Portál Pražana
Another successful year for Prague Zoo
Prague Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world, and was ranked fifth-best internationally last year. The zoo's breeding programmes have been successful - 1340 animals were born here in the last year. New species of animals have been introduced to the zoo, including the Etruscan shrew, the smallest mammal in the world. This insectivore, which is between 3 and 5 centimetres long excluding the tail and has an average body mass of 1.8 grams, is to be found from the end of the summer in the pavilion 'African House'.
Thirteen hundred newborn animals
2018 was a productive year for Prague Zoo as 1340 animals of 40 species were born. Breeders proudly welcomed a young aardvark, four cheetah cubs, a silvery gibbon and the second panda cub to ever be born in Prague Zoo. The little panda is a male named Flin by his sponsor, the actor Miroslav Donutil. One of the rarest chicks is a Javan green magpie called Maňásek, “hand puppet” in Czech, which breeders used to rear the chick to avoid unnecessary contact with zookeepers and imprinting. There are less than a hundred Javan green magpies in the wild.
Goodbye to Slávek
There have also been some sad stories for Prague Zoo this year. In October, the much-loved hippopotamus Slávek died at the age of 34. In 2002, Slávek was the only hippo that survived a period of heavy flooding in Prague. He became a symbol of bravery when a famous photo was taken of him sticking his head out the pavilion window, representing the zoo’s hopes for recovery. The zoo will miss the cheerful hippo.
Projects outside of the zoo
Przewalski's horses were brought from the Czech Republic to western Mongolia for the eighth time last year. 31 horses have now been successfully transported by air. Prague Zoo is also involved in other projects, such as the Toulavý autobus, which brings children from the rainforest to education centres in Cameroon. The zoo also aids in the research and protection of gavials in India, the repopulation of vultures in the Balkans, and observes the rare saola in Vietnam. In addition, the zoo takes part in conserving Balikpapan Bay in Indonesia, the natural habitat for proboscis monkeys. The zoo also receives funding from Prague City Council for in-site projects.
Ecology in Prague Zoo
The zoo promotes sustainability, replacing all disposable plastic dishes used in the area with compostable dishes and introducing a compostable waste system, in cooperation with the company IPODEC - PURE CITY.
The Prague Zoo programme for English-speaking visitors, including guided tours, can be found at https://www.zoopraha.cz/en/before-visit/entertainment-programmes and https://www.zoopraha.cz/en/before-visit/commentated-meetings-and-feeding for commented meetings and feeding information.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ZOO
The Prague Zoological Garden
U Trojského zámku 120/3, Prague 7
Opening times:
January – February: 9am – 4pm
Admission fees:
Adults: CZK 200
Children, students and seniors under 70: CZK 150
Seniors 70+: CZK 1