Last week I visited Tiergarten Schönbrunn for the very first time. I will not write a major review or walk-through, but I would like to share some thoughts.
Schönbrunn is an excellent zoo. In fact, one of the better ones I have visited so far, and for me probably better than the other major classical city zoos I have visited (Antwerp, Artis), except perhaps Berlin Zoo.
But let's get my major critiques out of the way first. Some enclosures are honestly rather small. Most notably the gibbon and lemur islands opposite to the bird house, but also the hippo paddock, some parrot cages and a number of other odds and ends. Size is not everything of course, and almost without exception the enclosures in Schönbrunn are extremely well-furnished. I don't think I have seen any other zoo that is as good and as consistent in optimal use of space. But in the end the gibbon island, the palm cockatoo cage and several other enclosures are simply small, and no amount of smart furnishing is going to change that, though a few well-thought collection choices might just do the trick. That hippo pond just screams to be converted into a massive wetland aviary. Replacing some large species with some smaller ones, in my view, might make the zoo better welfare wise without compromising too much on visitor experience. There are four types of large felines, koalas, giant pandas, rhinos, elephants, gibbons, giraffes, hippos, orang-utans, polar bears, (a) crocodile(s?), ostriches, two species of flamingo, three species of penguin, sea lions, and a large number of B-tier species. The collection of visitor favourites is broad enough that I think it could handle a slight reduction.
This is especially the case if we see how Schönbrunn handles it's lesser known species. The aquarium/terrarium house is stunning, and with a few glaring exceptions provides generous space to it's inhabitants. There was one tank, with houses a large school of catfish, a caiman lizard and a flock of long-tongued bats, which is just brilliant. There is so much life in that one enclosure that even after 20 minutes I could hardly pull myself away from it. The giant tortoises have a gorgeous paddock which includes a small hill, providing the animals with a varied terrain to walk around in. The idea to combine their indoor housing with a butterfly exhibit is very good, though a few small changes in the execution would probably make it even better. For one, an extra set of doors or some other barrier to stop the butterflies from escaping would certainly help! Another highlight for me was the mixed enclosure for Von der Decken's hornbill and dwarf mongoose. Both the indoor and the outdoor enclosure are well-furnished and large. In general, Schönbrunn often provides good indoor space for the animals, something that is still a glaring weakness in other major zoos. The rat house is small but pleasant, the tropical house (though in part under construction during my visit) has a lovely atmosphere and a choice selection of birds, and the tanks with native herps (and one with harvest mice) dotted around the place are delightful.
But my main highlight is without doubt the bird house. Weirdly enough, it was not even the collection that struck me in particular - even though the collection is absolutely superb. It was the gorgeous enclosures, designed near-perfectly to allow for active and interesting behaviour from the birds. Here one can see white-eyed zipping through the branches, hear mannakins sing right above one's head, and watch a bananaquit build a nest in an overhanging branch above a stream. There's even an amazon parrot is a well-vegetated enclosure! The outdoor enclosures can be closed off in winter, which helps providing the birds with natural sunlight in summer without compromising on space in winter. The vegetation, the upkeep, the furnishing and the collection choices make this house a gem for zoo fanatics, even those that are not all that interested in birds. There is just so much life in these exhibits.
There are dozens of other interesting elements to Tiergarten Schönbrunn to talk about, but I think I'll leave it here. Otherwise I would be writing for hours!
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