The latter half of this segment has been giving me trouble for some time, but in the name of getting things going I'm just uploading it as-is
Part IV: Antelope House and Hoofstock Paddocks
The Antelope House at Zoo Berlin is one of the oldest surviving structures in the collection, dating back to 1872, and also one of the most attractive in my opinion. In former days, I believe the paddocks surrounding the house held up to a dozen different taxa - however these days the house contains only four taxa, which are each allotted more space as a result. The paddocks were reasonably well planted and pleasant in appearance, with a number of mature trees growing within them, but were by no means unusual as hoofstock paddocks go. The taxa we observed in the paddocks were as follows:
Western Sitatunga (
Tragelaphus spekii gratus)
Defassa Waterbuck (
Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa)
Giraffe (no ssp status) (
Giraffa camelopardalis)
Kafue Lechwe (
Kobus leche kafuensis)
However, the main attraction of the house is as a piece of architecture in its own right; constructed in a Moorish style with yellow-gold stonework complemented by blue and red tiling, topped by minarets surrounding a central glass roof. Within, the indoor viewing area was well-planted - particularly in the central area of the house, a bright and airy room which performed a primarily decorative function. Moreover, there were a number of rather pleasant-looking paintings and other such decorations over the doors into the interior of the house.
After leaving the Antelope House, we followed Markus on a roundabout route through various hoofstock enclosures which he had not had the chance to visit whilst myself and Hel had still been within the Aquarium, on our way to the extension to the zoo which had opened in 1987.
We first briefly passed by one corner of the Ibex Mountain enclosure, which comprised a set of rocky cliffs and peaks very reminiscent in appearance to the Mappin Terraces at ZSL London Zoo, albeit in rather better condition and much more realistic, being apparently constructed with the use of real stone. We intended to visit this portion of the collection properly later in the day, housing as it did a number of species which rather interested us. However, whilst passing the enclosure we took the time to observe the group of
West Caucasian Tur (
Capra caucasica) which had recently arrived into the collection, having replaced a group of Cretan Wild Goat. The Tur were making full use of the enclosure, demonstrating very well the prodigious ability of caprines to ascend near-vertical cliff-faces and slopes with ease.
We next passed through another of the oldest remaining parts of Zoo Berlin, the Deer Territory, which comprised a number of deer paddocks and houses more or less located in the centre of the collection. Although much of the zoo had to be restored or rebuilt following the damage inflicted by World War II, three of the deer houses still remain in their original condition having been built in the closing years of the 19th century. The area as a whole was reasonably well-vegetated, being located in a shady wooded area of the zoo, and contained the following species:
Taiga Musk Deer (
Moschus moschiferus)
Chinese Water Deer (
Hydropotes inermis inermis)
Reeve's Muntjac (
Muntiacus reevesi)
Chital (
Axis axis)
Visayan Spotted Deer (
Rusa alfredi)
Indian Swamp Deer (
Rucervus duvaucelii)
Japanese Sika Deer (
Cervus nippon nippon)
Fallow Deer (
Dama dama)
Pere David's Deer (
Elaphurus davidianus)
Southern Pudu (Pudu puda)
Eurasian Forest Reindeer (
Rangifer tarandus fennicus)
We next briefly passed the Cattle Section, which lies just north of the Deer Territory and like the aforementioned area is one of the oldest parts of the collection, albeit with much less remaining of the original structures. This area contains a rather decent collection of cattle taxa, although the rarest taxon held - the Mountain Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) - is permanently offshow. The selection of taxa held on-display is, however, no less rich for this omission, comprising the following:
Hornless Domestic Yak (
Bos grunniens)
South European Waterbuffalo (
Bubalus bubalis)
Plains Buffalo (
Bison bison bison)
European Wisent (
Bison bonasus)
Indian Gaur (
Bos gaurus gaurus)
Javan Banteng (
Bos javanicus javanicus)
Congo Buffalo (
Syncerus caffer nanus)
Lowland Anoa (
Bubalus depressicornis)
Our route next took us past one side of the Seal Enclosure, a complex of three pools with sandstone cliffs providing a backdrop. The two pools which we observed at this point in time contained
Eastern Atlantic Harbour Seal (
Phoca vitulina vitulina) in one, and a mix of
Northern Fur Seal (
Callorhinus ursinus) and
Cape Fur Seal (
Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) in the other. The latter enclosure had formerly contained a group of Cape Fur Seal, but all but one animal had recently left the collection due to the arrival of two female Northern Fur Seal. This turn of events had rather pleased myself and Hel, as it meant our trip would still provide us with a pinniped lifetick - something which had been in doubt due to the passing of the final Baikal Seal at Leipzig in late 2013. The two Fur Seal taxa were mixed when we visited, and seemed to interact well and with no conflict visible, and the pools seemed reasonably spacious and pleasant to look at.
We next walked past a relatively large paddock containing
Grant's Zebra (
Equus quagga boehmi) and
Common Eland (
Taurotragus oryx), before reaching a thickly planted area for African ungulate species known as the "Earth House". I rather liked this area, as the thick vegetation and trees of the enclosure worked quite well in giving an impression of the natural habitat of the largely forest-living taxa housed in this area. One portion of the area housed a group of
Eastern Bongo (
Tragelaphus eurycerus isaaci), whilst another comprised a mixed enclosure for
Okapi (
Okapia johnstoni) and
Natal Red Duiker (
Cephalophus natalensis). The latter of these, of course, is a species combination which I have seen previously at Chester Zoo, and is one which seems to work very well both in terms of suitability of species and the frictionless interaction of the taxa involved. I did, however, notice that the Duikers in this collection were significantly more bold and active when compared with those I had seen previously.
Just around the corner from here, we came to a mixed enclosure for breeding groups of two antelope taxa;
Black Sable Antelope (
Hippotragus niger niger) and
Kirk's Dik-dik (
Madoqua kirkii), followed by a large breeding complex for
Eastern Black Rhinoceros (
Diceros bicornis michaeli). The indoor housing for the rhino breeding complex is off-display, but some of the outdoor enclosures for the taxon were visible to the public. The latter were pretty standard as rhinoceros enclosures go, being pleasing enough to the eye but nothing special.
Just prior to crossing the Lichtenstein Brücke, which crosses the Landwehrkanal in order to reach the zoo extension, we saw a small but no less pleasant enclosure which housed
Giant Anteater (
Myrmecophaga tridactyla).
(Attached are images of the Antelope House, a closeup of artwork over the entrance to the Antelope House, one of the houses in the Deer Territory, an example of signage from the Deer Territory, one of the paddocks surrounding the Cattle House and a statue immediately prior to the Lichtenstein Brücke)
And when I read your posts, it feels like I actually see the aquarium with my own eyes. And also the collection itself is magnificent, what other aquarium have six species of jellyfish?
