I'm afraid I missed this exhibit. It's probably this one, right after the entrance?
View attachment 686881
For some inexplicable reason, I thought these were toilets.
Yep that is where ants and the native rodents are housed.
Philippine eagle spotted above the Alpes
- Thread starter Philipine eagle
- Start date
Yep that is where ants and the native rodents are housed.
Day 15 #39 Zoo Siky Ranch – Crémines
Deeply hidden in the forests of the Swiss Jura is a retirement home for old wild animals. These are often (circus) animals that had to leave their owners due to old age or financial necessity and could not get a place in regular zoos.
This is another Zoo-rehabilitation park or as the zoo calls itself ‘Der Schweizer Tierrettungspark’. It’s owned by a foundation but operated like a company. It is focusing on carnivores but it has also a lot of parrots, of which some are rather rare in zoos (white-fronted amazon, Meyers' parrot and white-bellied parrot). And with the ‘Station Mami’ it operates also as a rehabilitationcenter for local wildlife.
The core of the collection consists of felines with undefined subspecies of tigers and leopards, African lions, serval, caracal and Eurasian lynx.
Leopard viewing point
Rotational enclosure for serval and caracal
Tigers and lions are kept in rather bare enclosures heavily fenced with wooden panels, interrupted here and there by viewing windows.
Visitor route along tiger enclosures
Definitely a plus are the high climbing platforms in all 3 tiger enclosures that allowed the cats to look out over the spacious surroundings. And they made good use of that.
The only building that can be visited is the Lion House. It consists of 3 spacious boxes and a themed visitor area that also overlooks the outdoor enclosure.
Towards the Lion House
Inside the Lion House
Lion enclosure
Other mammals include European mouflon and common fallow deer in large high-elevation meadows, crested porcupine, yellow mongoose and grey wolves.
The animal enclosures at Crémines are functionally designed, there is no particular aim to offer visitors an immersive experience that closely matches the natural environment in which the animals live. But the surroundings with its wooded hills make up for a lot to a visitor and I am sure most animals can appreciate the wide views.
Black-capped capuchin island
I certainly enjoyed my visit, although the long approach through the mountains may not be worth it for everyone given the species collection.
Deeply hidden in the forests of the Swiss Jura is a retirement home for old wild animals. These are often (circus) animals that had to leave their owners due to old age or financial necessity and could not get a place in regular zoos.
This is another Zoo-rehabilitation park or as the zoo calls itself ‘Der Schweizer Tierrettungspark’. It’s owned by a foundation but operated like a company. It is focusing on carnivores but it has also a lot of parrots, of which some are rather rare in zoos (white-fronted amazon, Meyers' parrot and white-bellied parrot). And with the ‘Station Mami’ it operates also as a rehabilitationcenter for local wildlife.
The core of the collection consists of felines with undefined subspecies of tigers and leopards, African lions, serval, caracal and Eurasian lynx.
Leopard viewing point
Rotational enclosure for serval and caracal
Tigers and lions are kept in rather bare enclosures heavily fenced with wooden panels, interrupted here and there by viewing windows.
Visitor route along tiger enclosures
Definitely a plus are the high climbing platforms in all 3 tiger enclosures that allowed the cats to look out over the spacious surroundings. And they made good use of that.
The only building that can be visited is the Lion House. It consists of 3 spacious boxes and a themed visitor area that also overlooks the outdoor enclosure.
Towards the Lion House
Inside the Lion House
Lion enclosure
Other mammals include European mouflon and common fallow deer in large high-elevation meadows, crested porcupine, yellow mongoose and grey wolves.
The animal enclosures at Crémines are functionally designed, there is no particular aim to offer visitors an immersive experience that closely matches the natural environment in which the animals live. But the surroundings with its wooded hills make up for a lot to a visitor and I am sure most animals can appreciate the wide views.
Black-capped capuchin island
I certainly enjoyed my visit, although the long approach through the mountains may not be worth it for everyone given the species collection.
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Those extraordinarily high 'lookout perches' for the big cats are neat to see, and I bet that the Tigers spend a great deal of time up there scanning the horizon. It makes me question why other zoos haven't followed suit and created such high wooden platforms for their felines. This appears to be a decent place, probably with passionate staff who feel good about caring for ex-circus animals. One great thing about this thread is that you've shed light on some zoos that I'd never heard of before. I need to go on an Austrian/Swiss road trip one day! 
Day 16 #40 Botanischer Garten der Universität Basel
I started the penultimate day of the trip at the university's botanical garden. This garden has been around since 1589 and as recently as 2023, a new tropical greenhouse opened.
Tropical greenhouse
I was curious to see if the irena buulbuul, crested partridge and black buulbuul listed on ZTL would still be present. Especially the latter is a pretty rare species in European zoos. In the end, (message I received from the curator) there appeared to be no birds present in the new conservatory at the moment. However, there are Monserrat whistling frogs (Eleuterodactylis jonstonii) and these lived up to their name: I heard several males calling from different places.
The city's excellent tram network quickly took me to a famous and fascinating place.
I started the penultimate day of the trip at the university's botanical garden. This garden has been around since 1589 and as recently as 2023, a new tropical greenhouse opened.
Tropical greenhouse
I was curious to see if the irena buulbuul, crested partridge and black buulbuul listed on ZTL would still be present. Especially the latter is a pretty rare species in European zoos. In the end, (message I received from the curator) there appeared to be no birds present in the new conservatory at the moment. However, there are Monserrat whistling frogs (Eleuterodactylis jonstonii) and these lived up to their name: I heard several males calling from different places.
The city's excellent tram network quickly took me to a famous and fascinating place.
Attachments
Day 16 #41 Basel Zoo
Basel Zoo is a masterpiece. That's all you need to know. You can stop reading here if you like, I’m not going to tell you anything else. End of review.
In an urban zoo, space is everything. The wildest dreams are limited by the space available. In the process, choices have to be made, but they haven't had much trouble with that in Basel. Large mammals abound: lions, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, great apes, antelopes, wild asses, snow leopards, hippos, zebras, etc. They are all present. No tigers, bears or tropical cattle, but nobody misses those. But the real stars in Basel are the 12 accessible buildings. Some are nothing more than stables, others are sites following a classic zoological layout, while a few stand out far above them. The latter are an absolute masterclass in what an urban zoo can do in a limited area. Surface area is important, it is true, but it is not everything.
Basel zoo has done a clever thing by embedding most of its buildings against the edge of the zoo and devising inventive solutions to give the animals as much space as possible The result is a garden that nowhere gives an oppressive impression, with a large central area that functions like a green oasis, with old trees, wild lawns, water features, shrubbery and open enclosures. And right there, the zoo's oldest building shines in all its splendour.
Finally, the collection and the level of finishing of the often naturalistic enclosures makes Basel rival the world's leading zoos.
The Africa House may raise high expectations, but the place is very small, stuffy and smelly (as it should be), and clearly dates from another era. However all zebras have separate boxes and the zoos hippo have a small but warm water basin. Outside, Grant zebras and South African ostriches are separated from hippos, following a tragic incident in 2004.
Hippos, zebras and ostriches
Some buildings are nothing more than a stable with some visitor space. Still, I always liked it when access is given to these places. In this sense, the ostrich stable is literally its archetype: a narrow visitor area and two animal boxes.
The Aquarium is the lower part of a classic building complex, called the Vivarium, which further houses reptiles and penguins. It is certainly not the best part of the zoo: most of the aquaria are relatively small and moderately decorated. It opens nicely with a large tank for local fish species that connects to an outdoor pond, but otherwise I was left a bit hungry. The visitors' route follows a zigzag pattern through the building, with some better-decorated aquarium here and there. In that respect, it is a pity that the proposed Ozeanium project was rejected by Basel voters. I wonder if the zoo's planned expansion on the current car park site will benefit its ageing facilities for zebras, hippos and fish.
Gradually walk up from the basement floor to the antarctic penguins. They are animals that do not immediately appeal to me: usually they are in a rather boring enclosure consisting of a large tank of water with a small and bare land area. I saw antarctic penguins in Vienna, Zurich and Basel, but none of the enclosures really appealed to me. I actually always think the same about penguins in zoos: wonderful when you see them swimming underwater, but otherwise they are pretty boring animals.
Once on the ground floor, the Reptile House starts. Unlike its lower counterpart, Basel's reptile department is in great shape: beautifully designed terraria with a fine selection of species. The naturalistic design of most terraria is of very high quality. It has the same layout as the aquarium. There are some wonderful large exhibits, such as the Appalachian vivarium and the enclosure for Australian crocodiles and red-bellied short-necked turtles. Other spectacular species include e.g. the alligator snapping turtle while the terraria dedicated to the dry areas are among the finest of their kind.
Exhibit for Australian crocodiles and red-bellied short-necked turtles
Appalachan paludarium - Rainbox shiner (Notropis chrosomus)
I was really looking forward to the Australia house. It starts with a subdued room where the sun is falling in and the moody colours on the walls immediately created a fairy-like atmosphere. The grey giant kangaroos were resting like Roman field lords from their banquets.
Australis - Western grey kangaroo
The visit continues through a corridor with terrariums for red-backed spider, green tree pythons and common smooth scaled geckos to the real highlight of this building: the exhibit for the Australian brush-turkey, a species I haven't seen in a long time. I was not disappointed.
Australian brush-turkey
We are in a city zoo, the oldest in the country, and as a Zoochatter you immediately think of old historic buildings. In that respect, you get off pretty badly here in Basel; concrete architecture made an early appearance here - in an excellent way btw. Still, one relic remains from the days when city zoos had no competition from large rural zoos or safari parks. The Antelope House dates from 1910 and it would fit perfectly in Antwerp, Artis or Paris. It currently houses Kordofan giraffes, 2 pairs of okapis and a small group of lesser kudu. Inside, warm wood and elegant ironwork dominate.
Antelope House - Giraffe and okapi stables
The Bird House opened in 1927 as a building for great apes, reptiles and birds. It was very recently modernised and reduced to just a few enclosures: an outdoor walk-through aviary, 2 walk-through indoors rainforests and some outdoor aviaries. There’s a perfect description of this building by @lintworm 's post: Zoo Basel News [Zoo Basel]. The main hall is now a tropical rainforest where the renovation has perfectly respected the structure and contours of the building. The centre consists of a densely planted area, between which runs a stream and where height is given via six tall pylons, draped with lianas and other climbing plants.
Both galleries have been preserved: one side for visitors, while on the other 5 separate aviaries have been set up for sumatran laughing-thrush, Visaya tarictic hornbill, purple naped lory, bali myna and Edward pheasant, and greater hill myna. A 6th aviary allows the tiny white-eyes to hide from their larger and more competitive co-inhabitants of the main hall.
Escape site for the Kilimanjaro white-eyes
There are additional vantage points from 2 floors from where visitors have a good general view. A nice feature here is that on each floor there is a sign with the species living in the middle layer and forest canopy, respectively.
Vantage points
A second, new building, ‘Jewels of the air’, consists of a Central- American cloud forest. It can be viewed from covered galleries on level +1. Only 7 species live here and the exhibit is really big, so you do have to search a bit for the small red-legged honeycreepers, tanagers, red siskin and blue-black grassquit.
Behind the scenes, there is a breeding station for most species.
The whole north-western corner of the zoo is dedicated to Africa’s southern dry savannahs.
The Tembea elephant house is one of those buildings embedded against the edge of the zoo. Visitors walk above the facilities, with some viewing points into the bull and herd stables. More interesting is a beautifull rainforest exhibit with a pair of attractive black and rufous elephant shrews, a Congo aquarium and a large insectuarium for harvester ants.
Black and rufous elephant shrew enclosure
Basel Zoo is a masterpiece. That's all you need to know. You can stop reading here if you like, I’m not going to tell you anything else. End of review.
In an urban zoo, space is everything. The wildest dreams are limited by the space available. In the process, choices have to be made, but they haven't had much trouble with that in Basel. Large mammals abound: lions, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, great apes, antelopes, wild asses, snow leopards, hippos, zebras, etc. They are all present. No tigers, bears or tropical cattle, but nobody misses those. But the real stars in Basel are the 12 accessible buildings. Some are nothing more than stables, others are sites following a classic zoological layout, while a few stand out far above them. The latter are an absolute masterclass in what an urban zoo can do in a limited area. Surface area is important, it is true, but it is not everything.
Basel zoo has done a clever thing by embedding most of its buildings against the edge of the zoo and devising inventive solutions to give the animals as much space as possible The result is a garden that nowhere gives an oppressive impression, with a large central area that functions like a green oasis, with old trees, wild lawns, water features, shrubbery and open enclosures. And right there, the zoo's oldest building shines in all its splendour.
Finally, the collection and the level of finishing of the often naturalistic enclosures makes Basel rival the world's leading zoos.
The Africa House may raise high expectations, but the place is very small, stuffy and smelly (as it should be), and clearly dates from another era. However all zebras have separate boxes and the zoos hippo have a small but warm water basin. Outside, Grant zebras and South African ostriches are separated from hippos, following a tragic incident in 2004.
Hippos, zebras and ostriches
Some buildings are nothing more than a stable with some visitor space. Still, I always liked it when access is given to these places. In this sense, the ostrich stable is literally its archetype: a narrow visitor area and two animal boxes.
The Aquarium is the lower part of a classic building complex, called the Vivarium, which further houses reptiles and penguins. It is certainly not the best part of the zoo: most of the aquaria are relatively small and moderately decorated. It opens nicely with a large tank for local fish species that connects to an outdoor pond, but otherwise I was left a bit hungry. The visitors' route follows a zigzag pattern through the building, with some better-decorated aquarium here and there. In that respect, it is a pity that the proposed Ozeanium project was rejected by Basel voters. I wonder if the zoo's planned expansion on the current car park site will benefit its ageing facilities for zebras, hippos and fish.
Gradually walk up from the basement floor to the antarctic penguins. They are animals that do not immediately appeal to me: usually they are in a rather boring enclosure consisting of a large tank of water with a small and bare land area. I saw antarctic penguins in Vienna, Zurich and Basel, but none of the enclosures really appealed to me. I actually always think the same about penguins in zoos: wonderful when you see them swimming underwater, but otherwise they are pretty boring animals.
Once on the ground floor, the Reptile House starts. Unlike its lower counterpart, Basel's reptile department is in great shape: beautifully designed terraria with a fine selection of species. The naturalistic design of most terraria is of very high quality. It has the same layout as the aquarium. There are some wonderful large exhibits, such as the Appalachian vivarium and the enclosure for Australian crocodiles and red-bellied short-necked turtles. Other spectacular species include e.g. the alligator snapping turtle while the terraria dedicated to the dry areas are among the finest of their kind.
Exhibit for Australian crocodiles and red-bellied short-necked turtles
Appalachan paludarium - Rainbox shiner (Notropis chrosomus)
I was really looking forward to the Australia house. It starts with a subdued room where the sun is falling in and the moody colours on the walls immediately created a fairy-like atmosphere. The grey giant kangaroos were resting like Roman field lords from their banquets.
Australis - Western grey kangaroo
The visit continues through a corridor with terrariums for red-backed spider, green tree pythons and common smooth scaled geckos to the real highlight of this building: the exhibit for the Australian brush-turkey, a species I haven't seen in a long time. I was not disappointed.
Australian brush-turkey
We are in a city zoo, the oldest in the country, and as a Zoochatter you immediately think of old historic buildings. In that respect, you get off pretty badly here in Basel; concrete architecture made an early appearance here - in an excellent way btw. Still, one relic remains from the days when city zoos had no competition from large rural zoos or safari parks. The Antelope House dates from 1910 and it would fit perfectly in Antwerp, Artis or Paris. It currently houses Kordofan giraffes, 2 pairs of okapis and a small group of lesser kudu. Inside, warm wood and elegant ironwork dominate.
Antelope House - Giraffe and okapi stables
The Bird House opened in 1927 as a building for great apes, reptiles and birds. It was very recently modernised and reduced to just a few enclosures: an outdoor walk-through aviary, 2 walk-through indoors rainforests and some outdoor aviaries. There’s a perfect description of this building by @lintworm 's post: Zoo Basel News [Zoo Basel]. The main hall is now a tropical rainforest where the renovation has perfectly respected the structure and contours of the building. The centre consists of a densely planted area, between which runs a stream and where height is given via six tall pylons, draped with lianas and other climbing plants.
Both galleries have been preserved: one side for visitors, while on the other 5 separate aviaries have been set up for sumatran laughing-thrush, Visaya tarictic hornbill, purple naped lory, bali myna and Edward pheasant, and greater hill myna. A 6th aviary allows the tiny white-eyes to hide from their larger and more competitive co-inhabitants of the main hall.
Escape site for the Kilimanjaro white-eyes
There are additional vantage points from 2 floors from where visitors have a good general view. A nice feature here is that on each floor there is a sign with the species living in the middle layer and forest canopy, respectively.
Vantage points
A second, new building, ‘Jewels of the air’, consists of a Central- American cloud forest. It can be viewed from covered galleries on level +1. Only 7 species live here and the exhibit is really big, so you do have to search a bit for the small red-legged honeycreepers, tanagers, red siskin and blue-black grassquit.
Behind the scenes, there is a breeding station for most species.
The whole north-western corner of the zoo is dedicated to Africa’s southern dry savannahs.
The Tembea elephant house is one of those buildings embedded against the edge of the zoo. Visitors walk above the facilities, with some viewing points into the bull and herd stables. More interesting is a beautifull rainforest exhibit with a pair of attractive black and rufous elephant shrews, a Congo aquarium and a large insectuarium for harvester ants.
Black and rufous elephant shrew enclosure
Attachments
The Etoscha-haus opens seemingly peacefully with an attrium for succulents and other drought-resistant plants. Few visitors keep reading quietly after seeing huge wheelweb spiders hanging above the information board. This is followed by small but beautifully decorated exhibits for naked mole rats, zebra grass mice and short-eared elephant shrews, but it’s around the corner that the showpiece of this building lurks, a communal enclosure for rock hyrax, Cape ground squirrels, black-cheeked lovebirds and sociable weavers.
Mixed species enclosure
When fights break out between the dassies, the glass barrier is no problem for an individual to jump over and lead visitors further into the building, towards an enclosure with large boulders, housing engmatic meerkats.
Common rock hyrax
The last enclosure is a large aviary for Northern Carmine bee-eaters, which find frequent nesting opportunities in the high rock wall. The meerkats and the bee-eaters can also simply go outside in nice weather.
Aviary for northern Carmine bee-eater
Walking to the Gamgoas-haus, past cheetahs and African wild dogs, the African lion enclosure looks much bigger than it really is. The original inhabitants of Etoscha use the name Gamgaos for what literally means 'the place where the lions live'. Both Etoscha and Gamgoas buildings therefore refer to the same area, and the same ecosystem, the hot and dry areas of Africa’s south-western savannahs. It has 3 panoramic windows overlooking the lion's enclosure, an educational exhibition area and a large enclosure with living termites.
There’s also a breeding station for the Karoo padloper turtles, but the best exhibit here, indeed perhaps of the entire zoo, is in the far corner of the building: the large exhibit includes high rocky cliffs covered with plants and trees, and a riparian landscape with water, papyrus and bushes. On the river bank, safely away from the water, dwarf mongooses run back and forth, ever wary of their fearceful co-inhabitants in the water. Skimming through the air are red-billed tocs, golden-breasted and superb starlings, Cape turtle doves, yellow-crowned bishop and the non-native Cuban grassquits. In the water, large Nile crocodiles lurk among hundreds of blue and yellow ciclids. On one side you look out over the dry areas, but around the corner you have a fabulous underwater look on the crocs.
Mixed species enclosure
Mixed species enclosure
If you still doubted whether traditional zoos, hemmed in by urban developments, could compete with the rich kids in Cambron, Beauval, Chester or Zurich, here is your answer: both Etoscha and Gamgoas exhibits show why Basel is not afraid of the latter. And for those who argue that traditional zoos only need to exhibit large mammals to survive, here is a lesson to the contrary. An interesting and vibrant species selection, with some small but attractive species, a good mix of communal and single species enclosures, a very high standard of finishing and an attractive layout of the building do the job. Basel reaches its peak here (and in the birdhouse), with rock hyraxes, bee-eaters and termites. Yes, there are also familiar crowd-pleasers like meerkats, and large, fearsome animals like lions and crocodiles but the latter just show what is really possible for a city zoo.
The Sautergarten is the zoo's 1939 expansion area and the place where primarily the Indian rhinos can be found, the animal with which the zoo achieves great breeding successes. The 1,2,2 rhinos live on a large community plot, along with Visayan warthogs and Reeve’s muntjaks. Although this enclosure is richly structured so that the animals can get out of each other's way, tensions remain inevitable. I repeatedly saw one of the females chasing the other, with both calves reacting startledly to the charges. Eventually, the zoo keepers intervened several times. The Rhino house was closed and so was the pygmy hippo house. The other main exhibit in the Sautergarten is a beautifull giant artifical rock, housing snow leopards on one side and a troop of crab-eating macaques on the other side.
Greater one-horned rhinoceros with calf
Crab-eating macaque enclosure
Basels Affenhaus is the zoo’s largest building. It houses monkeys and 3 species of apes. The latter have 5 outside enclosures, the Geigy-anlage, that increased sixfold after the renovation in 2011. However, it is inside that the building is truly spectacular. At first glance, you would think that concrete architecture can never produce suitable living environments, but if you do it right, it certainly can. And the zoo has done it right. All great apes have at least three tall, interconnected rooms where filtered light falls down through skylights, resembling to the light falling through the treetops onto the jungle floor. Large windows offer visitors a view of the apes, while the visitor area is soberly decorated with wooden seating and stylish information signs.
Connected enclosures for Western common chimpanzee
Things are no different among the monkeys, where perhaps only the species collection can be a little disappointing. With white-faced saki, Bolivian squirrel monkey, cotton-faced tamarin and golden lion tamarin it has some very common species in Europe, but the woolly monky, coppery titi and the golden-handed spider monkeys are much rarer in our zoos. Only the squirrel and woolly monkeys have an outdoors island on the ground floor, while the other species all have access to rooftop cages.
Rooftop cages for monkeys
Although Basel's rival zoo in Zurich is much more spectacular, I think I would choose Basel as my favourite zoo in Switzerland. Somehow, I think 1 visit a year would be enough for Zurich, while I could go to Basel several times a year.
Mixed species enclosure
When fights break out between the dassies, the glass barrier is no problem for an individual to jump over and lead visitors further into the building, towards an enclosure with large boulders, housing engmatic meerkats.
Common rock hyrax
The last enclosure is a large aviary for Northern Carmine bee-eaters, which find frequent nesting opportunities in the high rock wall. The meerkats and the bee-eaters can also simply go outside in nice weather.
Aviary for northern Carmine bee-eater
Walking to the Gamgoas-haus, past cheetahs and African wild dogs, the African lion enclosure looks much bigger than it really is. The original inhabitants of Etoscha use the name Gamgaos for what literally means 'the place where the lions live'. Both Etoscha and Gamgoas buildings therefore refer to the same area, and the same ecosystem, the hot and dry areas of Africa’s south-western savannahs. It has 3 panoramic windows overlooking the lion's enclosure, an educational exhibition area and a large enclosure with living termites.
There’s also a breeding station for the Karoo padloper turtles, but the best exhibit here, indeed perhaps of the entire zoo, is in the far corner of the building: the large exhibit includes high rocky cliffs covered with plants and trees, and a riparian landscape with water, papyrus and bushes. On the river bank, safely away from the water, dwarf mongooses run back and forth, ever wary of their fearceful co-inhabitants in the water. Skimming through the air are red-billed tocs, golden-breasted and superb starlings, Cape turtle doves, yellow-crowned bishop and the non-native Cuban grassquits. In the water, large Nile crocodiles lurk among hundreds of blue and yellow ciclids. On one side you look out over the dry areas, but around the corner you have a fabulous underwater look on the crocs.
Mixed species enclosure
Mixed species enclosure
If you still doubted whether traditional zoos, hemmed in by urban developments, could compete with the rich kids in Cambron, Beauval, Chester or Zurich, here is your answer: both Etoscha and Gamgoas exhibits show why Basel is not afraid of the latter. And for those who argue that traditional zoos only need to exhibit large mammals to survive, here is a lesson to the contrary. An interesting and vibrant species selection, with some small but attractive species, a good mix of communal and single species enclosures, a very high standard of finishing and an attractive layout of the building do the job. Basel reaches its peak here (and in the birdhouse), with rock hyraxes, bee-eaters and termites. Yes, there are also familiar crowd-pleasers like meerkats, and large, fearsome animals like lions and crocodiles but the latter just show what is really possible for a city zoo.
The Sautergarten is the zoo's 1939 expansion area and the place where primarily the Indian rhinos can be found, the animal with which the zoo achieves great breeding successes. The 1,2,2 rhinos live on a large community plot, along with Visayan warthogs and Reeve’s muntjaks. Although this enclosure is richly structured so that the animals can get out of each other's way, tensions remain inevitable. I repeatedly saw one of the females chasing the other, with both calves reacting startledly to the charges. Eventually, the zoo keepers intervened several times. The Rhino house was closed and so was the pygmy hippo house. The other main exhibit in the Sautergarten is a beautifull giant artifical rock, housing snow leopards on one side and a troop of crab-eating macaques on the other side.
Greater one-horned rhinoceros with calf
Crab-eating macaque enclosure
Basels Affenhaus is the zoo’s largest building. It houses monkeys and 3 species of apes. The latter have 5 outside enclosures, the Geigy-anlage, that increased sixfold after the renovation in 2011. However, it is inside that the building is truly spectacular. At first glance, you would think that concrete architecture can never produce suitable living environments, but if you do it right, it certainly can. And the zoo has done it right. All great apes have at least three tall, interconnected rooms where filtered light falls down through skylights, resembling to the light falling through the treetops onto the jungle floor. Large windows offer visitors a view of the apes, while the visitor area is soberly decorated with wooden seating and stylish information signs.
Connected enclosures for Western common chimpanzee
Things are no different among the monkeys, where perhaps only the species collection can be a little disappointing. With white-faced saki, Bolivian squirrel monkey, cotton-faced tamarin and golden lion tamarin it has some very common species in Europe, but the woolly monky, coppery titi and the golden-handed spider monkeys are much rarer in our zoos. Only the squirrel and woolly monkeys have an outdoors island on the ground floor, while the other species all have access to rooftop cages.
Rooftop cages for monkeys
Although Basel's rival zoo in Zurich is much more spectacular, I think I would choose Basel as my favourite zoo in Switzerland. Somehow, I think 1 visit a year would be enough for Zurich, while I could go to Basel several times a year.
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Kalaw
Well-Known Member
This review was wonderful to read. I have always wanted to visit Basel, but when the chance arose last summer, I chose Zurich instead - I do not regret that call, as Zurich was phenomenal, but reading this review did certainly give me a reason to return to Switzerland (which, given the absurd prices, I did need). I had often heard claims on here that Basel was somewhat overrated, so to hear someone who believes the opposite, seemingly having endless positives to say about the place, was delightful. Thank you for this review!
I've never met Anthony Sheridan, but his three full-length zoo books have been a fascinating source of information and data for zoo nerds over the years. In his first book, published in 2011, he ranked Basel Zoo as the tied 5th best zoo in all of Europe, when it came to zoos that received a million annual visitors. I distinctly recall several people scratching their heads and wondering why it was so highly regarded, behind only Vienna, Leipzig, Zurich and Berlin on his list...and tied with Chester and Cologne. Maybe he was ahead of his time when it came to Basel?
In his next book, a hefty tome of 466 pages and published in 2016, he had Basel Zoo as the 4th best zoo in Europe, behind only Vienna, Leipzig and Zurich.
Lastly, in his 3rd book, published in 2021, he dropped Basel down to 11th place. This time it was behind Sheridan's perennial top 3 of Vienna, Leipzig and Zurich, as well as Berlin, Beauval, Chester, Pairi Daiza, Stuttgart, Munich and Prague. Some of those zoos leaped upwards after vast sums of money were spent on new exhibits.
In truth, most of the facilities that Sheridan regards as great zoos are often the exact same zoos that people on this site list as the best in Europe. Therefore, his semi-controversial rankings are frequently in line with other such lists. It seems that with Basel, he was a bit ahead of his time as Sheridan has consistently praised it for many years and the same goes for zoo nerds on this site. It really does look like a zoo that has made the most of its somewhat limited space. It's a real shame that the Ozeanium never materialized, as from renderings and plans it appears that this could have been a revolutionary aquarium. Here's a link with several proposed images of the failed project:
Ozeanium: Basel Aquarium - eVolo | Architecture Magazine
In his next book, a hefty tome of 466 pages and published in 2016, he had Basel Zoo as the 4th best zoo in Europe, behind only Vienna, Leipzig and Zurich.
Lastly, in his 3rd book, published in 2021, he dropped Basel down to 11th place. This time it was behind Sheridan's perennial top 3 of Vienna, Leipzig and Zurich, as well as Berlin, Beauval, Chester, Pairi Daiza, Stuttgart, Munich and Prague. Some of those zoos leaped upwards after vast sums of money were spent on new exhibits.
In truth, most of the facilities that Sheridan regards as great zoos are often the exact same zoos that people on this site list as the best in Europe. Therefore, his semi-controversial rankings are frequently in line with other such lists. It seems that with Basel, he was a bit ahead of his time as Sheridan has consistently praised it for many years and the same goes for zoo nerds on this site. It really does look like a zoo that has made the most of its somewhat limited space. It's a real shame that the Ozeanium never materialized, as from renderings and plans it appears that this could have been a revolutionary aquarium. Here's a link with several proposed images of the failed project:
Ozeanium: Basel Aquarium - eVolo | Architecture Magazine
Day 17 #42 Tierpark Lange Erlen – Basle
I spent the last morning of the trip at Basel's second zoo, Tierpark Lange Erlen, perhaps a lesser-known park in the eyes of the general public, but it’s a big name among zoo nerds.
The park therefore has a long history. Water birds and roe deer were shown at this location as early as 1870.
The master plan states, among other things, that the park will focus on animals living now and in the past in the area between the Jura, the Black Forest and the Vosges regions. Cooperation with the zoo should prevent the duplication of species. The park should further develop into an alluvial forest with great attention to water and native fauna. The animals should be displayed there in large natural enclosures. In fact, the park in its current state already largely meets this.
In the city's zoo landscape, Lange Erlen will then be the window to native nature, the Zoo to nature worldwide.
Masterplan
A large floodplain landscape with riparian forests for European wolves is currently being built.
Lange Erlen is a beautiful, quiet and pleasant place to visit. The enclosures are all spacious and nicely embedded in the surroundings. There are exhibition pavilions and large signs show the zoo's long history. A large farm offers a wide selection of domestic species.
Red deer enclosure
The Monkey house seems an oddity - I am pretty sure there are no monkeys in Swiss forests - , but it is actually not. After all, the park had monkeys in its collection almost from its inception. Anno 2023, these are black-capped capuchin monkeys, but previously it also housed vervet monkeys, spider monkeys, java macaques and baboons, among others. The house opened in 2001, the outdoor aviary in 2004.
Black-capped capuchin
Monkey house
There are very nice woodland enclosures for European wild cats and Eurasian lynx, the latter with only a deep pond as a barrier at some viewing points, something I have not seen before.
European wild cat enclosure
Eurasian lynx enclosure
There are nice large meadows for wisent and red deer, often in nice perspective, and further enclosures for wild boar, foxes and fallow deer.
Wisent enclosure
Perhaps the most beautiful enclosure is the wooded valley for Alpine chamois.
Alpine chamois enclosure
In the middle of the park is a large pond where a wooden pavilion serves as an observation hut. Inside are a couple of terrariums for Eurasian harvest mice and barred grass snakes.
Barred grass snake (top) - Eurasian harvest mouse and observation point
I cannot deny that I had a little indigestion from all those wild boar, roe and red deer I have seen over the past few days. So I was particularly looking forward to a row of aviaries built against the main building. They are arranged according to local biotopes (hedge edges, Jurassic forest, cultivated landscape, waterfront) but the collection was a bit disappointing: apart from the Eurasian scops owl and little grebe, all others were very common species.
Jura mountains aviary
It again made me a little surprised that even this zoo specialising in local species does not pay attention to the highly-endangered grouse species.
That said, Lange Erlen is a great place to see European wildlife without all the climbing that places like Goldau and Innsbruck require.
I spent the last morning of the trip at Basel's second zoo, Tierpark Lange Erlen, perhaps a lesser-known park in the eyes of the general public, but it’s a big name among zoo nerds.
The park therefore has a long history. Water birds and roe deer were shown at this location as early as 1870.
The master plan states, among other things, that the park will focus on animals living now and in the past in the area between the Jura, the Black Forest and the Vosges regions. Cooperation with the zoo should prevent the duplication of species. The park should further develop into an alluvial forest with great attention to water and native fauna. The animals should be displayed there in large natural enclosures. In fact, the park in its current state already largely meets this.
In the city's zoo landscape, Lange Erlen will then be the window to native nature, the Zoo to nature worldwide.
Masterplan
A large floodplain landscape with riparian forests for European wolves is currently being built.
Lange Erlen is a beautiful, quiet and pleasant place to visit. The enclosures are all spacious and nicely embedded in the surroundings. There are exhibition pavilions and large signs show the zoo's long history. A large farm offers a wide selection of domestic species.
Red deer enclosure
The Monkey house seems an oddity - I am pretty sure there are no monkeys in Swiss forests - , but it is actually not. After all, the park had monkeys in its collection almost from its inception. Anno 2023, these are black-capped capuchin monkeys, but previously it also housed vervet monkeys, spider monkeys, java macaques and baboons, among others. The house opened in 2001, the outdoor aviary in 2004.
Black-capped capuchin
Monkey house
There are very nice woodland enclosures for European wild cats and Eurasian lynx, the latter with only a deep pond as a barrier at some viewing points, something I have not seen before.
European wild cat enclosure
Eurasian lynx enclosure
There are nice large meadows for wisent and red deer, often in nice perspective, and further enclosures for wild boar, foxes and fallow deer.
Wisent enclosure
Perhaps the most beautiful enclosure is the wooded valley for Alpine chamois.
Alpine chamois enclosure
In the middle of the park is a large pond where a wooden pavilion serves as an observation hut. Inside are a couple of terrariums for Eurasian harvest mice and barred grass snakes.
Barred grass snake (top) - Eurasian harvest mouse and observation point
I cannot deny that I had a little indigestion from all those wild boar, roe and red deer I have seen over the past few days. So I was particularly looking forward to a row of aviaries built against the main building. They are arranged according to local biotopes (hedge edges, Jurassic forest, cultivated landscape, waterfront) but the collection was a bit disappointing: apart from the Eurasian scops owl and little grebe, all others were very common species.
Jura mountains aviary
It again made me a little surprised that even this zoo specialising in local species does not pay attention to the highly-endangered grouse species.
That said, Lange Erlen is a great place to see European wildlife without all the climbing that places like Goldau and Innsbruck require.
Attachments
Laboratory 7
Well-Known Member
Whilst I like Basel zoo, crediting Anthony Sheridan being ahead of the game is over kill, I would suggest it merely reflects how much the director Panda to his over inflated ego, I say this as someone who has seen Anthony in action in a zoo and how he treats people below the status of the top dog, he thinks he is very entitled to special treatment because of his relationship with the directors
Basel is probably my favourite zoo
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Another thoroughly excellent review. I had never heard of Lange Erlen before reading this, but it seems lovely. The lynx enclosure in particular looks phenomenal from those images!
That lynx enclosure is indeed phenomenal, but it was in renovation at the time I was there (september 2023). I couldn't see why, it looks perfect to me, but maybe the night quarters needed something, or they built a second enclosure.
Possibly because he was the first to map the entire European zoo world through rankings and lists. I suspect most of us do like lists, but at the same time, of course, they constantly cause criticism and comments. They are nothing more than personal assessments, and therefore many disagree, but I don't think the author minds. I myself certainly don't always agree with his classifications of zoos and the ratings he gives. On the other hand, I think his books do contain a lot of information. And if I am very honest with myself, even in my own lists, things do change fairly regularly.
Laboratory 7
Well-Known Member
I couldn't agree with you more if I tried,if you ever have the pleasure of meeting him and talking zoo's with Anthony, you will very quickly realise that he has very little knowledge about any zoo not in one of his books and unhealthy obsession with meerkat enclosure.
I need to go on an Austrian/Swiss road trip one day!
To quote a popular Disney Renaissance film:
"Be...our...guest"
Finally an Australian zoo house that appreciates the finer (venomous) things of Australian fauna...