
 
From what I can tell (only been to Antwerp), this doesn't seem that far off a 5-0. The Tierpark has twice the numbers, some really interesting species, an exemplary example of how to modernise a large-scale outdated building, and an excellent series of enclosures throughout. By comparison, Antwerp has three species of carnivore in the entire collection, seriously underwhelming for a major urban zoo, although of course that is only due to the Jubilee Complex being reconstructed. Not quite sure what happened to all the pinnipeds - I gather the Harbour Seal pool in the Aquarium is now for a very interesting sturgeon/duck mix, but what happened to the other seals and the sea lions? I thought the open-topped, lively pinniped pools littered throughout the zoo's gardens greatly contributed to the whole charm of the place, so it's a shame that they seem to be no more.

That said, the presence of some relatively good enclosures at Planckendael, the enjoyment I personally found in Antwerp's limited offerings, and my lack of complete understanding of the Tierpark will leave me playing it safe with a 4-1 for now.
 
Berlin Tierpark has 18 types of carnivores not found in Antwerp or Planckendael
It also has 50 points from carnivore types found in up to 50 European zoos, given a total score of 68
Antwerp and Planckendael have 6 types of carnivores not found in Berlin Tierpark

I'm going to score this 5-0 to Berlin Tierpark
 
Hmm, i'm still not fully convinced for a 4:1. At both, Himalaya and AB-house the exhibits are often on the small side (for ones, that were updated so shortly). The polar bear exhibit architecture is fascinating, but the land part is clearly too small. On the other hand, after the pinnipeds left i can't think of a bad carnivore housed at KDMA. If i were a carnivore i would prefer to live at Antwerp/Planckendael rather than at Berlin. For sure not enough for a win, but 3:2 in favor to Berlin seems fine to me.
 
remar said:
AB-house the exhibits are often on the small side (for ones, that were updated so shortly).
Click to expand...

I'm struggling to think of any carnivore exhbits in the ABH which still qualify as overly small?
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I'm struggling to think of any carnivore exhbits in the ABH which still qualify as overly small?
Click to expand...

In fairness the Javan leopard exhibit is a little on the small side in my opinion. Tigers could certainly be better as well. Clouded leopard, golden cat etc are undoubtedly fantastic having said that, and the ABH renovation as a whole is a brilliant concept, well executed in my opinion.
 
amur leopard said:
In fairness the Javan leopard exhibit is a little on the small side in my opinion. Tigers could certainly be better as well. Clouded leopard, golden cat etc are undoubtedly fantastic having said that, and the ABH renovation as a whole is a brilliant concept, well executed in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I thought of these two (especially as they keep two male leopards). And i'm not saying that they are too small, just that i think that a (more or less) new exhibit for these cats should be a larger (same for the snow leopards at the Himalaya)
 
remar said:
Indeed. I thought of these two (especially as they keep two male leopards). And i'm not saying that they are too small, just that i think that a (more or less) new exhibit for these cats should be a larger (same for the snow leopards at the Himalaya)
Click to expand...

While I agree to an extent with the snow leopards, I thought the Pallas's cat exhibit on the other hand was exceptional, and the other one for the same species in the zoo isn't half bad either. Martens and dholes also have quite good exhibits in my opinion.
 
A pretty resounding win for Tierpark Berlin, with a decent amount of participation and discussion - even if I would have liked more discussion and photographic evidence, and a few more votes overall!

Tierpark Berlin - 78/100 points - 78.000%
Antwerp / Planckendael - 22/100 points - 22.000%
.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top