Personal Visit Highlight
Regrettably I didn't do much travelling this year (something that I intend to compensate for in 2018). My zoo visiting highlight was attending ZooHistorica at Wroclaw, my only journey abroad this year.
As always, ZooHistorica was an excellent event which provided a good opportunity to catch up with old friends. Most of the many ZooHistoricas I've attended have been held in zoos that I know well, and which I have visited many times previously, so I was pleased that this one provided the opportunity to visit somewhere new as I'd never been to Wroclaw before.
I liked Wroclaw Zoo enormously; a choice collection with interesting species, some impressive modern exhibits and some historically interesting old buildings. I'll definitely return.
Particular highlights of my Wroclaw visit were bear cuscus (a species I'd never seen before) and hartebeest (one of my favourite species and one I'd not seen for some time). The conducted tour of the old Pachyderm House given by an enthusiastic keeper, who had a great knowledge of the building's history and its former inhabitants, was another highlight.
Within the UK, my zoo visiting highlight was my first visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with its superb polar bear exhibits. (Many thanks to "Pipaluk" for doing the driving on a very long journey.)
As I've mentioned elsewhere, in another thread, I was very impressed by Yorkshire's polar bear accommodation. It was great to see polar bears with a large deep pool and a spacious land area with lots of natural vegetation.
Favourite Piece of Zoo News
Although not a particularly exciting species, my favourite zoo news was Whipsnade's acquisition of three new brown bears from Sweden. I was delighted that the rumours Whipsnade was going to stop keeping brown bears in that iconic enclosure were, apparently, unfounded.
Another favourite news item of mine was the three quolls (ex Leipzig) that arrived at Linton Zoo.
Biggest Disappointment
The most shocking news was the appalling incident in Thoiry where poachers killed a white rhinoceros and sawed off its horn.
On a personal level, my biggest disappointment was that I didn’t revisit any of my favourite foreign zoos; this is something I plan to rectify in 2018.
Regrettably I didn't do much travelling this year (something that I intend to compensate for in 2018). My zoo visiting highlight was attending ZooHistorica at Wroclaw, my only journey abroad this year.
As always, ZooHistorica was an excellent event which provided a good opportunity to catch up with old friends. Most of the many ZooHistoricas I've attended have been held in zoos that I know well, and which I have visited many times previously, so I was pleased that this one provided the opportunity to visit somewhere new as I'd never been to Wroclaw before.
I liked Wroclaw Zoo enormously; a choice collection with interesting species, some impressive modern exhibits and some historically interesting old buildings. I'll definitely return.
Particular highlights of my Wroclaw visit were bear cuscus (a species I'd never seen before) and hartebeest (one of my favourite species and one I'd not seen for some time). The conducted tour of the old Pachyderm House given by an enthusiastic keeper, who had a great knowledge of the building's history and its former inhabitants, was another highlight.
Within the UK, my zoo visiting highlight was my first visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with its superb polar bear exhibits. (Many thanks to "Pipaluk" for doing the driving on a very long journey.)
As I've mentioned elsewhere, in another thread, I was very impressed by Yorkshire's polar bear accommodation. It was great to see polar bears with a large deep pool and a spacious land area with lots of natural vegetation.
Favourite Piece of Zoo News
Although not a particularly exciting species, my favourite zoo news was Whipsnade's acquisition of three new brown bears from Sweden. I was delighted that the rumours Whipsnade was going to stop keeping brown bears in that iconic enclosure were, apparently, unfounded.
Another favourite news item of mine was the three quolls (ex Leipzig) that arrived at Linton Zoo.
Biggest Disappointment
The most shocking news was the appalling incident in Thoiry where poachers killed a white rhinoceros and sawed off its horn.
On a personal level, my biggest disappointment was that I didn’t revisit any of my favourite foreign zoos; this is something I plan to rectify in 2018.
