European zoos listed after their animal-rarities

Nasua

Nasua

Well-Known Member
In this thread, I'd like to present my results after a long research at ZootierlisteHomepage . I made a special list which says which zoos keep the most rare species (rare in zoos, not based on wild population), (just Europe).
Well, it's a bit complicated... So, I gave 10 points to a zoo if the zoo is the only one keeping this species in Europe (eg. chinese pangolin -> 10 points to Leipzig). If there are two zoos keeping a species, then I gave them 8 points (eg. spotted-necked otter -> 8 points to Belfast and Valencia). Three zoos -> 7 points and so on... 1 point if there are 9 zoos keeping the species. All species that are kept more than 9 times are not considered in this list because I just wanted the very rare kept species in european zoos.
This list is ONLY about MAMMALS, maybe I'll start to make the same with birds, reptiles...!
The VALUE behind the zoo is NOT the number of considered species of the zoo or something like that, it's just the summary of all points the zoo got in my calculation. (by the use of this value, you can imagine the gaps between the zoos a lot better, and yes the 270 points between P1 and P2 are A LOT, the first 5 zoos are playing in a own league!)
I used to do this list between the last 3 months ( regarding the actuality...).


So here are the Top 30 european zoos with the most rare kept and very rare kept species (see explanation above):

1. Plzen Zoo - 581 points
2. Moskva Zoo - 310 points
3. Praha Zoo - 289 points
4. Berlin Tierpark - 273 points
5. Arabia's Wildlife Centre Sharjah - 229 points
6. University Zoo Tel Aviv - 127 points
7. Poznan Nowe Zoo - 125 points
8. Novosibirsk Zoo - 123 points
9. Berlin Zoo - 122 points
10. Rare Species Conservation Centre Sandwich - 107 points
11. Haifa Educational Zoo & Botanical Garden - 94 points
12. Frankfurt Zoo - 90 points
13. Al Ain Zoo - 85 points
14. Wroclaw Zoo - 82 points
15. Schönebeck Tierpark - 76 points
16. Cologne Zoo - 73 points
17. Arnhem Burgers Zoo - 72 points
18. Leipzig Zoo - 70 points
19. Bojnice Zoo - 69 points
20. Antwerpen Zoo - 65 points
21. Duisburg Zoo - 63 points
22. Howletts Wild Animal Park Bekesbourne - 62 points
23. Besancon Zoo/Citadelle - 60 points
24. Port Lympne Wild Animal Park - 59 points
25. Tallinn Zoo - 59 points
26. Leningradsky Zoopark St Petersburg - 57 points
27. Yaroslavl Zoo - 56 points
28. Budapest Zoo - 55 points
29. Sochi Monkeys Nursery - 55 points
30. Wuppertal Zoo - 55 points


If you'd like to know another zoo's place or have question, write it down :)
 
I'd argue that quite a few of the collections listed do not count as European collections - in the case of one collection (Novosibirsk) it is nearer to Beijing than it is even to Moscow!

As ZTL lists some but not all countries in the Middle East, rather a lot of the oddities held at collections there are rather less odd than they seem, too.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I'd argue that quite a few of the collections listed do not count as European collections - in the case of one collection (Novosibirsk) it is nearer to Beijing than it is even to Moscow!

As ZTL lists some but not all countries in the Middle East, rather a lot of the oddities held at collections there are rather less odd than they seem, too.
Click to expand...

I know Novosibirsk is far from Europe but when I count Moscow, St Petersburg (which are obviously european) and company, then I feel like counting whole Russia.
You're right about the Middle East. I included all of the countries ZTL lists. But if you want I can post another list just without those countries, just with real european (where we'll have another problem with Turkey or Georgia)...
 
Omitting Turkey wouldn't be too problematic, as the only zoo listed on ZTL which is located in East Thrace - the European portion of Turkey - is an aquarium with a handful of fish. Probably Georgia would be best omitted in such a list too.

The main complication in coming up with a Europe-only list like this would be the need to manually work out the "score" for species where not all ZTL holdings are valid for the purposes of the list. Just as a test, I am now working out a Europe-only list fitting the above specifications for carnivore species to see how tricky this is.
 
Very good idea to do a point system for zoos like this. It must have taken a long time but it gives a good idea showing which zoos have the most rare species. Thanks for posting it is very interesting.
:)
 
A very interesting list, Germanzoofan, thanks!
Would you happen to have a further break down (e.g. how many species Plzen scored 10/9/8... on)?
I'm also pleased that I've been to 4 out of the top 5 :)
 
This is really cool GermanZooFan, must have been a lot of work!

Like Devilfish, I'd love to see further breakdown of the results too! :cool:

I've been to 7 of the top 30, but I suspect I missed a number of the rarities as at many places many of the rarest species are kept off display (Plzen), while others I was unable to spot (Leipzig's pangolin).
 
Very interesting! Can you list us the species and their individual points for each zoo?

Strange that none of bigger zoos in Britain or France made it to the list!
 
Jurek7 said:
Strange that none of bigger zoos in Britain or France made it to the list!
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too - at least about the UK zoos. And the two British zoos that do appear on the list are not particularly highly ranked on the "Top 5 British Zoos" list (neither are in the top 10 - https://www.zoochat.com/community/posts/828577), which is odd given how excited zoochatters get about animals that are rarely held in captivity.
 
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Here are the top 25 European collections for carnivore rarities - omitting collections in the Middle East, Russia and Near-Asia - scored along the same points scheme as that devised by GermanZooFan.

For instance, African Wildcat is held by 3 collections on ZTL but as one is in Russia and another in Georgia, the third holder in the UK receives 10 points.

1) Tierpark Berlin (Germany) - 80 points
2) Zoo Plzen (Czech Republic) - 76 points
3) Zoo Praha (Czech Republic) - 52 points
4) Zoo Poznan Nowe (Poland) - 42 points
5) Rare Species Conservation Centre (United Kingdom) - 39 points
6) Zoo Nikolaev (Ukraine) - 31 points
7) Parc des Félins (France) - 30 points
8) Dierenpark de Paay (Netherlands) - 27 points
9) Hamerton Zoo (United Kingdom) - 26 points
10) Burgers' Zoo (Netherlands) - 26 points
11) Zoologischer Garten Magdeburg (Germany) - 25 points
12) Howletts Wild Animal Park (United Kingdom) - 24 points
13) Exmoor Zoo (United Kingdom) - 23 points
14) Zoo Wuppertal (Germany) - 23 points
15) Kiev Zoopark (Ukraine) - 22 points
16) Zoo Heidelberg (Germany) - 20 points
17) Zoo Berlin (Germany) - 19 points
18) Belfast Zoo (United Kingdom) - 17 points
19) Les Loups du Gévaudan (France) - 17 points
20) Zoo Dortmund (Germany) - 16 points
21) Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens (United Kingdom) - 16 points
22) Wingham Wildlife Park (United Kingdom) - 16 points
23) Parque Biologico da Lousa (Portugal) - 15 points
24) NaturZoo Rheine (Germany) - 14 points
25) Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (United Kingdom) - 14 points

It is worth noting that Port Lympne would have been much higher in the rankings mere months ago, as it has recently lost two species (Blackfooted Cat and Indian Desert Cat) which would have earned it 10 points each - and moved it up to 6th place!
 
This is the primate score, also omitting Middle-East, most of Russia & near Asia.

1. Howletts Wild Animal Park (UK) - 47 points
2. Apenheul (Netherlands) - 41 points
3. Twycross (UK) - 41 points
4. Montemor o Velho (Portugal) - 36 points
5. Praha Zoo (Czech Republic) - 35 points
6. Mulhouse Zoo (France - 32 points
6. Saint-Martin la Plaine (France - 32 points
8. Port Lympne (UK) - 30 points
9. Antwerp Zoo (Belgium) - 27 points
10. Berlin Zoologischer Garten (Germany) - 26 points
11. Plzen Zoo (Czech republic) - 24 points
12. Faunia Madrid (Spain) - 23 points
12. Cologne Zoo (Germany - 23 points
12. Los Cristianos Monkey park (Spain) - 23 points
15. Usti nad Labem Zoo (Czech Republich - 22 points
16. Burford Cotswold animal park (UK) - 21 points
16. Romagne Vallee des Singes (France) - 21 points
16. RSSC Kent (UK) - 21 points
19. Wingham Wildlife Park (UK) - 20 points
19. Zoo Zurich (Zoo) - 20 points
21. Belfast Zoo (Ireland) - 19 points
21. Moscow Zoo (Russia) - 19 points
21. Paignton Zoo (UK) - 19 points
21. Paris Zoo des Vincennes (France) - 19 points
25. Frankfurt Zoo (Germany) - 18 points
26. Besancon Zoo/Citadelle (France) - 17 points
26. Lisboa Zoo (Portugal) - 17 points
26. London Zoo (UK) - 17 points
29. Colchester Zoo (UK) - 16 points
30. Avintes (Portugal) - 15 points
30. St. Petersburg (Russia) - 15 points
30. Tallinn Zoo (Estonia) - 15 points
30. Wroclaw Zoo (Poland) - 15 points
 
devilfish said:
A very interesting list, Germanzoofan, thanks!
Would you happen to have a further break down (e.g. how many species Plzen scored 10/9/8... on)?
I'm also pleased that I've been to 4 out of the top 5 :)
Click to expand...

I'll try to work it out for the Top 5 at first. ;) I didn't register the number of every single score for every zoo, so I need to work it out. (it would have been too time-consuming to register it for every of the 479 (!) zoos that handled to get in this list)
 
lintworm said:
This is the primate score, also omitting Middle-East, most of Russia & near Asia.
Click to expand...

Interesting to see how much better the UK zoos score with rare primates, making up almost a third of the top 30. How come the UK does so well with primates? And not other mammalian orders?
 
zooboy28 said:
Interesting to see how much better the UK zoos score with rare primates, making up almost a third of the top 30. How come the UK does so well with primates? And not other mammalian orders?
Click to expand...

Considering the fact that my list shows the UK contains 8/25 of the top collections for rare carnivores - again almost a third of the total - I'd argue this is another mammalian order where we acquit ourselves well.

As 9 of the original 30 collections listed by GermanZooFan are ineligible by the stricter standards of mine and lintworm's lists, as are holdings of ineligible collections, it will be interesting to discover if a similar all-mammal-taxon list following these standards still shows a lack of UK representation.
 
A top 10 of European collections in terms of monotreme and marsupial rarities......

1) Zoo Plzen (Czech Republic) - 34 points
2) Zoo Budapest (Hungary) - 25 points
3) Rare Species Conservation Centre (United Kingdom) - 23 points
4) Zoo Frankfurt (Germany) - 21 points
5) Zoo Praha (Czech Republic) - 20 points
6) Dierenpark Planckendael (Belgium) - 19 points
7) Kobenhavn Zoo (Denmark) - 18 points
8) Zoo Duisburg (Germany) - 18 points
9) Tierpark Berlin (Germany) - 16 points
10) ZooParc de Beauval (France) - 12 points

Beyond this point the list becomes somewhat misleading, with collections holding multiple rarities (such as Leipzig) getting less points than collections that hold only a single rarity (such as Wroclaw and Terarium Dubec) of higher value.
 
Norwegian moose said:
It looks like Plzen is the overall leader when it comes to rare mammal species in Europe.....
Click to expand...

Yes, except from primates, whales or ungulates, they're quite good everytime. Especially the keeping of marsupials, bats and, above all, rodents includes many many rarities. Unfortunately, some of the species are kept off-show.
 
I finished working out the Top 5's single scores...

The difference between this points and the points in the list is because the zoos give away and get other species and because not involved zoos got a species, so the score for this species changed...

Plzen Zoo (CZE)

10 points 15x
08 points 18x
07 points 11x
06 points 10x
05 points 10x
04 points 11x
03 points 10x
02 points 07x
01 points 05x
= 574 ( - 7 points)

Moskwa Zoo (RUS)

10 points 14x
08 points 06x
07 points 05x
06 points 06x
05 points 04x
04 points 03x
03 points 04x
02 points 01x
01 points 04x
= 309 ( - 1 point)

Praha Zoo (CZE)

10 points 02x
08 points 10x
07 points 09x
06 points 06x
05 points 07x
04 points 04x
03 points 04x
02 points 02x
01 points 03x
= 269 ( - 20 points!!)

Tierpark Berlin (GER)

10 points 07x
08 points 05x
07 points 07x
06 points 07x
05 points 07x
04 points 06x
03 points 01x
02 points 04x
01 points 05x
= 276 ( + 3 points)

Arabia's Wildlife Centre Sharjah (UAE)

10 points 10x
08 points 07x
07 points 04x
06 points 03x
05 points 03x
04 points 01x
03 points 00x
02 points 00x
01 points 00x
= 221 ( - 8 points)


At the moment, Tierpark Berlin moved to place 3 and Praha to place 4...
Very interesting is Sharjah's point allocation and, of course, Plzen's with many big scores.
 
Of course, Sharjah is one of the collections which a strict interpretation of Europe would exempt.

Bloody nice collection though - I'd love to visit.
 
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