The shell female in the Prague Zoo is pregnant
The female short-tailed nutcracker Run Hou Tang, who has been living together with the male Guo Bao at the Prague Zoo since April, is pregnant. It was confirmed by an ultrasound examination. If all goes well, Run Hou Tang will have her offspring sometime between mid-December and mid-January – and the Prague Zoo will welcome the first ever cub of a nutcracker in Europe.
“I don’t want to get ahead of events, but the very pregnancy of our nutcracker is a great success. If Run Hou Tang gives birth, it will be the first nutcracker cub in the old continent,” the director of the Prague Zoo does not hide his enthusiasm Miroslav Bobek. According to him, the Prague nutcrackers are ambassadors of wild nature, who spread awareness about the problems of the wild population. “It was a great Christmas present,” adds Bobek.
The motivation for breeding pangolins – the only scaly mammals – stems primarily from their threat. In their range, in South Asia and Central Africa, they are massively hunted and have long been among the world’s most illegally traded mammals. As a result, all eight species of nutmegs are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in the category threatened with extinction.
The extremely demanding breeding of these delicate creatures is the responsibility of the breeder David Vala. “After the mandatory one-month quarantine, we started bringing our pair of pods together through a contact box, a kind of introduction window, since the animals did not know each other. After a month we brought the pods together and to our surprise they immediately started mating. The advantage is that, from the moment they arrive, we train them to be examined on a special step, which will allow us to perform an ultrasound and take blood,” describes Vala, saying that the first examination in August did not reveal the pregnancy. The latter left no room for conjecture.
The staff of the Prague Zoo continuously consult with experts from the Taipei Zoo about the care of the pods. It was from Taiwan that the zoo acquired a pair of short-tailed nutcrackers this April, also thanks to a partnership agreement between Prague and Taipei. “Now we have nothing else to do but keep our fingers crossed for the nutty couple that their first Prague offspring will be born at Christmas. I am pleased that inter-city diplomacy between Prague and Taipei can bear such rare fruit as a small ‘lively cone’. It can be seen that the pods inpraPolishé zoo very daflows and provides them with a romantic environment for life,” delivered by the mayor m Prague Zdeněk Hřib.
We help them survive
The Prague Zoo has long been striving to protect nutcrackers in their homeland. “In Cameroon, we support the guardians of protected areas as part of the Roaming Bus project, we try to limit hunting by educating and educating the local population. In Laos and Sumatra, we financed the construction of rescue stations for nutmegs,” director Miroslav Bobek recalls conservation projects.
You can also support the protection of nutmegs thanks to the new experience program Breakfast with Nutmegs: eshop.zoopraha.cz/snidane-s-luskouny. Also by transferring additional amounts to the We help them survive collection account (office number: 43–680 466 0247/0100) or by purchasing souvenirs at the Prague Zoo e‑shop in the We help them survive section: eshop.zoopraha.cz/souvenyry. And finally, of course, a visit to the Prague Zoo.
Photo 1: Females during training on a special fence. The quiet examination, whether it’s an ultrasound or blood sampling, when the female is feeding undisturbed. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
Photo 2: An ultrasound examination confirmed the pregnancy of the shell female Run Hou Tang at the Prague Zoo. Her cub will become the first nutcracker cub in Europe. Photo by Roman Vodička Zoo Prague
Photo 3: The female Short-tailed Nutcracker Run Hou Tang has been living in the night exhibit of the Indonesian Jungle since April this year alongside a male named Guo Bao. Photo by Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
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