Hoofstock and... well mostly hoofstock
While walking towards the Löwentor (Lion tower) exit, we walked past a few paddocks for ungulates again. Dromedary camels, but also vicuña, Indian rhinoceros, South American tapir and most notably, Baird’s tapir were walking peacefully on their nice paddocks. Again, the rhinos were kept quite small. The Rhino House itself is hardly spectacular and outdated, but nice to see. The Hippo House in contrast is a real highlight of the trip. Common and pygmy hippos were on display. The hippos themselves could definitely use some more land space, but they had enough room to swim and were actually visible under water! A feature I haven’t seen before, because keeping the water clean with hippos swimming in it seems to be a pain. It was really crowded in here so we didn’t stay very long.
The middle part of the zoo is also filled with hoofstock, especially as the birds-of-prey section is under construction. Only one aviary was still both inhabited and visible, and it features two very pretty bird species: southern crested caracara and king vultures. Among hoofstock, I’ve a particular fondness for bovines, and thus I was happy to watch several great species for some length in the zoo. The paddocks were generally nicely themed and spacious enough. Although African forest buffalo, plains bison and European bison are certainly great species, the Javan banteng and especially the extremely impressive gaur were the true highlights of the bovine collection. Gaurs were a species I was really looking forward to see, and they were even more magnificent than I would have thought.
The small deer section was nothing spectacular, but nice to walk around, especially as most visitors seem to skip this area. I saw the Finnish forest reindeer, the sika deer, the grey-crowned cranes and the southern pudu, but the other species kept in this part were either hiding or in their indoor enclosure. I was especially disappointed by the absence of Chinese water deer, as they would have been the first for me. The panda outdoor enclosures opposite to it looked great, the best outdoor panda enclosures I’ve ever seen (they were the 3rd and 4th I ever saw...). The pandas were in their indoor enclosure and as there was a long queue in front of it, we decided to skip the giant pandas. They are boring to look at anyway. The Schweinehaus (Swine house) was much more interesting of course!
The Swine house looks like a relic form a time long gone, a time were zoos kept more species of pigs than only red river hogs. Naturally, they were present, but so were almost all other wild pigs that occur in European zoos. Peccaries were also present, and I was delighted to finally see another species than the overabundant collared one, because one of the enclosures was filled with more than thirty white-lipped peccary. Other highlights include North Sulawesi babirusa, Bornean bearded pigs and visayan warty pigs. All but the warty pigs were very active and pleasing to watch, especially as the bearded pig is definitely doomed in Europe and despite recent breeding successes, the babirusa too has an uncertain future. Both are amazing species to see and I would recommend every European ZooChatter to go and see both as soon as possible. The beautiful and active male bearded pig (the last one in Berlin) became one of the highlights of the day. I also remember seeming common warthog but I don’t recall were.
Close to the Löwentor (Lion tower) entrance, there are two amazing mountainous exhibits. The rocky slopes provide excellent climbing opportunities for three species of mountain ungulates: the Siberian ibex, Sichuan takin and Himalayan tahr, although were unable to spot the latter. The takins are apparently rather old individuals and thus don’t use their enclosure the way they are supposed to do. The ibex on the other hand make great use of the huge rocks that make up their little mountain, and it was especially delightful to see (very) young ibexes climbing all the way up on their mountain. I would say the that the ibex enclosure might as well be the most spectacular single enclosure in Zoo Berlin. There was a small section that should have held (a) groundhog(s), but we couldn’t find any. Also noteworthy was a group of shoebill statues in front of the exhibit.
A small building that was certainly worthy to see for a zoo history fan was the small Chicken and Dove House. It currently houses a couple of domestic chicken and dove breeds, as well as their wild ancestors: red jungle fowl and rock dove. It is neatly set up and it was a small but pleasing part of the zoo. Even greater for zoo history fans is the Antilopenhaus (Antelope House). It is truly impressive to see, beautifully decorated and it houses a couple of antelopes and giraffes as well. The entrance has huge arches and although the stables themselves look somewhat outdated, the ambiance inside was great. The outside enclosures look quite good, probably quite small for a breeding group of giraffes, but Berlin Zoo currently keeps two males, a reticulated giraffe and a baringo hybrid giraffe, and for them it was adequate. Defassa waterbuck were present too, as well as a true zoological rarity: a single male southern gerenuk. For those of you unknown with the sad recent history of gerenuk in Europe, the efforts to establish a thriving herd in Berlin seemingly failed in 2015, when several animals at the Tierpark died very shortly after each other. The species is currently all but doomed in Europe again, with less than a handfull left in 2016. A calf born this year offers some hope for the future, but with such a small founder population, the chances of establishing the species are slim. I was therefore glad to have seen the species. There was another species of antelope, I think they were lechwes but I’m not entirely sure. I blame the species overload and limited time.
The last part for Zoo Berlin is already written and only needs some minor tweaking before it is ready to upload, so expect another update soon. Those of you who have already visited Berlin might see how chaotic our walking route was.
While walking towards the Löwentor (Lion tower) exit, we walked past a few paddocks for ungulates again. Dromedary camels, but also vicuña, Indian rhinoceros, South American tapir and most notably, Baird’s tapir were walking peacefully on their nice paddocks. Again, the rhinos were kept quite small. The Rhino House itself is hardly spectacular and outdated, but nice to see. The Hippo House in contrast is a real highlight of the trip. Common and pygmy hippos were on display. The hippos themselves could definitely use some more land space, but they had enough room to swim and were actually visible under water! A feature I haven’t seen before, because keeping the water clean with hippos swimming in it seems to be a pain. It was really crowded in here so we didn’t stay very long.
The middle part of the zoo is also filled with hoofstock, especially as the birds-of-prey section is under construction. Only one aviary was still both inhabited and visible, and it features two very pretty bird species: southern crested caracara and king vultures. Among hoofstock, I’ve a particular fondness for bovines, and thus I was happy to watch several great species for some length in the zoo. The paddocks were generally nicely themed and spacious enough. Although African forest buffalo, plains bison and European bison are certainly great species, the Javan banteng and especially the extremely impressive gaur were the true highlights of the bovine collection. Gaurs were a species I was really looking forward to see, and they were even more magnificent than I would have thought.
The small deer section was nothing spectacular, but nice to walk around, especially as most visitors seem to skip this area. I saw the Finnish forest reindeer, the sika deer, the grey-crowned cranes and the southern pudu, but the other species kept in this part were either hiding or in their indoor enclosure. I was especially disappointed by the absence of Chinese water deer, as they would have been the first for me. The panda outdoor enclosures opposite to it looked great, the best outdoor panda enclosures I’ve ever seen (they were the 3rd and 4th I ever saw...). The pandas were in their indoor enclosure and as there was a long queue in front of it, we decided to skip the giant pandas. They are boring to look at anyway. The Schweinehaus (Swine house) was much more interesting of course!
The Swine house looks like a relic form a time long gone, a time were zoos kept more species of pigs than only red river hogs. Naturally, they were present, but so were almost all other wild pigs that occur in European zoos. Peccaries were also present, and I was delighted to finally see another species than the overabundant collared one, because one of the enclosures was filled with more than thirty white-lipped peccary. Other highlights include North Sulawesi babirusa, Bornean bearded pigs and visayan warty pigs. All but the warty pigs were very active and pleasing to watch, especially as the bearded pig is definitely doomed in Europe and despite recent breeding successes, the babirusa too has an uncertain future. Both are amazing species to see and I would recommend every European ZooChatter to go and see both as soon as possible. The beautiful and active male bearded pig (the last one in Berlin) became one of the highlights of the day. I also remember seeming common warthog but I don’t recall were.
Close to the Löwentor (Lion tower) entrance, there are two amazing mountainous exhibits. The rocky slopes provide excellent climbing opportunities for three species of mountain ungulates: the Siberian ibex, Sichuan takin and Himalayan tahr, although were unable to spot the latter. The takins are apparently rather old individuals and thus don’t use their enclosure the way they are supposed to do. The ibex on the other hand make great use of the huge rocks that make up their little mountain, and it was especially delightful to see (very) young ibexes climbing all the way up on their mountain. I would say the that the ibex enclosure might as well be the most spectacular single enclosure in Zoo Berlin. There was a small section that should have held (a) groundhog(s), but we couldn’t find any. Also noteworthy was a group of shoebill statues in front of the exhibit.
A small building that was certainly worthy to see for a zoo history fan was the small Chicken and Dove House. It currently houses a couple of domestic chicken and dove breeds, as well as their wild ancestors: red jungle fowl and rock dove. It is neatly set up and it was a small but pleasing part of the zoo. Even greater for zoo history fans is the Antilopenhaus (Antelope House). It is truly impressive to see, beautifully decorated and it houses a couple of antelopes and giraffes as well. The entrance has huge arches and although the stables themselves look somewhat outdated, the ambiance inside was great. The outside enclosures look quite good, probably quite small for a breeding group of giraffes, but Berlin Zoo currently keeps two males, a reticulated giraffe and a baringo hybrid giraffe, and for them it was adequate. Defassa waterbuck were present too, as well as a true zoological rarity: a single male southern gerenuk. For those of you unknown with the sad recent history of gerenuk in Europe, the efforts to establish a thriving herd in Berlin seemingly failed in 2015, when several animals at the Tierpark died very shortly after each other. The species is currently all but doomed in Europe again, with less than a handfull left in 2016. A calf born this year offers some hope for the future, but with such a small founder population, the chances of establishing the species are slim. I was therefore glad to have seen the species. There was another species of antelope, I think they were lechwes but I’m not entirely sure. I blame the species overload and limited time.
The last part for Zoo Berlin is already written and only needs some minor tweaking before it is ready to upload, so expect another update soon. Those of you who have already visited Berlin might see how chaotic our walking route was.
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