Zurich and Basel- 2 questions

[Dormouse]

I will be visiting zoos next month and wondered if someone could tell me:
- are the Tibetan wolves still on display at Zurich (as cited on Zootiere) or are they off-display/elsewhere during the construction period?
- are there particular highlights to look out for at Basel zoo, where we will only have about half a day?
Thanks.

P.S. I hope to visit Prague and one other zoo city next year pre-Christmas. Any suggestions on a good second city that's easy to get to?

 

[Bengal Tiger]

are the Tibetan wolves still on display at Zurich (as cited on Zootiere) or are they off-display/elsewhere during the construction period?

As of my visit in July, they were still on display. I believe construction was going on during that time, so I don't think the situation will have changed.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

They have now left the collection entirely - the species wasn't in the long-term collection plan, and the remaining stock was sent to Tierpark Bözingerberg a few months ago.

 

[lintworm]

- are there particular highlights to look out for at Basel zoo, where we will only have about half a day?

5 hours can be enough to see the zoo, though more is better. All the highlights tend to be concentrated in the upper part of the zoo from the primate house, to the bird house, elephant house and the Etosha and Gamgoas houses, be sure to see all those. The Vivarium next to the entrance is also not to be missed, especially the reptile and amphibian displays are very good.

 

[Dassie rat]

Basel is one of 5 ZTL collections with a mountain crystal tetra and Ansell's mole-rat
One of 4 with an Amazon whiptail catfish and a hawkfish anthias, slender lungfish, smudge spot cory, spoon face whiptail, tentacled snake and Rhone streber
One of 3 with a fathead minnow, spotted royal pleco, Boulenger's Cape tortoise and pointed-nosed guitarfish
One of 2 with a green spotted bristlenose, Nasuta cichlid, rainbow tetra, segmented blenny, short dragonfish, sucker head, three becon pleco, zebra spiny eel and knob nosed whiptail catfish
and the only one with a Barlow's dwarf cichlid, brilliant bristleback pleco, bristlenose catfish (Ancistrus spec. L 181 and L 464, Ancistrus tamboensis and A leucostictus), bump-head and Burmese red-tailed garras, chain and vagrant moray, Chiquitano cichlid, hairy puffer, Indawgyi stream, Ucayali and sturgeon catfish, narrowstripe pipefish, yellowfin shiner, parrot pacu and blueback blue-eye

 

[Dassie rat]

Zurich is one of 5 ZTL collections with an American comb duck and East African black mud turtle
One of 4 with a western vasa parrot
One of 3 with a staghorn damselfish, Exuma Island iguana and common flat-tail gecko
One of 2 with a Bynoe goby, flame anthias, unicolor pleco, giant flat-tailed gecko, Sonaran desert sidewinder and croaking gourami
and the only with an Anchicayá poison dart frog and a Panama boat-billed heron, Saint Vincent's bush anole, tiger chameleon and pitta-like ground-roller