ZooChat Cup Match #56: Paris vs Rotterdam

Ungulates

  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .
C

CGSwans

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Nobody can say Rotterdam hasn't earned its third round spot, having had to overcome the Tierpark first up, followed by a tight 14-10 win over Leipzig on ectotherms. It's being rewarded for its troubles with a slightly easier match-up with Paris, which saw off Paignton 12-5 on carnivores.

This time? Ungulates and friends.

I'll wait to see if the result of this one is clear before posting the first quarter-final match. If it goes ahead tomorrow it'll be tournament favourite Prague vs plucky underdog Doue-la-Fontaine.
 
I think this has the potential to actually be a very interesting match-up... Rotterdam probably has the species advantage, and they have elephants which Paris doesn't, but if there's one category in which the exhibitry of Paris could beat that of Rotterdam it probably is ungulates... Paris' savanna is definitely one of the most impressive and aesthetic savannas I've seen and (to my knowledge) holds the largest group of Kordofan giraffes in Europe, mixed with greater kudu. The entire area with African mammals right next door is also excellently themed and consists of many boardwalks and paths between dense planting over beautiful enclosures for white rhino, Grevy's zebra, addax, scimitar oryx, red lechwe and sitatunga. They even get the South American exhibits right, with two of the best mixed South American enclosures I've seen (one for vicuna, screamers and rhea, the other for guanaco, tapir and mara) and a very charming little enclosure for pudu, mixed with Magellan geese...
Oh, and I almost forgot that manatee belongs in this category as well, which is definitely a very interesting species in a very beautiful exhibit.

Then again, Blijdorp has the very good giraffe house, the excellent okapi aviary, and the charming mixed exhibits for banteng+antelope, forest buffalo+hog, rhino+warty pig...

I think this could go either way, and I think Paris will definitely put more of a fight in this category than it would have in most others... I'm putting my vote with Paris for now (though I might change my mind).
 
Both: Vicuna; southern pudu; greater kudu

Paris
Antillean manatee
Grevy’s zebra
South American tapir
Southern white rhinoceros
Chacoan peccary
Guanaco
Giraffe (including Kordofan)
Western sitatunga; red lechwe; scimitar-horned oryx; addax

Rotterdam
Cape hyrax
Asian elephant (including South-east Asian)
Chapman’s zebra
Malayan tapir
Eastern black and greater one-horned rhinoceroses
Red river hog; European wild boar; Negros warty pig
Balabac chevotrain
Okapi; reticulated giraffe
Michie’s tufted, common fallow, Carpathian red, western roe and Visayan spotted deer; Eurasian forest reindeer
Blackbuck; Addra gazelle; Javan banteng; plains bison; red buffalo; eastern bongo
Western pygmy hippopotamus

Paris has a manatee and a peccary, but Rotterdam has a hyrax, elephant, chevotrain, hippopotamus and pigs. Paris has more species of camelids, but Rotterdam has more species of rhinoceroses, deer and bovids, so wins fairly comfortably.
 
Dassie rat said:
Both: Vicuna; southern pudu; greater kudu

Paris
Antillean manatee
Grevy’s zebra
South American tapir
Southern white rhinoceros
Chacoan peccary
Guanaco
Giraffe (including Kordofan)
Western sitatunga; red lechwe; scimitar-horned oryx; addax

Rotterdam
Cape hyrax
Asian elephant (including South-east Asian)
Chapman’s zebra
Malayan tapir
Eastern black and greater one-horned rhinoceroses
Red river hog; European wild boar; Negros warty pig
Balabac chevotrain
Okapi; reticulated giraffe
Michie’s tufted, common fallow, Carpathian red, western roe and Visayan spotted deer; Eurasian forest reindeer
Blackbuck; Addra gazelle; Javan banteng; plains bison; red buffalo; eastern bongo
Western pygmy hippopotamus

Paris has a manatee and a peccary, but Rotterdam has a hyrax, elephant, chevotrain, hippopotamus and pigs. Paris has more species of camelids, but Rotterdam has more species of rhinoceroses, deer and bovids, so wins fairly comfortably.
Click to expand...

Hyrax don't count for this challenge and the Fallow, Red and Roe deer and the Wild boar are all in Plaswijckpark Rotterdam, not in the Diergaarde Blijdorp.
 
I have revamped the list, but I still feel Rotterdam has the better collection.

Both: Vicuna; greater kudu

Paris
Antillean manatee
Grevy’s zebra
South American tapir
Southern white rhinoceros
Chacoan peccary
Guanaco
Giraffe (including Kordofan)
Southern pudu
Western sitatunga; red lechwe; scimitar-horned oryx; addax

Rotterdam
Asian elephant (including South-east Asian)
Chapman’s zebra
Malayan tapir
Eastern black and greater one-horned rhinoceroses
Red river hog; Negros warty pig
Balabac chevotrain
Okapi; reticulated giraffe
Michie’s tufted and Visayan spotted deer; southern pudu; Eurasian forest reindeer
Blackbuck; Addra gazelle; Javan banteng; plains bison; red buffalo; eastern bongo
Western pygmy hippopotamus

It is too late to change the rules now, but I feel that 'Ungulates' category should be reserved for members of the Perissodactyla and Cetartiodactyla, while hyraxes, elephants and sirenians should be included in the 'Miscellaneous Mammals' category.
 
This feels like a surprisingly close one, where Blijdorp has more species, though Paris has Manatee and the better enclosures. But as the enclosures in Blijdorp are mostly not half bad either, Blijdorp will probably win by a wider margin then reflects how close the zoos actually are.

I am looking forward to the QF of Burgers' against Blijdorp, which is very close in many categories, but where except for birds Blijdorp seems at a disadvantage, but most categories will make for interesting discussions.
 
Knowing Blijdorp very well and little experience with Paris, I have to go on diversity and then Blijdorp wins ( at least for me ).
 
I really like the Giraffe House at Blijdorp: it's stylish, original, and avoids the agricultural barn look of many such houses. Some of the areas form the first swathe of relatively recent development stand up well, too: the Elephant House is a delight, and (if it is still there?) I always thought the Przewalski's Horse / Bactrian Camel paddock was excellent. The Banteng paddock, too, was very nicely done, in a low key sort fo way.

But I agree with the enthusiastic review from @Vision, above, concerning Paris. I really like the way the houses look there: there's a sort of interlocking-pieces-of-wood thing going on, which has an exotic feel, a sense of the other, without offering ersatz Africana - there are no "mud huts" with thatched roofs here. The loss of Okapi is a major drawback for Paris - and the return of Okapi a real feather in Blijdorp's cap - but I think I'd plump for Paris, ultimately, if only because I feel that Blijdorp is in a state of stasis, whilst Paris is fresh and exciting.
 
sooty mangabey said:
The Banteng paddock, too, was very nicely done, in a low key sort fo way.
Click to expand...

full

Call it "low key", but a view like this is about as good as it gets in a zoo!
(thanks @Maguari for this picture!)
 
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