Zoohistorica 2016, Zurich

sooty mangabey

sooty mangabey

Well-Known Member
Coming soon - the 9th to the 11th of September - is the 27th Zoohistorica meeting, in Zurich.

This will be the first time it has been held in Switzerland. (Out of interest, the 26 meetings so far have been in Germany [16 times], England [2], Poland [2], Netherlands [2], and one each for Austria, France, Czech Republic, and Belgium).

This will be the 16th Zoohistorica I have been able to attend, since first going to Berlin in 1994, for the 4th. Since then I have only missed meetings when I have been working out of Europe, and when I (or rather my wife) has been having children.

Who is planning to attend? Which other zoos are attendees intending to visit while in Zurich?

And has anyone received a second email from the organiser yet?
 
Unfortunately, for family reasons, I will miss the event this year; it will be the first time for many years that I have not attended. (I am determined to participate in next year's Zoohistorica though.)

Incidentally, I haven't had a second e-mail from the organiser yet.
 
I'm hoping to attend too. I've asked to have that weekend off and my request has apparently been approved, but I'm still awaiting written confirmation.

I'm not sure if I'll have time to see much more than the Voliere in Zurich and the two scheduled zoos (isn't everyone going to Goldau too?) although I have a friend I may try to visit in Zug, so Zug's voliere could be on the cards too. :)
 
I'll be there - we have a bijou zoo trip planned of Bern Friday, Zurich for the fair on Saturday, the Goldau outing on Sunday, Zurich again for the freebie day on Monday ( :D ). We'll probably make it to Mythenquai aviaries on the Tuesday morning as well.

(we're sticking to Zurich plus a few new collections, largely to avoid zoo trip mission creep; if we did Basel, then we'd do Lange Erlen, but then we we should maybe carry on and do Mulhouse... and before you know it the trip is twice as long and twice as expensive!)
 
Unfortunately I cannot be there. I would however urge everyone to try to visit the Zoo in Bern and the amzing city of Bern as well when in Zurich. Compared to Zurich & Basel this city gets way less attention, but it is of just as high quality ;)
 
lintworm said:
Unfortunately I cannot be there. I would however urge everyone to try to visit the Zoo in Bern and the amzing city of Bern......)
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And, of course, there is the famous Bern Bear Pit; the natural history museum, with some impressive African dioramas, is well worth visiting too.
 
On the outskirts of Zurich, do not forget about Langenberg Wildlife Park (renamed Wildnispark Zurich or something like that).
 
Has anyone received a second circular about this meeting yet? Thus far, I've just had the initial details, and then, more recently, a map. Has anything else - and any further details - been sent out at all?
 
Bib Fortuna said:
You can find both circulars here, but the intro of the second is not in english, don' ask me why.

http://www.zoohistorica.org/Zoohistorica 27.pdf
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Thank you - although the details are still a little sketchy! No worries...

Has anyone any experience of the Platti Zoo, near to Zurich? Or Toni's Zoo? (I'm not sure why so many Swiss zoos have such naff names....).

And am I right to think that the access to the aviaries in Zug and St Gallen is 24-hours a day? (Not planning a midnight visit, but maybe an early morning or late afternoon one...).
 
Yes I have. Plättli-Zoo (with Umlaut!) is in a Town called Frauenfeld and is founded (if I remember correctly) by a former Circus-Animal-Trainer.
It is not worth a visit, first, because animals live in poor conditions (when you mess with the typical high standard level of the well known zoos in our country). Some would consider it as a roadside zoo (although the staff there will probably give its best).
Tonis Zoo (first name of the founder - a gardening architect - afaik) is located in Rothenburg near Lucerne, about 1:15 min by car, a little difficult to reach by public transport from Zurich. Exhibits there are small, but not bad.
No idea about the aviaries in Zug and St. Gallen. Normally/Mostly access to the outdoor parts of the aviaries is 24-hours while opening times for the indoor may vary. I recommend you to visit the aviary at Mythenquai in Zurich which has a nice little collection and is perfectly located in a park adjected to Lake Zurich.
 
If you are looking for zoos to visit in the vicinity of Zurich then Goldau (~1h) and/or Langenberg (~30 mins) are excellent choices, though Goldau is already on the program as I understand. Both focus on local fauna. Basel is just one hour away, as is Bern/Dählhölzli. Another option is the "children's zoo" in Rapperswil (~30 mins) which also has a brand new facility for asian elephants (though no rarities afaik). For anyone visiting the aviary at the Mythenquai Arboretum, the Sukkulenten-Sammlung Zürich, with over 6'500 different types of succulent plants might be an interesting option, and is just a ten minute walk away. In the University of Zurich main building, on the tram connection between the zoo and Hauptbahnhof, there is a small natural history museum with no entry charge with a considerable collection of local and exotic fauna, and some fossils (no dioramas).
 
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Thank you for those responses, zoomaniac and antonmuster. Will either of you be attending Zoohistorica?

A full, second circular was emailed out today. There will, it says, be 60 participants from 7 countries (presumably, Switzerland, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Poland).
 
@sooty mangabey: You are very welcome.

No, unfortunately I was so stupid to set a trip with family and friends for that date (And that while the zoohistorica is in my hometown zoo, can you believe that?).
Anyway, I hope, I will have the chance to meet you and other zoochat fellows at another occasion (at Wroclaw next year maybe?).
 
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Unfortunately I won't be able to make it anymore. Hope you all have fun, and that the pitta-like ground roller holds on until my next visit! :)
 
devilfish said:
Unfortunately I won't be able to make it anymore. )
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That's a shame! I think the turnout may be relatively low, compared to previous years, due to the cost of Switzerland. Roll on Wroclaw, in 2017!

In the meantime, I must admit that I am really looking forward to this weekend. In addition to Zurich itself, and Goldau, I am hoping to make it to Walter Zoo, the Zurich Wildpark, the Knie zoo, Plätti zoo (with an umlaut!), and some of the aviaries that are here and there.....
 
devilfish said:
So, how was it? :)
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An excellent weekend, actually.

Zurich were excellent and generous hosts, and the organisation was very smooth.

Numbers were possibly down a little on previous years, with one or two stalwarts absent for various reasons; thus the collectors fair on Saturday morning was relatively low-key. Still a healthy turnout with a number of attendees who are either regular or occasional visitors to this site.

Zurich is obviously an outstanding zoo, although - on a wholly personal level - I don't particularly like it: not enough animals (my favourite part by far is the Exotarium, which is one of the more old fashioned elements of the zoo; Masaola, too, is clearly a wonderful place - especially when one has a superb view of the pitta-like ground rollers!).

Over the course of the weekend, several other zoos were also visited: Goldau was beautiful, and impressive, but had a few too many massive playgrounds and suchlike for me; Walter Zoo was a pleasing, small zoo; Plättli was as second-rate as had been suggested on this thread; the St Gallen Voliere is tiny, but worth seeing; Wildnispark Zurich was very worthy (but, truth be told, a little dull). Most enjoyable visit: Knie Kinderzoo, which is no Berlin, certainly, but has an undeniable charm (especially for anyone who played with a toy zoo as a child).

One other comment on Switzerland: blimey, it's eye-wateringly expensive!

A really enjoyable three days; now for Wroclaw in 2017.
 
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