In this respect Karlsruhe Zoo is the archetypal smaller German zoo. If the total number of mammal species to be seen there is not great — somewhere under 40, excluding domestics — then the comprehensive nature of the collection is certainly impressive. And whilst few of Karlsruhe's buildings are truly remarkable, they do all possess a solidity, a permanence, which is certainly typical of Germany, and which is perhaps typical of those larger `premier league' zoos. What isn't typical about Karlsruhe Zoo is its location, in the corner of a large botanical park. The botanical displays are pleasant, but it is the zoo which is clearly the biggest draw: on the day of my visit the animal houses were crowded with visitors, the rest of the park almost deserted. Perhaps the most striking building in the zoo is the house for hippos, Asian elephants and lesser flamingos. The areas for the latter two species are simple but attractive (even though the elephants are not over-blessed with space), and the hippos' internal pool, which visitors can cross by means of a wooden bridge, allows close contact with these most impressive animals. A profusion of plants adds a suitably tropical feel to the house, and the overall impression is good, if cramped.

Rather more conventional are the houses for cats (snow and Javan leopards, jaguar, northern lynx, Geoffroy's cat and, in a moated enclosure, lions) and primates (Allen's swamp monkeys are the rarities; half a dozen more commonplace species are also to be seen, including chimpanzees). Elsewhere Grant's (Boehm's) zebra and eland coexist peacefully, whilst in the adjacent paddock can be seen scimitar-horned oryx and blesbok. Banteng and a fair-sized family of giraffes are also maintained at Karlsruhe, but the most notable ungulate species here is the Persian goitred gazelle, a family of which live in a sloping paddock in a quiet corner of the zoo. The only other unusual residents of Karlsruhe Zoo are crab-eating raccoons (Procyon cancrivorus); these wonderful South Americans aside, it is a more predictable roster of species which completes the collection: meerkats, wallabies, sea lions, grey seals (sharing their pool with a group of Humboldt's penguins), and other such frequently-seen creatures, all displayed conservatively in thoroughly adequate but perhaps rather uninspiring enclosures. Finally, five polar bears are to be seen in a concrete pit — large, but not really large or imaginative enough for this species.