Semester Abroad: Pachyderm Pro Goes to Europe

[JVM]

The zoo is spread out through a large densely forested site and I think I may have missed a few things as a result. A handful of raptor aviaries here or perhaps some (mostly empty for the season) primate islands, but nothing of significance. I also intentionally passed on the train ride through a series of field enclosures which can’t be seen otherwise and didn't have time for the botanical elements either. I’ve reached that point in my zoo visiting career where I’m content missing a few things, whereas not long ago I was a completionist through and through. Honestly it is a little sad that my drive to experience everything has faded and some species don’t get me excited like they used to. However, to say Ostrava didn't leave me thrilled couldn't be further from the truth.

Try to look at it this way -- there's always a future visit! All the more reason when there's things you've missed since it'll ensure the experience will be a little different!

Indoor Sri Lankan Leopard Exhibit (one of several)

I'm so intrigued by this exhibit. It's way too narrow for a leopard, but on my first scroll I didn't spot the individual and thought it was even smaller than that - second scroll, there's the leopard but wow does it (the leopard) look small. I really underestimated the depth. I wonder how old it is? This is the sort of space that's still really dated today but may have been advanced once upon a time. Better than some indoor cat enclosures from thirty years ago.

It was the Papua house that left the biggest impression however, a region seldom given attention in zoos that's made into something special here. It's essentially a small building attached to a large walkthrough aviary with only a handful of vivariums, but each of which are perfectly crated for their inhabitants (lizards and fish basically). Loved it!

The Pavilions look beautiful, the Tanganyika House sounds very cool, and I'm glad someone has tried a shot at a Papau exhibit - it's always felt like there are enough captive species to create something special there but I hadn't heard of any until now and from the sound of it, it doesn't even sound to include two of the first three obvious species that came to mind for such, which means it is probably even more interesting than my imagination!

Only a few lemurs and a lone diana monkey are still found in those hideous cages, as well as mandrills who also have access to a retrofitted monkey pit which likely dates back to the same period, but definitely was upgraded at some point.

My favorite of the themed pavilions however is known as the House of Evolution. Located at the very top of the zoo across from a pair of vast savannas, it’s essentially an African rainforest house with primates and various smaller creatures to tell the story of evolution. A large chimpanzee troop with several active youngsters were delightful to watch in their dayroom. The diana monkey enclosure is something else however, a colossal wooded space with massive trees.

One of my dream exhibits for years, one I've wanted to fit into a Fantasy Zoo thread some day I've never posted, was a House of Evolution with fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds/mammals in a connected series of buildings. My version would have been ambitious but this version, limited to African rainforest species, may be even more masterful by balancing a dual focus, and including chimpanzee as a featured species is particularly a master stroke! This one's on my must-see list now.

I did notice how interesting it was that a lone Diana monkey remains behind while they have a group in the newer enclosure. Perhaps a geriatric individual who it was judged couldn't make the move or an individual who wasn't behaviorally compatible with the troop? Also were there lemurs in other areas of the zoo or only in this older area?

Won't you shake a poor chimp's hand

Just a beautiful photo. In general, this post has some of my favorite photos I've seen from you!

I turned around to leave, took one last glance three seconds later, and it was pure chaos. My jaw literally dropped as langurs started flying out of the building like doves out of magician's top hat, tumbling over one another in a frenzy until over 30 of them were in view. Meanwhile a colossal, absolute chunker of a bear emerges from its den, meandering through the monkey mania unphased. Turns out a keeper was just out of view tossing some food prompting the langurs to start scurrying for fruit while the bear picked apart a rabbit carcass. I spent a half hour taking in this remarkable scene and struggled to pull myself away. Such brilliance cannot be put into words so I’ll just call this the single greatest enclosure I’ve seen in Europe so far and end it there.

Another great photo and a really cool sounding exhibit! I heard London had once mixed langurs and sloth bears at the Mappins but this was some years ago and was ignorant a similar species mix was still out there. It's a thrilling mix to imagine bears alongside primates, but the whole exhibit looks absolutely gorgeous too and getting to watch both species feed at once sounds like a real treat! Also on my must-see list now.

You forgot to mention Hamlyn's monkeys, which you probably did not see because of the construction. The mandrill exhibit used to hold chimps in the past....

Oh, oof. I would be kicking myself pretty hard if I found out I had missed a chance to see Hamlyn's monkeys, personally.

 

[pachyderm pro]

The zoo kept Amur tigers until several years ago. They used to occupy a small ugly cage and the zoo didn't have the money to create a new exhibit for them. But there are plans on creating a new big natural enlosure for them, similiar to Chitwan, but a little smaller - and without the monkeys.
But from what I know, the zoo's priority now is to make a new exhibit for leopards, but that will also take some more time.
And of course, the lions would also deserve a new exhibit and the zoo is well aware of that...

There's no shortage of available forest near that part of the grounds, so the idea of several multi-acre carnivore enclosures in the same vein as Chitwan is exciting to envision. Ostrava is well on it's way to becoming a top contender in the European zoo world at the rate it's going and is bursting with potential.

You forgot to mention Hamlyn's monkeys, which you probably did not see because of the construction. The mandrill exhibit used to hold chimps in the past...

Sadly I did not see the Hamlyn's monkeys. Several bits and pieces of the surrounding area were indeed blocked off for construction and I only noticed two cages attached to the building still in use (Diana monkey and lemurs). The rest appeared to have been dismantled.

Now that is just either lazy research or not fitting to your interests

Perhaps. I walked through the city back from the zoo and nothing seemed especially notable or attractive. Other than touring old steel mills I'm not sure what other big draws there are. The whole vibe just felt off, but maybe I just wasn't looking in the right areas.

And imagine if you'd seen them in treetops

Believe me, I did imagine that and in my head it looked pretty amazing! Those are the tallest trees I've ever seen in a monkey enclosure. Probably feels the closest to observing wild primates in all of Europe (outside of Apenhuel maybe).

I'm so intrigued by this exhibit. It's way too narrow for a leopard, but on my first scroll I didn't spot the individual and thought it was even smaller than that - second scroll, there's the leopard but wow does it (the leopard) look small. I really underestimated the depth. I wonder how old it is? This is the sort of space that's still really dated today but may have been advanced once upon a time. Better than some indoor cat enclosures from thirty years ago.

My photo makes it look larger than it really it is. The more I think about it's probably not much different than your average off-show holding spaces at most zoos, but considering this is a more recent investment it's still disappointing, especially when combined with the poor outdoor enclosure. After skimming the zoo's gallery this renovation can't be any more than 10-12 years old.

Also were there lemurs in other areas of the zoo or only in this older area?

There are actually quite a few very nice lemur islands scattered throughout the grounds. This includes some choice species, though almost all of them were empty as the inhabitants have already moved off-show for the season.

 

[remar]

Ostrava is often outshined by the other Czech giants but i totally agree that it is a very interesting zoo to visit. Especially the contrast between old and new and somehow unusually species choices for some displays. For example Chitwan without rhinos (And by the way Chitwan is more than just the bear/monkey paddock with a single, nice aquarium )

Imo it is together with Zlin the very best Czechia has to offer. I don't want to belittle Prague or Plzen, but every single new exhibit at the two East-Czech zoos has very high quality, which can't always be claimed for the rest of the the Czech zoos.

Regarding the elephants, the zoo already mentioned, that they asked the city for funding of a new paddock, or otherwise they have to stop keeping them.

 

[SeaOtterHQ]

Ostrava Zoo
Right out the gate it becomes evident that the zoo has a heavy focus on Asian species (though no tigers oddly enough). Past a few heavily themed domestic yards is an absolutely lovely aviary complex for Chinese and Tibetan birds. Wonderful first impression, though it was even better to linger here shortly before closing without any other visitors and simply be surrounded by the bird calls. There are also some open-topped enclosures for cranes and waterfowl within a zen garden nearby, along with a sprawling series of yards for Asian deer that felt like it went on forever.

It was the Papua house that left the biggest impression however, a region seldom given attention in zoos that's made into something special here. It's essentially a small building attached to a large walkthrough aviary with only a handful of vivariums, but each of which are perfectly crated for their inhabitants (lizards and fish basically). Loved it!

The Pavilions look beautiful, the Tanganyika House sounds very cool, and I'm glad someone has tried a shot at a Papau exhibit - it's always felt like there are enough captive species to create something special there but I hadn't heard of any until now and from the sound of it, it doesn't even sound to include two of the first three obvious species that came to mind for such, which means it is probably even more interesting than my imagination!

One of my dream exhibits for years, one I've wanted to fit into a Fantasy Zoo thread some day I've never posted, was a House of Evolution with fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds/mammals in a connected series of buildings. My version would have been ambitious but this version, limited to African rainforest species, may be even more masterful by balancing a dual focus, and including chimpanzee as a featured species is particularly a master stroke! This one's on my must-see list now.

Funny you guys should mention this now, since over the last few days I've been working on a fantasy zoo entirely dedicated to the Asian continent/bioregion. Even if we limit the potential roster to species currently held in captivity (so no saigas, saolas, Javan/Sumatran rhinos, etc.), Asia's list of fauna absolutely blows away Africa's and it's not even close. I realize there's some subjectivity here, and others might feel differently if one of the African-endemic species (giraffes, hippos, gorillas, etc.) is a personal favorite, but Asia just has so much more diversity across a much wider range of taxa, combining many of the coolest African, Oceanian, and American species with its own sizable share of endemics. I'm surprised there aren't a lot more Asian-themed zoos just like there are African-themed zoos.

I suspect this is largely because the African savanna allows zoos to conveniently and lazily place lots of megafauna within a single habitat, whereas in Asia the megafauna and interesting species are more spread out across many different biomes and regions. But then again if you're designing an entire zoo, this actually gives you many more options, both in providing a chance to display more obscure species or presenting a familiar species in a different light. In fact, the toughest part of my project has been deciding which eligible species to exclude.

The mention of New Guinea is a good example. If you do a deep dive into the wildlife found there, you'll be blown away. It has popular and distinctive Australian species such as cassowaries, wallabies, echidnas, tree-kangaroos, bandicoots, sugar gliders, cuscuses, frilled dragons, pig-nosed turtles, pademelons, magpie geese, as well as an assortment of monitor lizards, pythons, parrots/cockatoos, birds-of-paradise, and many more. As I was working on my zoo, a New Guinea exhibit almost felt like sneaking in an Australian exhibit under a different name (I will probably end up dividing these species across the nocturnal house and other exhibits rather than combining them in one exhibit). I'm not sure when this project will be completed, but it will be my most ambitious series of posts on Zoochat yet.

Anyway, I don't want to derail the thread too much. I just had to get this off my chest once I saw the topic of Asian-themed zoos/exhibits broached.

 

[pachyderm pro]

Budapest Zoo

This past weekend was one of pushing limits. Budapest marked the first trip away from Vienna that was with other people so zoo-ing was not the primary focus, but instead a side quest among other adventures through the Queen of the Danube. Let’s just say those adventures led me to two consecutive nights of minimal sleep which left me not feeling 100% on my last day there. That was the day I had planned on visiting the zoo, but crashing in my hostel bed sounded far more appealing at that moment. However, I knew I’d regret not giving a zoo this significant the time of day so I locked in and gave a generational performance of sheer will and determination, and arrived at the zoo's historic entrance against all odds. Truthfully I should’ve planned things out better as I was totally wiped the first half of my visit which made it difficult to be super engaged early on. I also had just a little under four hours to see the place and while I did manage to find pretty much everything that was open (there were several closed areas), lots of bits deserved more attention than what I was able to give this time around. Keep all of that in mind when reading through this report.

Although the circumstances weren’t ideal, thankfully my spirits rose during the second half of the visit and I ultimately left satisfied with my time at this highly interesting collection. Budapest is a very old school zoo through and through. This means there’s some excellent history and remarkable architecture around every corner, some of the very best in all of Europe, but also quite a number of outdated enclosures. This is not the place for world-class or best of its kind exhibits for anything in particular. For the larger ABC animals things are mostly good without being great, but there are also a number of poor enclosures that need improvement ASAP. Unlike Vienna, the zoo hasn't adapted any of its historical buildings by adding modern extensions, repurposing them for smaller species, or restructuring the interiors while preserving the shells. Pretty much everything still serves its original purpose as far as I’m aware. That’s fascinating to see as a visitor, but also means there are many flaws from an animal welfare POV.

Nowhere can that dichotomy be better exemplified than the elephant house. Objectively this is one of the world’s greatest historical zoo buildings. I was awed by the eye-catching blue domes and tower structure and the interior artistry rivals some museums in detail and beauty. However, the space for the elephants is dreadfully tiny. Just three concrete stalls and a pair of outdoor yards that add up to be roughly a third of an acre. Nile hippos eat up even more space within the building and also have an outdoor yard that’s quite small. A secondary elephant holding building was added nearby that’s marginally larger, but the set-up is still far from satisfactory. I need to emphasize however what an amazing historical house this is, one of my absolute favorites in fact. This is also probably the closest I’ve physically been to an elephant, who was blowing water at the feet of his gleeful audience. The pachyderms just should’ve been moved out of here ages ago.

Elephant House

Asian Elephant Stalls

Indoor Hippo Pool

The other standout animal building was the Australia house. It seems the collection here has diminished in recent years – no more koalas or quolls from what I could tell – yet still has far more than most. The highlight is the rather snug nocturnal walkthrough with tons of flying foxes. There are also bettongs and even a cuscus wandering around in here which sadly went unseen. Wombats have their own house nearby that is very good complete with two outdoor yards and a nocturnal indoor enclosure. They were also missed somehow and in general the profoundly good luck I’ve had with rarities on this trip faded a bit here.

Australia House

Nocturnal Walkthrough (3 species)

If one thing is done exceptionally well here it is the urban atmosphere. Budapest encapsulates the vibe of a proper city zoo perfectly and kind of feels like a city within itself. I struggle to think of another zoo that has its own skyline as impressive as this one, particularly with the great rock, elephant house, and zebra house all towering over the zoo’s northeast corner. I think I missed the proper South America house, though the old-fashion palm house with an aquarium in the basement was quite nice throughout, although humid in the extreme which discouraged me from lingering there long. Another one of the more successful buildings is a loosely themed Madagascar house which is basically an old monkey house turned lemur walkthrough with accompanying outdoor enclosures. It was cool to see golden-bellied mangabeys here and this building was well accustomed to a larger volume of visitors, unlike some other houses with narrow hallways like the reptile house.

Palm House (top) and Aquarium (bottom)

Lemur Walkthrough in Madagascar House

The center of the zoo is dominated by not one, but two massive rock structures that each left very different impressions on me. The top of the little rock was blocked off for some reason and so I missed out on the magic mountain display within the structure, which apparently is excellent and home to a wide variety of small species. The best utilization of the rock is the pleasant little walkthrough aviary built alongside it. Meanwhile, the grizzly bear grotto was extremely poor and the neighboring sea lion pool was one of the most dated I’ve seen.

Walkthrough Aviary

Grizzly Bear Exhibit

It was the great rock that changed my tune. An awesome vista from several points and the views from the top were wonderful. The surrounding enclosures were also much better than the little rock minus the too small baboon/sheep enclosure. Watching a pack of dholes (including some adorable pups) resting atop the rockwork was an extremely impressive sight and makes me wish they could find other ways to have animals utilize the rocks instead of it merely being a backdrop. One of the craziest sights here however was seeing a takin literally inches away from visitors with no standoff barrier. Some little girls were literally handfeeding it leaves off the ground and I could’ve reached out and booped its nose if I wanted to. This laissez faire attitude in Europe is a real culture shock.

The Great Rock

Dhole Exhibit

Inquisitive Golden Takin

To quickly list off a few more highlights: there’s a great little pavilion for native rodents, herps and fish tucked away near the back of the grounds, a nice giant otter enclosure with some lively residents, and it was great to see forest buffalo again after so many years. Compared to the other major zoos I’ve visited so far I realize I haven’t been as positive towards this one and while that's in part because the quality isn't as high, it’s also because it didn't get a completely fair shake from me. There are indeed some very nice exhibits here for the smaller things that I wasn’t able to fully appreciate.

Native Freshwater Aquariums

Unlike most of the Central European zoos I’ve visited so far that have been developing at a rapid pace, change has come slowly to Budapest in spite of grand ambitions. For close to a decade the zoo has been working on the Biodome. Originally this building was (still is?) planned to be a colossal rainforest house for elephants, hippos, chimps, bears, manatees, sharks, and somehow many other large species. However, funds ran out partway through the construction process and the whole development is in limbo until more are available. Only recently have a couple camels, horses, sheep and water buffalo been moved to occupy the unfinished outdoor spaces until work can resume. It was somewhat uncanny to see such a massive modern exhibit area that’s in use, but only partially finished. Something tells me it’s going to be a long while until the final vision is realized, which is a shame as the zoo could really use a flashy modern area even though it feels like they’re biting off more than they can chew with this project.

While on the topic, really random observation, but the zoo has renderings of the future elephant exhibit placed within the construction yards. Sounds normal enough, but for some reason they have them placed at the very back of the yard where you can’t see/read them properly. This has been on my mind more than it should be…

Temporary Horse Exhibit at the Biodome

Like I said in an earlier post, I’m an exhibit guy first and foremost. My favorite zoos are the ones that have exhibits which are innovative, naturalistic, and showcase animals in exciting ways that inspire people to care about conservation. Budapest doesn’t really have that and as a result it’s not one of my favorite zoos. Even then, I still found plenty to appreciate here. Perhaps that’s because it reminded me of the zoo that’s closest to my heart – Brookfield. This comparison undersells the quality of Brookfield’s exhibitry, which is far higher across the board, yet there are so many similarities that were easy to pick up on. Budapest’s elephant house gave me flashbacks of Brookfield’s pachyderm house. The towering great/little rock structures reminded me of the old baboon/ibex islands and the old bear grottos. Each zoo’s respective Australia house features very similar layouts and the design of Budapest's wombat house was reminiscent of Brookfield’s old aardvark house. Even the work-in-progress Biodome may end up being compared to Tropic World as an overly-ambitious rainforest house that is taking/took forever to complete. Maybe Milwaukee would be a more accurate modern day comparison, but Budapest feels like what Brookfield used to be. If the zoo can eventually adapt their legacy structures in the same vein as Vienna, Saint Louis or Lincoln Park, it can absolutely compete with the very best Europe has to offer zoologically. Given the backlog of upgrades however, that day is probably still pretty far off and for now its value as a zoological throwback is reason enough to visit.

 

[PossumRoach]

I understand the feeling of being able to appreciate Budapest despite its long list of shortcomings. Budapest was my first stop on my trip to Europe a few years ago and I was sort of baffled by some of the exhibits (sea lions and polar bear) and houses (Indonesia house and India House). Despite that I enjoyed my time there and I was a sucker for the old buildings.

Meanwhile, the grizzly bear grotto was extremely poor and the neighboring sea lion pool was one of the most dated I’ve seen.

If it makes you feel any better, before the zoo temporarily phased out the species and added them to the former polar bear exhibit, the brown bear used to be kept part of the dhole exhibit.

 

[JVM]

This past weekend was one of pushing limits. Budapest marked the first trip away from Vienna that was with other people so zoo-ing was not the primary focus, but instead a side quest among other adventures through the Queen of the Danube. Let’s just say those adventures led me to two consecutive nights of minimal sleep which left me not feeling 100% on my last day there. That was the day I had planned on visiting the zoo, but crashing in my hostel bed sounded far more appealing at that moment. However, I knew I’d regret not giving a zoo this significant the time of day so I locked in and gave a generational performance of sheer will and determination, and arrived at the zoo's historic entrance against all odds. Truthfully I should’ve planned things out better as I was totally wiped the first half of my visit which made it difficult to be super engaged early on. I also had just a little under four hours to see the place and while I did manage to find pretty much everything that was open (there were several closed areas), lots of bits deserved more attention than what I was able to give this time around. Keep all of that in mind when reading through this report.

I know this feeling very well. Kudos on toughing it out. This has happened to be more than once on a trip!

Nowhere can that dichotomy be better exemplified than the elephant house. Objectively this is one of the world’s greatest historical zoo buildings. I was awed by the eye-catching blue domes and tower structure and the interior artistry rivals some museums in detail and beauty. However, the space for the elephants is dreadfully tiny. Just three concrete stalls and a pair of outdoor yards that add up to be roughly a third of an acre. Nile hippos eat up even more space within the building and also have an outdoor yard that’s quite small. A secondary elephant holding building was added nearby that’s marginally larger, but the set-up is still far from satisfactory. I need to emphasize however what an amazing historical house this is, one of my absolute favorites in fact. This is also probably the closest I’ve physically been to an elephant, who was blowing water at the feet of his gleeful audience. The pachyderms just should’ve been moved out of here ages ago.

One of the craziest sights here however was seeing a takin literally inches away from visitors with no standoff barrier. Some little girls were literally handfeeding it leaves off the ground and I could’ve reached out and booped its nose if I wanted to. This laissez faire attitude in Europe is a real culture shock.

Sounds like unexpectedly close encounters were a bit of a theme here! Did this seem like something that did or could carry throughout the Budapest Zoo as part of it's character or were these both just somewhat unusual circumstances?

The other standout animal building was the Australia house. It seems the collection here has diminished in recent years – no more koalas or quolls from what I could tell – yet still has far more than most. The highlight is the rather snug nocturnal walkthrough with tons of flying foxes. There are also bettongs and even a cuscus wandering around in here which sadly went unseen. Wombats have their own house nearby that is very good complete with two outdoor yards and a nocturnal indoor enclosure. They were also missed somehow and in general the profoundly good luck I’ve had with rarities on this trip faded a bit here.

Terrible shame about the cuscus, seems like it would've been a really cool mix to see all three of those species together!

If one thing is done exceptionally well here it is the urban atmosphere. Budapest encapsulates the vibe of a proper city zoo perfectly and kind of feels like a city within itself. I struggle to think of another zoo that has its own skyline as impressive as this one, particularly with the great rock, elephant house, and zebra house all towering over the zoo’s northeast corner. I think I missed the proper South America house, though the old-fashion palm house with an aquarium in the basement was quite nice throughout, although humid in the extreme which discouraged me from lingering there long.

Very curious about the Zebra House here!

Grizzly Bear Exhibit

Oh wow, those steps are... very obtrusive. Might be the angle but is there any substrate on the upper levels of the exhibit?

Unlike most of the Central European zoos I’ve visited so far that have been developing at a rapid pace, change has come slowly to Budapest in spite of grand ambitions. For close to a decade the zoo has been working on the Biodome. Originally this building was (still is?) planned to be a colossal rainforest house for elephants, hippos, chimps, bears, manatees, sharks, and somehow many other large species. However, funds ran out partway through the construction process and the whole development is in limbo until more are available. Only recently have a couple camels, horses, sheep and water buffalo been moved to occupy the unfinished outdoor spaces until work can resume. It was somewhat uncanny to see such a massive modern exhibit area that’s in use, but only partially finished. Something tells me it’s going to be a long while until the final vision is realized, which is a shame as the zoo could really use a flashy modern area even though it feels like they’re biting off more than they can chew with this project.

Wow, that sounds incredibly ambitious a project and it certainly gives some insight as to why the pachyderms remain in such an outdated holding -- here's hoping some funding comes through because I'd be very curious to see what the final result might look like someday! The use of domestics as filler gave me an odd flashback to Milwaukee holding Yak in the old rhino enclosure temporarily.

Like I said in an earlier post, I’m an exhibit guy first and foremost. My favorite zoos are the ones that have exhibits which are innovative, naturalistic, and showcase animals in exciting ways that inspire people to care about conservation. Budapest doesn’t really have that and as a result it’s not one of my favorite zoos. Even then, I still found plenty to appreciate here. Perhaps that’s because it reminded me of the zoo that’s closest to my heart – Brookfield. This comparison undersells the quality of Brookfield’s exhibitry, which is far higher across the board, yet there are so many similarities that were easy to pick up on. Budapest’s elephant house gave me flashbacks of Brookfield’s pachyderm house. The towering great/little rock structures reminded me of the old baboon/ibex islands and the old bear grottos. Each zoo’s respective Australia house features very similar layouts and the design of Budapest's wombat house was reminiscent of Brookfield’s old aardvark house. Even the work-in-progress Biodome may end up being compared to Tropic World as an overly-ambitious rainforest house that is taking/took forever to complete. Maybe Milwaukee would be a more accurate modern day comparison, but Budapest feels like what Brookfield used to be. If the zoo can eventually adapt their legacy structures in the same vein as Vienna, Saint Louis or Lincoln Park, it can absolutely compete with the very best Europe has to offer zoologically. Given the backlog of upgrades however, that day is probably still pretty far off and for now its value as a zoological throwback is reason enough to visit.

I love these comparisons of the facility's characters you keep doing, and I think you're spot on in this one. Budapest looks to have a sobering an an oddly nostalgic quality in how much it shares with some of the more dated aspects of older American facilities.

As a side note, I think it'd be interesting at the conclusion of the thread/your stay to hear a basic summary of the new species you've encountered in Europe that aren't held in the United States or are only at one or two places here (ie golden-bellied mangabey, drill) -- I know you could do this now but I think it'd be more interesting towards the end.

 

[pachyderm pro]

Budapest was my first stop on my trip to Europe a few years ago and I was sort of baffled by some of the exhibits (sea lions and polar bear) and houses (Indonesia house and India House).

The India house was a strange one. It's basically just a few dark cement rooms for lions and wolverines, both of which much prefer their outdoor yards and so the building sits empty most of the time. What's in the Indonesia house? That one was closed during my visit (so no Javan langurs for me. )

Sounds like unexpectedly close encounters were a bit of a theme here! Did this seem like something that did or could carry throughout the Budapest Zoo as part of it's character or were these both just somewhat unusual circumstances?

More so the latter. The elephant stalls are behind glass and the animal was able to spray water at guests feet through a gap underneath the window. Not feature if that's a glitch or a feature.

Oh wow, those steps are... very obtrusive. Might be the angle but is there any substrate on the upper levels of the exhibit?

Not that I noticed.

As a side note, I think it'd be interesting at the conclusion of the thread/your stay to hear a basic summary of the new species you've encountered in Europe that aren't held in the United States or are only at one or two places here (ie golden-bellied mangabey, drill) -- I know you could do this now but I think it'd be more interesting towards the end.

I am keeping track of all the new mammal species I've seen (already over 50 thanks to Prague) which I will indeed reveal at the end. Keeping a list of every bird or herp would be impossible for me however, so I'll just mention the highlights for those.

 

[PossumRoach]

What's in the Indonesia house? That one was closed during my visit (so no Javan langurs for me. )

If my memory serves me right, I recall seeing prehensile tailed skink, yellow-toothed cavy, and a Pyrrhura species which I can’t remember exactly what. So it wasn’t 100% an Indonesia house.

On another note, were you able to find the common brushtail possums?

 

[JVM]

The India house was a strange one. It's basically just a few dark cement rooms for lions and wolverines, both of which much prefer their outdoor yards and so the building sits empty most of the time. What's in the Indonesia house? That one was closed during my visit (so no Javan langurs for me. )

If my memory serves me right, I recall seeing prehensile tailed skink, yellow-toothed cavy, and a Pyrrhura species which I can’t remember exactly what. So it wasn’t 100% an Indonesia house.

I was about to ask about wolverine in an India House and then saw the follow-up -- not to shame the zoo as flex space can be useful at times, but it sounds like their geographic houses aren't very geographic? Is that common or were these just exceptional choices?

More so the latter. The elephant stalls are behind glass and the animal was able to spray water at guests feet through a gap underneath the window. Not feature if that's a glitch or a feature.

Probably a little of both, but I'd consider it a feature if it were my visit -- giving elephants the opportunity to interact directly with guests in a way that doesn't sound to put animals or guests at risk sounds like a positive, but maybe I would say differently if I were in need of a change of clothes..

Not that I noticed.

Oof. It didn't look that way to me but I hoped to be wrong. It's a very unnatural looking exhibit, even compared to some of the concrete rock grottos I grew up with that are considered substandard today. It does at least look larger than some of those...

I am keeping track of all the new mammal species I've seen (already over 50 thanks to Prague) which I will indeed reveal at the end. Keeping a list of every bird or herp would be impossible for me however, so I'll just mention the highlights for those.

Totally understandable, I look forward to seeing it! I haven't shared it yet for reasons you realize, but I was hoping to do something similar for my own Europe trip.

 

[pachyderm pro]

On another note, were you able to find the common brushtail possums?

Sadly no. Really struck out with pretty much all my targets here besides the golden-bellied mangabey.

I was about to ask about wolverine in an India House and then saw the follow-up -- not to shame the zoo as flex space can be useful at times, but it sounds like their geographic houses aren't very geographic? Is that common or were these just exceptional choices?

They seem to follow geographic organization pretty loosely in some areas: wolverines in the India house, golden-bellied mangabeys in the Madagascar house, coatis in the Australia house, etc. In addition, the entire first floor of the venomous creatures house contains the distinctly non-venomous large tortoises and pythons, as well as warty pigs for some reason.

 

[SeaOtterHQ]

I briefly mentioned this much earlier in the thread, but according to locals, Sóstó Zoo in Nyíregyházi has surpassed Budapest Zoo as Hungary's premier zoo in terms of both collection and exhibit quality. They seem to take lots of pride in Sóstó as Hungary's counterpart to zoos like Beauval, Prague, and Wroclaw. Based on the pictures/videos I've seen online, I'm not quite convinced it's on that level, but it'd be great if a Zoochatter could take a trip there and give us a more thorough review of the place!

 

[pachyderm pro]

Alpenzoo Innsbruck

After spending the last month and a half largely traveling east of Vienna, me and others in my cohort decided it was finally time to explore central/western Austria. We planned an elaborate weekend centered around two locations. By accommodating both stops in conjunction with an effort to save every penny to our name, we somehow managed to book the most convoluted, exhausting, comically inefficient route to Innsbruck imaginable. We left shortly after midnight and ended up powering through a three hour layover in the small city of Wels. This would have been a great chance to check out the city's small but free tierpark, except it was 3:00 AM so nothing was open and nobody besides a few rowdy characters was out. Picture five sleep-deprived college students aimlessly wandering through this place in search of anything to kill time. Then it was off to the famous village of Hallstatt which was indeed as insanely beautiful as it was insanely touristy. After ten hours there (way more than necessary…) we were back on a train and reached our connection at Salzburg, from there finally arriving at Innsbruck just before midnight the next day. Within a 24 hour timeframe I stepped foot in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Wels, getting maybe two hours of sleep in total and tracking over 35,000 steps. The study abroad experience continues to be one of pushing limits!

After passing out at the hostel half past midnight and getting the sleep of the dead, I awoke rejuvenated and was eager to see what’s largely considered the greatest native species zoo in all of Europe – and I must concur. The alpenzoo is magnificent! Everything that makes a successful zoo is on show here. The location is immaculate, linking the city to the mountains and evoking the feeling of hiking through nature better than any European zoo I’ve visited thus far. There’s a real sense of museum-esque professionalism that shines through in the interpretive material, guest amenities, and the exhibits themselves. I wish more traditional zoos would adopt this sort of living museum style of presentation. My only real complaint (if I have to choose one) is that the layout is a little odd with several dead ends at key areas, but considering the relatively smaller size of the zoo that is the nitpickiest of nitpicks.

The alpenzoo does pretty much everything extraordinary well, but it’s the small gems where the zoo shines its brightest. This is immediately apparent in the pair of aquarium buildings near the entrance. Both feature an assortment of mostly small, but beautifully scaped tanks spread throughout for a variety of native fish and other creatures. It all gets easily overshadowed however by the brilliant coldwater tank which is apparently the largest of its kind. This display is an open-topped recreation of an Alpine watershed and features tons of larger fish found in the Alps. A highly engaging sturgeon was the superstar, but the scene as a whole was so captivating with its crystal clear blue water. It can also be viewed from the top where the surrounding landscape is just as sublime. Such a terrific showcase that I could’ve stared at for hours.

Coldwater Aquarium (underwater view)

Coldwater Aquarium (surface view)

Excellence in the little things continues with the outdoor terrariums for local herps (mostly snakes). I’ve seen some amazing examples of these kinds of vivaria over these last few weeks from Vienna to Prague to even Blumengärten Hirschstetten. Yet these are without competition the most carefully crafted reptile displays I’ve ever seen. It felt like peering at windows into little slices of Alpine landscapes. They are highly generous in size and even without the animals make for lovely dioramas. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see a few of the inhabitants like the ocellated lizard, Aesculpian snake and alpine newts, who I all expected to be hibernating by now. Could you imagine an entire reptile house with displays of this quality?

Ladder Snake Exhibit

Alpine Newt Exhibit

Ocellated Lizard

Beyond the small wonders of the Alps, avian denizens are another clear strength here. Only the series of small bird cages within the waterfowl walkthrough felt a bit tight, but in all fairness the inhabitants are pretty tiny themselves. There’s a terrific golden eagle aviary, a quaint collection of owl aviaires, lifeticks like black woodpecker and wallcreeper, and two superb walkthrough vulture aviaries. One was void of any animals for some reason, but the other may be my single favorite enclosure in the zoo. The bearded vulture aviary is masterful! Beautiful species in a beautifully designed enclosure with a beautiful view of the city in the background. Another one of those exhibits you could just linger at for ages and not get bored. I only wish I could’ve seen the marmots up and about as well who cohabitate with the birds.

Bearded Vulture and Alpine Marmot Aviary

Golden Eagle Aviary

Waterfowl Aviary

Most of the larger mammals have enclosures that are more than adequate, though certainly not the largest of their kind. They often make up for the somewhat limited space by being both well structured and landscaped. The brown bear yard for example is only approximately 5,000 square feet, yet feels far bigger thanks to the densely forested landscape and varied terrain. The largest hoofstock like wisents, moose and roe deer are similarly found in sloping yards that compensate for a smaller footprint. Not sure if this was just temporary, but the wild boar were sandwiched between the two wisent yards in a paddock that couldn’t be viewed properly. However, they were signed in the closest yard where one of the bison bulls was. Not sure what was happening there.

Brown Bear Exhibit

Moose Exhibit

There were also several genuine standouts in the mammal department. A spacious lynx enclosure was among them where one of the inhabitants was lounging at the top of a large tree – amazing! An active pine marten running around with its lunch was even more exciting and one of the handful of mammal rarities I was able to check off here (no polecats for me sadly). Lovely spaces for red foxes, badgers and wolves at the top of the zoo as well, though viewing for the wolves was pretty awkward even from the very highest lookout point. However, it was definitely the caprid enclosures that were the clear highlight. Chamois are a stunning species and it’s possible to get a view of them at the top of their rocky enclosure with the city in the background. Didn't work out for me, but I was more than content observing these awesome goat-antelopes from below. Just as powerful was the semi-walkthrough ibex enclosure a bit further up the hill. I doubt the ibex actually come to the main path very often, but it was still thrilling to get so close with minimal barriers. The American mind cannot comprehend such a concept!

Wolf Exhibit

Walkthrough Alpine Ibex Exhibit

Chamois

Worth noting that this marked the first zoo in Europe that I visited with others. It seemed like a good choice since it isn't massive and has a specialty that makes it more alluring to non-zoo/animal nerds. They had a pretty good time as far as I can tell, especially enjoying the bear exhibit and the coldwater aquarium. However, take a wild guess what exhibit caught their attention the most… the domestics farm area of course. After visiting so many zoological establishments in search of the most innovative exhibits and rare species, it’s easy to forget that simply making that animal-human connection is the main goal. They had so much fun feeding cows and petting sheep which made it a highlight for me in return. The farm section is actually quite nice on its own with a nice variety of cool Alpine breeds.

Alpine Farm

It should be obvious by now that I adored the alpenzoo. It has a clear theme and executes it brilliantly with exactly zero blemishes. The collection is about as holistic as you can reasonably ask for with many extreme rarities even by European standards in all categories. Exhibit quality is consistently high with a long list of enclosures that are remarkable. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is the natural U.S. equivalent of a region-focused specialist zoo and whenever I get around to visiting it (fingers crossed for next year) I’m hopeful it can match the quality of what I experienced here. Also want to mention that the gift shop might be the best I’ve seen in any zoo with an amazing number of high quality offerings, even branded wine. Can’t recommend this wonderful facility enough and the city of Innsbruck in general greatly surpassed expectations as well. Absolutely worth those ridiculous 48 hours of travel.

 

[PossumRoach]

The American mind cannot comprehend such a concept

I knew someone had to say this on this thread sooner or later.

 

[Batto]

Within a 24 hour timeframe I stepped foot in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Wels,

And not paying any of the zoological institutions in Salzburg a visit. For shame Sir, for shame!

Could you imagine an entire reptile house with displays of this quality?

Working on it. One day, maybe; one day...

Based on what I posted at Snow Leopards in Europe today, it wouldn't be zoogeographically wrong to keep snow leopards next to (Pyrenean) chamois. However, most modern zoo visitors would probably be mentally overstrained to understand the chronology.

 

[pachyderm pro]

And not paying any of the zoological institutions in Salzburg a visit. For shame Sir, for shame!

Perhaps if I was there for longer than seven minutes. Expect to hear from me in the coming weeks.

 

[Batto]

Expect to hear from me in the coming weeks.

You better hurry; in a month from today, I'm going to be at Ueno Zoo.

 

[lintworm]

Back to Czechia for a zoo that nearly missed the cut for this trip. Being somewhat unfamiliar with the zoo minus a few key details, I briefly doubted if it would be worth a visit especially considering the city of Ostrava is thoroughly uninteresting despite being the third most populated in the country. I was also getting over a cold so while the idea of having a lazy weekend sounded enticing, I purchased some train tickets on a whim and next thing you know I was three hours North. This is one of the latest notable zoos within day tripping distance of Vienna so it would've felt wrong to leave it out. Suffice to say giving this one a swerve would’ve been a big mistake.

You know that there is a must see zoos thread for Europe too? It exists for a reason...

Alpenzoo Innsbruck

After spending the last month and a half largely traveling east of Vienna, me and others in my cohort decided it was finally time to explore central/western Austria. We planned an elaborate weekend centered around two locations. By accommodating both stops in conjunction with an effort to save every penny to our name, we somehow managed to book the most convoluted, exhausting, comically inefficient route to Innsbruck imaginable. We left shortly after midnight and ended up powering through a three hour layover in the small city of Wels. This would have been a great chance to check out the city's small but free tierpark, except it was 3:00 AM so nothing was open and nobody besides a few rowdy characters was out. Picture five sleep-deprived college students aimlessly wandering through this place in search of anything to kill time. Then it was off to the famous village of Hallstatt which was indeed as insanely beautiful as it was insanely touristy. After ten hours there (way more than necessary…) we were back on a train and reached our connection at Salzburg, from there finally arriving at Innsbruck just before midnight the next day. Within a 24 hour timeframe I stepped foot in Vienna, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Wels, getting maybe two hours of sleep in total and tracking over 35,000 steps. The study abroad experience continues to be one of pushing limits!

After passing out at the hostel half past midnight and getting the sleep of the dead, I awoke rejuvenated and was eager to see what’s largely considered the greatest native species zoo in all of Europe – and I must concur. The alpenzoo is magnificent! Everything that makes a successful zoo is on show here. The location is immaculate, linking the city to the mountains and evoking the feeling of hiking through nature better than any European zoo I’ve visited thus far. There’s a real sense of museum-esque professionalism that shines through in the interpretive material, guest amenities, and the exhibits themselves. I wish more traditional zoos would adopt this sort of living museum style of presentation. My only real complaint (if I have to choose one) is that the layout is a little odd with several dead ends at key areas, but considering the relatively smaller size of the zoo that is the nitpickiest of nitpicks.

The alpenzoo does pretty much everything extraordinary well, but it’s the small gems where the zoo shines its brightest. This is immediately apparent in the pair of aquarium buildings near the entrance. Both feature an assortment of mostly small, but beautifully scaped tanks spread throughout for a variety of native fish and other creatures. It all gets easily overshadowed however by the brilliant coldwater tank which is apparently the largest of its kind. This display is an open-topped recreation of an Alpine watershed and features tons of larger fish found in the Alps. A highly engaging sturgeon was the superstar, but the scene as a whole was so captivating with its crystal clear blue water. It can also be viewed from the top where the surrounding landscape is just as sublime. Such a terrific showcase that I could’ve stared at for hours.

Coldwater Aquarium (underwater view)

Coldwater Aquarium (surface view)

Excellence in the little things continues with the outdoor terrariums for local herps (mostly snakes). I’ve seen some amazing examples of these kinds of vivaria over these last few weeks from Vienna to Prague to even Blumengärten Hirschstetten. Yet these are without competition the most carefully crafted reptile displays I’ve ever seen. It felt like peering at windows into little slices of Alpine landscapes. They are highly generous in size and even without the animals make for lovely dioramas. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see a few of the inhabitants like the ocellated lizard, Aesculpian snake and alpine newts, who I all expected to be hibernating by now. Could you imagine an entire reptile house with displays of this quality?

Ladder Snake Exhibit

Alpine Newt Exhibit

Ocellated Lizard

Beyond the small wonders of the Alps, avian denizens are another clear strength here. Only the series of small bird cages within the waterfowl walkthrough felt a bit tight, but in all fairness the inhabitants are pretty tiny themselves. There’s a terrific golden eagle aviary, a quaint collection of owl aviaires, lifeticks like black woodpecker and wallcreeper, and two superb walkthrough vulture aviaries. One was void of any animals for some reason, but the other may be my single favorite enclosure in the zoo. The bearded vulture aviary is masterful! Beautiful species in a beautifully designed enclosure with a beautiful view of the city in the background. Another one of those exhibits you could just linger at for ages and not get bored. I only wish I could’ve seen the marmots up and about as well who cohabitate with the birds.

Bearded Vulture and Alpine Marmot Aviary

Golden Eagle Aviary

Waterfowl Aviary

Most of the larger mammals have enclosures that are more than adequate, though certainly not the largest of their kind. They often make up for the somewhat limited space by being both well structured and landscaped. The brown bear yard for example is only approximately 5,000 square feet, yet feels far bigger thanks to the densely forested landscape and varied terrain. The largest hoofstock like wisents, moose and roe deer are similarly found in sloping yards that compensate for a smaller footprint. Not sure if this was just temporary, but the wild boar were sandwiched between the two wisent yards in a paddock that couldn’t be viewed properly. However, they were signed in the closest yard where one of the bison bulls was. Not sure what was happening there.

Brown Bear Exhibit

Moose Exhibit

There were also several genuine standouts in the mammal department. A spacious lynx enclosure was among them where one of the inhabitants was lounging at the top of a large tree – amazing! An active pine marten running around with its lunch was even more exciting and one of the handful of mammal rarities I was able to check off here (no polecats for me sadly). Lovely spaces for red foxes, badgers and wolves at the top of the zoo as well, though viewing for the wolves was pretty awkward even from the very highest lookout point. However, it was definitely the caprid enclosures that were the clear highlight. Chamois are a stunning species and it’s possible to get a view of them at the top of their rocky enclosure with the city in the background. Didn't work out for me, but I was more than content observing these awesome goat-antelopes from below. Just as powerful was the semi-walkthrough ibex enclosure a bit further up the hill. I doubt the ibex actually come to the main path very often, but it was still thrilling to get so close with minimal barriers. The American mind cannot comprehend such a concept!

Wolf Exhibit

Walkthrough Alpine Ibex Exhibit

Chamois

Worth noting that this marked the first zoo in Europe that I visited with others. It seemed like a good choice since it isn't massive and has a specialty that makes it more alluring to non-zoo/animal nerds. They had a pretty good time as far as I can tell, especially enjoying the bear exhibit and the coldwater aquarium. However, take a wild guess what exhibit caught their attention the most… the domestics farm area of course. After visiting so many zoological establishments in search of the most innovative exhibits and rare species, it’s easy to forget that simply making that animal-human connection is the main goal. They had so much fun feeding cows and petting sheep which made it a highlight for me in return. The farm section is actually quite nice on its own with a nice variety of cool Alpine breeds.

Alpine Farm

It should be obvious by now that I adored the alpenzoo. It has a clear theme and executes it brilliantly with exactly zero blemishes. The collection is about as holistic as you can reasonably ask for with many extreme rarities even by European standards in all categories. Exhibit quality is consistently high with a long list of enclosures that are remarkable. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is the natural U.S. equivalent of a region-focused specialist zoo and whenever I get around to visiting it (fingers crossed for next year) I’m hopeful it can match the quality of what I experienced here. Also want to mention that the gift shop might be the best I’ve seen in any zoo with an amazing number of high quality offerings, even branded wine. Can’t recommend this wonderful facility enough and the city of Innsbruck in general greatly surpassed expectations as well. Absolutely worth those ridiculous 48 hours of travel.

Glad you enjoyed the Alpenzoo (though I never doubted you would ).

The wild boars are normally mixed with the wisent and yes the ibex sometimes do come very close to the path.

The good news for you is you didn't miss any polecats, Alpenzoo keeps domestic ferrets that look like polecats and not the real thing.

Did you see the Bavarian pine vole, or was their enclosure still under maintenance?

 

[pachyderm pro]

You know that there is a must see zoos thread for Europe too? It exists for a reason...

Yeah yeah I'm aware. I was just burnt out that week after a hectic first month abroad and wasn't feeling 100%. Rereading that thread actually helped tip the scales in Ostrava's favor and it ended up being a much easier day trip than expected.

Did you see the Bavarian pine vole, or was their enclosure still under maintenance?

Is that the terrarium at the ground level of the tower near the wolves? If so then yes it was under maintenance.

 

[birdsandbats]

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is the natural U.S. equivalent of a region-focused specialist zoo and whenever I get around to visiting it (fingers crossed for next year) I’m hopeful it can match the quality of what I experienced here.

I'm very sorry you're in for a disappointment there. I haven't visited Innsbruck, of course, but even just looking at your review I can tell you it easily exceeds ASDM, at least in ASDM's current state.