Zoo Basel Impressions of Basel Zoo

[Therabu]

I visited Basel Zoo for the first time this weekend. This park was still on my to do list depiste being rather close to Paris where I live. I guess it never got very high in my wishlist because of the lack of rarities and the knowledge that enclosures are not vast.

Overall I found at Basel exactly what I was expecting and it did not seduce me too much. I will start with positvie side of things :

- Basel zoo is amazing for architecture. They really have a style and know-how to design buildings and I liked them all from the oldest (AntilopenHaus) to the newest (Tembo aka Elephant house). The wide use of concrete is paradoxally leading to a more discrete building style than in most zoos which are trying to hide badly their buildings. They probably understood as well that a good way to hide the building is to actually be inside it.
- The walk in the park was enjoyable with more greenery than I expected for such a cramped and urban location.
- Basel Zoo is famous for its museal approach in exhibitry with large pavillons largely dedicated to pedagogic features and a few well-designed interior spaces for small species. I'm not the biggest fan as I did not felt people were spending more time than anywhere else reading signs but that's based simply on short observations rather than a serious study.
- I really liked the ape exhibits and find them amongst the best in Europe for orang-outans, mainly due to the height of the aviairy but also the feeling of protection and shade provided by the second net covered in vegetation (still growing). I would advocate that more-terrestrial gorillas are less-adapted to the constraints of this exhibit but nothing shocking like in Zurich zoo.
- The Bird house, a historical building recently renovated and extended is also enjoyable with a neat selection of species, mostly endangered and targeted by breeding programs.
- Altough not sensational, the vivarium is rather good. Reptile part was much better designed than the fish part where some tanks are way too small and empty in my opinion for their inhabitants.

Then why I didn't enjoy more my visit at Basel Zoo ?
Well, first, space is really a huge issue. I do not see any large mammal apart from apes with a large-enough enclosure. While this is a common issue in urban zoos, it is here even more obvious. I know space is not everything and the enclosures are carefully designed to provide hiding opportunities or enrichment like for the elephants but I believe that enclosures at Basel are too often below the necessary threshold of minimum size. I must say that it is even more concerning for exhibits that were just delivered like the elephants. Right in front of their enclosure, there is a sizable empty space with just grass and the space dedicated to visitors around the restaurant clearly show where is the priority in terms of space allocation.

The collection plan seems to be more driven by history, pedagogy and story-telling needs. While Gamgoas and Etosha are neat pavillons, they do not intend to include any conservation message to my knowledge. I also reflected that we hear disproportionnaly little about Basel when speaking about conservation despite the important financing they could provide.
Collection plan is also heavily biaised towards large animals despite the lack of space and they have not been able to cut down anything amongst pachyderms (2 hippos, indian rhino and African elephants, all in "breeding" situation) or apes (they could have get rid of one specie to extend group size and offer more separation option for fusion-fision species).

My last disappointement comes with the masterplan exhibited in a dedicated pavillon. While it does make sense overall, some moves are very dubious in my opinion and does not reduce much the density of large species. Building new exhibits for seals and penguins in the extension should not be the priority in my opinion (neither common hippo). Moving the farm animals in the antilopen haus is also weird. However, I really like the idea to cover fully the extension dedicated to Indian rhino to house large birds on top of the terrestrial animals.
Despite its status, Basel does not offer any real state-of-the-art exhibit that leave a lasting impression for years and it does not compensate with rarities either for zoo nerds and I'm convinced, I will not need to come back soon.

 

[FBBird]

I visited Basel Zoo for the first time this weekend. This park was still on my to do list depiste being rather close to Paris where I live. I guess it never got very high in my wishlist because of the lack of rarities and the knowledge that enclosures are not vast.

Overall I found at Basel exactly what I was expecting and it did not seduce me too much. I will start with positvie side of things :

- Basel zoo is amazing for architecture. They really have a style and know-how to design buildings and I liked them all from the oldest (AntilopenHaus) to the newest (Tembo aka Elephant house). The wide use of concrete is paradoxally leading to a more discrete building style than in most zoos which are trying to hide badly their buildings. They probably understood as well that a good way to hide the building is to actually be inside it.
- The walk in the park was enjoyable with more greenery than I expected for such a cramped and urban location.
- Basel Zoo is famous for its museal approach in exhibitry with large pavillons largely dedicated to pedagogic features and a few well-designed interior spaces for small species. I'm not the biggest fan as I did not felt people were spending more time than anywhere else reading signs but that's based simply on short observations rather than a serious study.
- I really liked the ape exhibits and find them amongst the best in Europe for orang-outans, mainly due to the height of the aviairy but also the feeling of protection and shade provided by the second net covered in vegetation (still growing). I would advocate that more-terrestrial gorillas are less-adapted to the constraints of this exhibit but nothing shocking like in Zurich zoo.
- The Bird house, a historical building recently renovated and extended is also enjoyable with a neat selection of species, mostly endangered and targeted by breeding programs.
- Altough not sensational, the vivarium is rather good. Reptile part was much better designed than the fish part where some tanks are way too small and empty in my opinion for their inhabitants.

Then why I didn't enjoy more my visit at Basel Zoo ?
Well, first, space is really a huge issue. I do not see any large mammal apart from apes with a large-enough enclosure. While this is a common issue in urban zoos, it is here even more obvious. I know space is not everything and the enclosures are carefully designed to provide hiding opportunities or enrichment like for the elephants but I believe that enclosures at Basel are too often below the necessary threshold of minimum size. I must say that it is even more concerning for exhibits that were just delivered like the elephants. Right in front of their enclosure, there is a sizable empty space with just grass and the space dedicated to visitors around the restaurant clearly show where is the priority in terms of space allocation.

The collection plan seems to be more driven by history, pedagogy and story-telling needs. While Gamgoas and Etosha are neat pavillons, they do not intend to include any conservation message to my knowledge. I also reflected that we hear disproportionnaly little about Basel when speaking about conservation despite the important financing they could provide.
Collection plan is also heavily biaised towards large animals despite the lack of space and they have not been able to cut down anything amongst pachyderms (2 hippos, indian rhino and African elephants, all in "breeding" situation) or apes (they could have get rid of one specie to extend group size and offer more separation option for fusion-fision species).

My last disappointement comes with the masterplan exhibited in a dedicated pavillon. While it does make sense overall, some moves are very dubious in my opinion and does not reduce much the density of large species. Building new exhibits for seals and penguins in the extension should not be the priority in my opinion (neither common hippo). Moving the farm animals in the antilopen haus is also weird. However, I really like the idea to cover fully the extension dedicated to Indian rhino to house large birds on top of the terrestrial animals.
Despite its status, Basel does not offer any real state-of-the-art exhibit that leave a lasting impression for years and it does not compensate with rarities either for zoo nerds and I'm convinced, I will not need to come back soon.

I couldn’t disagree more. The only animal I saw stereotyping was a giraffe, and that only briefly. There are many large animals NOT represented (tigers, bears). I saw nothing that looked under-housed, and the breeding records of Basel speak for themselves. The above poster obviously lacks appreciation for birds; pelican and flamingo colonies both have good breeding results, as do many if the smaller birds. If we’re talking rarity, I’ll just say Sumatran Laughingthrush. You also see very few Brush Turkeys in Europe, and in UK we have less than a dozen King Penguins, which breed at Basel. A superbly beautiful zoo with great animals, and excellent husbandry.
I will just given an honourable mention to Great Indian Rhinoceros, which had its first captive breeding here, and has been doing so steadily ever since.
If this zoo was near me, I’d be going once a week. Pity it’s so far away. Love the place AND its exhibitry.

 

[FBBird]

I couldn’t disagree more. The only animal I saw stereotyping was a giraffe, and that only briefly. There are many large animals NOT represented (tigers, bears). I saw nothing that looked under-housed, and the breeding records of Basel speak for themselves. The above poster obviously lacks appreciation for birds; pelican and flamingo colonies both have good breeding results, as do many if the smaller birds. If we’re talking rarity, I’ll just say Sumatran Laughingthrush. You also see very few Brush Turkeys in Europe, and in UK we have less than a dozen King Penguins, which breed at Basel. A superbly beautiful zoo with great animals, and excellent husbandry.
I will just given an honourable mention to Great Indian Rhinoceros, which had its first captive breeding here, and has been doing so steadily ever since.
If this zoo was near me, I’d be going once a week. Pity it’s so far away. Love the place AND its exhibitry.

Also, re Basel Zoo and conservation. The place is alive with wild White Storks in the summer, with nests all over the Zoo. Basel Zoo’s home bred Little Owls have been going to a reintroduction project.

 

[Therabu]

Lack of appreciation of birds is not what would describe the most if you take a look at my media page but you're right that the new bird house shows some species that are either rare or endangered (or both if you look at Javan magpie). That's definitely a nice development and I think I have said it. As for pelicans and flamingoes, in the era where more and more large aviairies are developed, I do not see a grassy lawn as the most adequate flamingo exhibit, even if there is breeding.

Lack of stereotyping is not, in my view, the proof that animals are housed properly and have sufficient space. What do you think about the cheetah space ? Wild dogs ? Those enclosures are not so old and are looking good but are shockingly small to me.
I do not deny Basel good husbandry and historical breeding results with some important species, I'm aware of their role in spreading Indian rhino for example in Europe, but it is not relevant in my assessement of the zoo as of today.

Finally, wild stork nesting is not necessaraly what I implied when I was speaking about having some impact in the conservation world. I do not read German so I can't understand everything, I have seen some signage about citizen conservation next to their Atelopus tank and in the magazine but that really seem dwarfed when you compare to recent exhibits or buildings.

 

[Jurek7]

Basel Zoo is, unfortunately, strangled by general over-bureaucracy of the city. Many visitors make a similar remark - they have surprisingly little to show for their wealth.

Visiting Basel, you may have noticed that all the buildings and streets in the area are 50 or more years old. The same age and style a much of the Basel zoo, for example the marginally-not-outdated Vivarium from 1972. Building or modernizing anything takes literally decades.

I wonder when somebody takes advantage of this, and a new expansive zoo opens across the border in Germany or France, caring for families from Basel, Zurich, Bern, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Freiburg and surroundings? It is an obvious open market. Maybe Europa Park, a Disneyland-style theme park opened about 90 km north in the middle of nowhere, will open an animal-based section?

 

[Pertinax]

I will just given an honourable mention to Great Indian Rhinoceros, which had its first captive breeding here, and has been doing so steadily ever since.
If this zoo was near me, I’d be going once a week. Pity it’s so far away. Love the place AND its exhibitry.

Yes and the first gorilla in Europe(2nd in world) too. If it was near me I'd be visiting twice a week I reckon... I can see the shortcomings of the lack of space for development that people are talking about here but like many European zoos it still puts most of what we have in the UK in the shade.

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks @Therabu for posting a really interesting review of Basel Zoo. It seems that you had a mixed reaction to a zoo that many others enjoy, but it's one that I've never visited. I remember following the zoo closely a few years ago, when there was a lot of discussion about the construction of the huge Ozeanium (costing 100 million Swiss francs), which unfortunately never happened. A disappointing 55% of the voters went against the building of the aquarium.

 

[Philipine eagle]

I read this review with great interest, as it concerns a zoo that I personally am very fond of. In any case, I was very enthusiastic about it ( Philippine eagle spotted above the Alpes) during my 2023 Alpine zoo trip.

Lack of space is perhaps the most important issue in any city zoo, and Basel is no exception. Your comment about the continued focus on large mammals is justified, and, as in Antwerp, I am in favour of no longer keeping elephants in such a limited space.

I am surprised that you did not see any state-of-the-art enclosures in Basel, as I personally find both the Etosha and the Gamgoa houses to be of a very high standard, also in terms of exhibitry, immersion and species composition.

I also liked the Australia house, both in terms of its construction and the species on display.

The ape house is a very interesting concrete structure, which, in my opinion, is better inside than outside. Choosing two apes instead of three would indeed be a far better choice. And I particularly liked the path on top of the building with the cages for the smaller monkeys.

Anyway, interesting perspective, and I definitely agree with the rest of your thoughts.

When the zoo can finally start expanding on the current car park, and if they go ahead with their plans to repurpose the least interesting side (pets), the zoo will only become more interesting in the future. However, I don't think they will be getting rid of their large mammals any time soon.

 

[Mickey]

The ape house is a very interesting concrete structure, which, in my opinion, is better inside than outside.

And you are not wrong: according to Zoo Buildings by Natascha Meuser, in the description of the renovated Ape House in Basel, it is stated that the structure was made to attract visitors to the well-lit indoor housing of the apes, rather than the outside.

 

[Therabu]

And you are not wrong: according to Zoo Buildings by Natascha Meuser, in the description of the renovated Ape House in Basel, it is stated that the structure was made to attract visitors to the well-lit indoor housing of the apes, rather than the outside.

And it seems to be the case with the apes as well who prefer the indoor concrete than their outside enclosures. Why bother ?

Thanks all for reading and reacting to this post. I want to make it clear that I do not consider Basel as a bad zoo, just one that did not trigger a lot of positive emotions for me and is not going in the right direction. Its status (at least historically) of one of the most important and advanced institution on the continent is in my opinion no longer deserved.

@Philipine eagle I read your post and I agree with most of your individual assessments of individual buildings but did not have the same feeling when "consolidating" it.

For Australis, I do not understand the purpose of this building, which house only least concern species, apart from ticking the box of showing wildlife from the fifth continent. Of course, brush-turkey is nice but it comes a little bit from nowhere, not even sharing habitat with grey kangaroo.

During my visit, I didn't see any hyrax, ground squirrel or lovebird in Etosha and missed most birds also in Gamgoas despite visiting twice. That might have impacted my impression of what are certainly very nice buildings, with nice pedagogy and landscaping on top of the always very sophisticated architecture.

In the end, it all depends on what we praise the most when visiting and assessing a zoo (and make those discussions on Zoochat interesting). Some give a lot of attention to history, architecture...Unlike others, I do not admire Basel ability to fit in so many large species in a urban settings while keeping the nice park-like feeling. In my point of view, it is even worst as it shows very well that space given to animals is not the primary concern.
I understand urban zoos have limited space but other zoos in similar settings have done a better job of planning their collections around conservation priorities and space constraints.
Quality of execution in the pavillons is undeniable but should be, IMO, put into comparison with conservation involvement. Building nice but expensive displays to the cost of in-situ conservation is not the direction I wish for zoos. In this regard, one can do exactly the same criticism to Zurich.

 

[Jurek7]

It is indeed a 'half-full or half-empty glass' zoo. It has good points, but others are barely adequate and some are very inadequate.

Unlike some, I will never be positive about the concrete architecture of the zoo. It is unusual, but the WTH kind of unusual. Unpleasant for animals, ugly for people, symbolically the complete opposite of the idea of nature, and impossible to modernize. Unfortunately, concrete became something of a trap for the Basel zoo - it is clearly outdated, but stays structurally solid, so there is an incentive to keep the outdated exhibits. Comparing the Basel ape house with the Pongoland at Leipzig, itself over 20 years old, the bird house with the Bird Paradise at Singapore, or vivarium with Aquatis in Lausanne - one can only roll ones eyes.

The big unknown is what and when of the modernization plan be realized. Construction machines should soon start working on first exhibits in the enlargement area (the one far behind the rhinos).