DAY 16: Monday, July 29th (4 zoos)
Enjoy 3,300 more words...
Zoo/Aquarium # 45: Wildpark Dunnwald (Cologne, DE)
This is another German Wildpark, but it is nowhere near the quality of Wildpark Gangelt (which I toured a few days ago) due to the lack of species. Dunnwald has vast enclosures that are so large that I walked around for a long time and then made a loop to get my vehicle and drove the rest of the way. There are a couple of multi-acre European Wild Boar exhibits, a small herd of Mouflon, loads of Fallow Deer and a nice herd of Wisent. Those are the 4 species that I saw, but the park is certainly large and not really conducive to a walking visit. There are some vending machines that disperse food for a small amount of change, and the highlight of this place (which is accessible 24 hours per day and can be seen free of charge) is when I walked up to the wild boar paddock and at least a dozen of them came running over at top speed. Breakfast!!!! I didn’t feed them, and they seemed utterly disgusted with me as they’d just made a supreme effort to acknowledge my presence. It was time for them to lay down in the mud, while I was off to a fantastic zoo.
I then drove 20 minutes to Kolner Zoo.
Zoo/Aquarium # 46: Kolner Zoo (Cologne, DE)
The zoo opened in 1860 but after being destroyed during World War II it closed for two years and reopened in 1947. Cologne has huge visitor numbers, and depending on which website you look at the annual attendance can be anywhere from 1.2 million to 1.7 million…can anyone supply the latest IZY data? The site is a good size but not huge (54 acres/22 hectares) but it feels larger because there is so much to see in this comprehensive zoo. I loved Cologne Zoo and I think that at least 80% of it is very good; no wonder some people rank it as one of the very best zoos in all of Europe. There are some poor sections, which I’ll get to later, but first let us take a glance at some of the gems. For many years on ZooChat I completed my first couple of hundred zoo reviews in a Best, Average, Worst set of exhibits and I’m going to resurrect that approach for today.
THE BEST:
What blew my mind is that I personally saw 170 exhibits before I even walked through the turnstiles and spoke with one of the ticket ushers. How is that possible? Well, at Cologne Zoo one buys a ticket and before going into the zoo’s ‘proper’ entrance turnstiles/gates, there is a massive structure that is part Aquarium, part Reptile House and part Insectarium. It’s truly fantastic, with exhibits of a very high quality and an introduction to the animal kingdom that is just about unparalleled in any zoo in the world.
Aquarium = 68 exhibits
Reptile House = 60 exhibits
Insectarium = 42 exhibits (including the short walk-through butterfly area)
TOTAL = 170 exhibits (yes, I really did take the time to count them all)
One could spend all day in this small part of the zoo, but I have been seeing Green Tree Pythons and various Poison Dart Frogs several times a day and I’m getting bored of them. To my delight, Cologne has a number of rarities and a terrific collection of monitor lizards. I have a lengthy, full list of all the species in the Reptile House and I’ll supply them below. However, I never do species lists for Aquariums for three reasons: so often the signage is either electronic with brutally long wait times or the screens are always broken down…or the tank inhabitants never accurately match the signs…or the sheer volume of fish is far too overwhelming with some tanks having a dozen or more species.
Aquarium highlights: Chinese Giant Salamander, Pig-nosed Turtle, Longsnout Seahorse, Lined Seahorse, Red Piranha, Long-nosed Elephant Fish, Archerfish, Figure Eight Puffer, Red Fire Sakura Shrimp (they are so tiny!), Amano Shrimp, Mexican Blind Cave Fish, Glass Catfish, Coral Catshark, Australian Lungfish and Giant Clam.
Reptile House species list (58 species): Philippine Crocodile, New Guinea Ground Boa, Tartar Sand Boa, Green Tree Python, Stimson’s Python, Rough-scaled Python, Diamond Python, Red Bamboo Snake, Purple Kukri Snake, Rhinoceros Snake, Scarlet Kingsnake, Blue-spotted Tree Monitor, Quince Monitor Lizard, Rainer Gunther’s Monitor, Common Water Monitor, Turquoise Monitor, Line-tailed Pygmy Monitor, Yellow-banded Philippine Water Monitor, Black-backed Mangrove Monitor Lizard, Green Tree Monitor, Lau Banded Iguana, Rhinoceros Iguana, Cryptic Golden Tegu, Panther Chameleon, Chinese Cave Gecko, Manapany Day Gecko, Yellow-headed Gecko, Marbled Gecko, Giant Day Gecko, Golden Gecko, Chinese Crocodile Lizard, Collared Iguanid Lizard, Bronze Mabuya, Dwarf Bearded Dragon, Mountain Horned Dragon, Natalia’s Pricklenape, Chinese Water Skink, Fire Skink, Many-lined Sun Skink, Solomon Island Skink, Vietnamese Forest Lizard, Reeves’ Butterfly Lizard, Burmese Starred Tortoise, Chinese Striped-necked Turtle, Black-breasted Leaf Turtle, Santa Fe Frog, Spot-legged Tree Frog, Small Tree Frog, Black-spotted Stream Frog, Yellow Stream Frog, Indonesian Floating Frog, Bloody Bay Poison Frog, Yellow-banded Poison Dart Frog, Phantasmal Poison Dart Frog, Bony-headed Toad, Cayenne Stubfoot Toad, Vietnamese Newt and Yunnan Newt.
Cologne’s Reptile House is lacking the large assortment of venomous snakes that are common in American zoos, with some places in Texas having copious amounts of rattlesnakes, mambas and boomslangs in every room. No matter, Cologne has a staggering 9 monitor species and some really ‘choice’ representatives of lizards and frogs. A great selection of reptiles/amphibians and I only wish it was a larger collection.
Insectarium highlights (as at least half the signs had no English words on them): Darkling Beetle, Leaf-cutter Ant, Praying Mantis, Walking Stick Insect, Giant Millipede, Indian Ornamental Tarantula, Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider, Cayenne Caecilian, plus Yellow-headed Poison Frog, Dyeing Poison Frog and Strawberry Poison Frog in the very small butterfly walk-through zone (which had zero butterflies during my visit even though signs were up).
Taking off on a tangent for a second, at this point in the trip I’ve toured 6 establishments with significant reptile collections and these numbers also include a few invertebrates:
Reptilien Zoo Iguana, NL, had 77 species in mainly dull exhibits.
Serpentarium Blanckenberge, BE, had 89 species in excellent exhibits.
Antwerp Zoo, BE, had 77 species in excellent exhibits.
Pairi Daiza, BE, is a place where I did not do a species count in the Reptile House. The quantity was there but the exhibits were disappointing, and labelling was atrocious.
Frankfurt Zoo had 81 species in excellent exhibits.
Cologne Zoo had 58 species in excellent exhibits plus a few in the Aquarium section.
Judging from various threads on ZooChat, I’ve probably now seen three of the very best reptile collections at major zoos (Antwerp, Frankfurt and Cologne) in all of Europe, right? Would that be correct? Naturally, Berlin, Wroclaw and others would be part of that discussion. Serpentarium Blankenberge is of course ‘just’ a Reptile Zoo but that place is an underrated gem with probably one of the best venomous snake collections on the continent due to what appears to be a paucity of venomous snakes in major zoos. One could state the case that I’ve theoretically visited FOUR of the best reptile houses in Europe.
After the triple threat of the Reptile House/Aquarium/Insectarium, which with 170 exhibits is probably four times larger than the average one of its kind, the zoo is also known for its Asian Elephants. The enormous Elephant House is the largest I’ve ever seen and there probably aren’t too many larger on the planet. It’s awe-inspiring and a perfect example of how to design a huge ‘barn’ to keep pachyderms inside during chilly German winters. I have it in my notes, pre-road trip edition, that the whole elephant complex is 6 acres/2.5 hectares (including the house) and that seems about right. There was a sign posted, giving information on all 16 of the zoo’s elephants, a staggering total and there was a tiny baby amongst them. In fact, several generations of elephants in several exhibits in an impressive amount of space with tons of enrichment devices all adds up to a premier zoo habitat. I sat there for a long time watching them and seeing the elephants play and sift through the huge piles of sand was simply awesome.
The Hippo/Crocodile House is also fantastic, with Common Hippos having a spacious outdoor area (one of the largest I’ve seen) which they share with at least 5 Sitatunga. Seeing the hippos waddle out of the sandy section, past some Sitatunga, which scatter, and into the deep pool indoors was a terrific sight. There are some similarities with Blijdorp with this big Hippo/Croc House, but Cologne wins as its Nile Crocodile pool is incredibly deep and rewarding to see. Plus, the building has species such as Aardvark, Least Spiny Mouse, Rodrigues Flying Fox, Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec, Red-legged Sun Squirrel, West African Mud Turtle, Common Agama plus half-a-dozen bird species flying all over the place. There is nothing in an American zoo that does anything on this scale for Common Hippos.
The Great Ape House at Cologne is, for the most part, excellent. Lowland Gorillas are yet again paired with another species in a European zoo (this time it is King Colobus) in a decent outdoor yard that has a peculiar design. A single Red-shanked Douc Langur and a single East Javan Langur were together in an exhibit that is dire, as if they were already extinct creatures of the zoo world. There are Pygmy Marmosets, Weddell’s Tamarins, Lion-tailed Macaques, Bonobos and Bornean Orangutans sitting on the floor in an outdoor habitat with a ton of climbing opportunities. A very good Great Ape House with some rarities, some nice exhibits and with only a few flaws.
Bird Zone is the appellation that I’m giving to a section on the far left-hand side of the zoo. A visitor comes across some basic yet well-done aviaries and then what appears to be a set of ruins where a door (practically hidden away and not calling attention to itself) opens up into a viewing area that is almost like stepping into the closet in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I scarcely remember that novel from my childhood but the sense of discovery at Cologne is there with this bird area. There is a whole line of tastefully-designed aviaries with a long list of species. The highlights for me were these: Western Capercaillie, Bush Thick-knee, Boat-billed Heron and a Western Long-tailed Hornbill flying all around because its keeper was pruning some trees in the aviary. Throughout the zoo there are also Inca Terns, penguins, cranes, a ton of waterfowl (probably one lake too many!), but, somewhat surprisingly, the zoo of this stature and historic relevance lacks a traditional Bird House.
THE AVERAGE:
A good chunk of the zoo is very solid, dependable and enjoyable. The Giraffe House is adequate, with Ring-tailed Mongooses as a bonus in a side exhibit. The Rhino House consumes a great deal of space for what appears to be a single Black Rhino (seen behind glass in some areas!), a few Red River Hogs and an aviary with yet more waterfowl. Paddocks for American Bison and Muskox are excellent, and with historical value, and there are very good enclosures for species such as Banteng (but no more deer in with them?), Red Panda, Meerkat, European Otter, Cheetah, Onager, Przewalski’s Horse, Bactrian Camel, Lowland Tapir and several others. Everything I just named is borderline ‘best’ category as it’s very nicely done.
The big Tropical House (Regenwald) isn’t a world-beater but it’s definitely not something that anyone would want to skip during a zoo visit. Sugar Gliders, Northern Giant Cloud Rats and Woylies greet visitors in a nocturnal section, and then a jungle path, stinky and hot like a real tropical setting, becomes the norm. There are many free-flying birds (around 20 species), Small-clawed Otters, Lyle’s Flying Foxes somewhere up in the heights, White-handed Gibbons (still labeled as ‘Lar’ like at many zoos on this trip), Prevost’s Squirrels, Matschie’s Tree Kangaroos and a variety of smaller creatures in terrariums. It’s another solid, dependable part of Cologne Zoo.
There is a big cat area with Asian Lions (currently off exhibit), tigers (later this year) and a couple of excellent, new-looking habitats for Persian Leopards and Snow Leopards. As for bears, there is a single grotto for Brown Bears (labeled as actual Grizzlies) that is far too small and dull for that species. There are three Sun Bear exhibits and those well-furnished grottoes work better for the much smaller ursine, but they are still a weaker section of the zoo. A Small Monkey House isn’t my favourite as it’s essentially a greenhouse with tons of glare, but the species list is very nice indeed: Red Howler Monkey (at least 4 of them), Yellow-breasted Capuchin, Cotton-top Tamarin, Red-handed Tamarin and Red-bellied Tamarin.
THE WORST:
The Madagascar House is a relic, and something needs to be done about it. There are some of those big metal balls that don’t seem to have been occupied for a very long time, with ladders and tools on the far right-hand side of the house indicating that the area there was also not accessible by lemurs. Even the left-hand side of the house had some bordered-up sections and so at the moment it seems that none of the lemurs can go outside. Does anyone have an update? There are 5 species listed (Red Ruffed, Black and White Ruffed, Greater Bamboo, Blue-eyed Black and then Goodman’s Mouse Lemur in a separate area), but none of them had outdoor access during my visit and that meant cement floors and rather rudimentary climbing frames inside. Those giant metal balls are not very aesthetically pleasing and seem like something that should be designated to a sci-fi novel.
The Hamadryas Baboon exhibit is very popular, as I passed by it on at least three occasions and there was always a crowd watching the huge numbers of baboons. In North American zoos there simply aren’t 60 or more baboons in a single enclosure, and after here and at ZOOM Gelsenkirchen in a few days time (probably 50 Olive Baboons) it makes for an entertaining troop of noise, chatter and family dynamics. At Cologne, on a hot day, not even one of all of those baboons ever went up on the mock-rock ‘blob’ because it’s probably like stepping onto a hot oven. Therefore, the bottom section is a terribly congested exhibit for the animals and those kind of ‘Baboon Blobs’ have been getting demolished in North American zoos for decades. In my opinion European zoos are usually better at showcasing primates in comparison to U.S. zoos, but not with baboons.
Europe might ‘win’ for the quality of their reptile terrariums, primate exhibits (mostly), Elephant Houses, historic architecture, etc., but American zoos ‘win’ with pinnipeds without a shadow of a doubt. What I’ve seen, so far, is zoo after zoo with basic swimming pool designs for seals, or boring tanks for sea lions. Even small American zoos, like the WCS facilities, all have engaging sea lion displays with mock-rock, naturalistic backdrops that look like there is an attempt at recreating nature. Cologne has an old California Sea Lion pool that looks kind of junky, was halfway drained during my visit, and then I saw 5 pinnipeds crammed into a tiny pool where they all couldn’t even fit into the water at the same time. Obviously, it was an off day for whatever reason (and I did see a youngster in the group), but whether it is Artis, Antwerp, Blijdrop (messy, fogged-up windows), Cologne, Neuwied, Deltapark Neeltje Jans Aquarium, Bergen aan Zee Aquarium, Boudewijn Seapark, Wuppertal (review coming tomorrow), Dortmund (ditto)…there is a litany of disappointing pinniped pools. Pairi Daiza has an excellent South African Fur Seal exhibit, a huge beach and lake for Harbour Seals and an outstanding Steller’s Sea Lion habitat. That zoo has THREE amazing pinniped exhibits and the other 10 zoos I listed are all mediocre by comparison. Pairi Daiza just surged up another notch…haha!
OVERALL:
Cologne is a great zoo, with a whole series of excellent structures and my guess is that it will be one of the very top zoos I’ll see on this trip. The Reptile House, Aquarium, Insectarium, Hippo/Croc House, Great Ape House and Elephant House add up to 6 animal houses that are all right up there as amongst the absolute best of their kind in all of Europe. That is a stupendous achievement as some zoos don’t even have one area that is up with the best and Cologne easily has 6 sections that stand-out as exemplary. There’s still a whole zoo to see beyond those buildings, and much of it is very good. The three major blackmarks are the baboons, sea lions and lemur complex and I personally would love to see the zoo revamp or destroy all three of those areas as they are unwarranted eyesores. There are already two exhibits in the pipeline, with a spacious Tiger habitat nearing completion right next to the lions (although the public will still be looking down on the big cats in a reworked grotto), and a South American House that opens in 2021. It is obviously an existing building as it looks like an immense yellow castle, and posters are advertising sloths, marmosets, macaws, toucans and even what appears to be an Ocelot…some kind of small indoor jungle? It will surely be yet another solid addition to one of Germany’s best zoos.
It was getting late in the afternoon, but I then drove 30 minutes to yet another German ‘Wildpark’.
Zoo/Aquarium # 47: Wildpark Reuschenberg (Leverkusen, DE)
This facility opened as a deer park in 1976 and has broadened its collection to include more than just a few ungulates. I was surprised to see how busy it was because I walked at a leisurely pace and saw the whole thing in about 30 minutes. It’s sort of exciting to see that German families will take time out of their days, late on a Monday afternoon, to walk around a small, obscure zoo. My tour took me past a Shorebird Aviary, a trio of terrariums for Leopard Snake, Ocellated Lizard and Hermman’s Tortoise, species such as Eurasian Otter, Red Fox, Eurasian Lynx, European Wildcat, Alpaca, Ferret, another otter exhibit, Fallow Deer, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Barn Owl, European Scops Owl, Griffon Vulture, European Herring Gull, Common Raven, Marbled Teal, European White Stork, Black Stork and Common Crane. A pleasant-enough diversion and with a few nice species for a Canadian zoo nerd to see on his travels.
I then drove 30 minutes to my 4th and final zoo of the day.
Zoo/Aquarium # 48: Solinger Vogel-und Tierpark (Bird and Animal Park) (Solingen, DE)
Bring on the excitement of wallabies, ravens, crows, budgies, cockatoos, macaws, Maras, Coatis, a couple of African Grey Hornbills, Red-billed Hornbills, a Serval, various owls and pheasants, Kookaburras, a Red Fox with an Arctic Fox, a Striped Skunk and European Wildcats. The only true surprise was seeing my daily dose of Raccoons…with Raccoon Dogs! That messed with the minds of the visitors, because the Raccoon Dog sign was slightly covered by some leaves and a few visitors were scratching their heads in disbelief. Apparently, this place opened almost 100 years ago, and things haven’t improved much since those days.
I got to my first zoo (Dunnwald) at approximately 7:30 a.m. and when I finished my last zoo, grabbed some dinner (KFC as I don’t ever have the inclination or time for a solo sit-down restaurant) and landed in my hotel it was 8:00 p.m. What a day! What a long, hot shower! This vacation is exhausting, with a ton of walking, but it is still unbelievable…another 4 zoos in the bag…whew!
