Important breedings of the Prague Zoo in 2022
“Shortly before the end of the year, the balance is: 435 born mammals, 474 hatched birds and 296 reptiles and amphibians,” says the director of the Prague Zoo, Miroslav Bobek, and reminds that there will probably be more cubs during the last four days of the year. “In total, there are 218 species of the four groups of vertebrates mentioned, while as far as reptiles are concerned, we have achieved a record of forty reproduced species this year.”
However, the attractiveness of animals among the public does not always correlate with the professional point of view. While triplets of maned wolves and a female Cape grebe became popular among visitors this year, extremely valuable cubs, which are the result of long-term efforts and care of curators or breeders, are not necessarily in the center of attention. In the case of some species, it is the first successful exit that provides valuable experience for the future of the garden, in other cases it is an insurance policy for the preservation of an endangered species.
The trio of subsequent breedings introduced in 2022 thus represent the mission of the Prague Zoo as a professional institution and a modern zoo.
KANGAROO RATS
Potorous tridactylus
In 2022, the first ever baby rat kangaroo was born at the Prague Zoo. It first peeked out of its mother’s pouch at the end of August, and visitors could soon see it exploring its exhibit in Darwin Crater. The rat kangaroo has been listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List since 2014, and its situation has been deteriorating ever since. In its homeland in eastern Australia, it is threatened by invasive animal species and increasingly frequent fires.
“If the current trend continues, according to forecasts, its population may drop by almost a third in some places in the next twelve years. The very first breeding of this species at the Prague Zoo is therefore a great success with regard to the mentioned context.” curator of mammals Pavel Brandl explains the situation.
Rat kangaroos are so-called food specialists – up to 80 percent of their diet consists of fungi, especially underground species. Because of this, they are also seen as “ecosystem engineers” in their homeland. By burrowing in search of food, they help plants in two ways. They disturb topsoil and dig pits that hold water and deposit wind-blown deposits, a great environment for seed germination. They also help the spread of spores of mycorrhizal fungi, which play a vital role in the ecosystem thanks to their symbiosis with the roots of trees, such as sycamore trees.
Even in the Prague Zoo, it switched to the solid diet of its parents. They are a five-year-old female who came to Prague from the Polish Opole Zoo and an almost two-year-old male originally from the Jihlava Zoo. The little marsupial is already fully independent, but is still easily distinguishable from its mother and father. It is most active around two o’clock in the afternoon when feeding.
CABOT’S SATYR
Tragopan caboti
This year’s hatching of Cabot’s satyr is very valuable. The pheasant-like bird is included in the IUCN Red List in the “vulnerable” category, moreover, with the decreasing tendency of the number of individuals in the east of China, there are only a few thousand of them left. The already small population is at the same time very fragmented. Satyrs thrive only in protected areas. Elsewhere, their numbers are declining due to the ongoing transformation of the landscape, lovingly adapted to pressure from natural predators. The Prague Zoo maintains his European stud book.
“The European breeding book of Cabot’s satyrs is one of the newer programs of the Prague Zoo, it was entrusted to us at the beginning of 2018. It should lead to the stabilization of breeding, maintain the genetic purity of the bred individuals and the expansion of this species within the facility,” explains bird curator Antonín Vaidl. However, there are not many such farms. Due to its demanding nature, this species is represented in only nine European zoos. “The chicken that hatched in the Prague Zoo at the end of July is the only addition this year in the zoo of continental Europe,” supplies.
According to Vaidl, hummingbirds are an often overlooked resident of zoos. At the same time, the pheasants, which traditionally decorated castle yards, were often the direct predecessors of later zoos. Satyrs are generally attractive members of their order. During the flow, males mainly call at dusk and display a contrastingly colored throat shield. In combination with the “roses” on the head, they really resemble the mythical creature of the same name from Greek mythology.
MYSTERIOUS TURTLE
Cyclemys enigmatica
The four hatchlings of the mysterious tortoise, which hatched in November, became notable additions to the Prague Zoo. The reptile that lives freely in the Indonesian Jungle pavilion is one of the garden’s most mysterious inhabitants. It is a species practically unexplored in nature. The current breeding is an even greater breeding success, which confirms the purpose of a modern zoo as a research institution.
Despite the lack of data, experts conclude that the population of the cryptic turtle in the wild is shrinking. The Malaysian and Indonesian forests that the turtle inhabits are rapidly disappearing today. On the IUCN Red List, the latter is thus included in the “near threatened” category.
The very story of the Prague turtles has been unusual since its beginning. “In 2004, we took on a shipment of turtles seized from smugglers in Hong Kong. Among them were individuals of a hitherto unknown species.” says curator of reptiles Petr Velenský. Already in 2007, the then still unnamed turtle succeeded in breeding for the first time in the Prague Zoo. “It wasn’t until a year later that it was scientifically described, and that very characteristically – as a mysterious turtle,” he adds, noting that the November chicks are now the first to hatch at the zoo in more than four years. In addition, the Prague Zoo is the only one in Europe to have genetically confirmed breeding of this species.
At the same time, the mysterious turtle is remarkable even on the basis of silent information about its behavior and habits. Not only is it omnivorous and does not disdain small animals in addition to plants, but it also leads an amphibious lifestyle – it can swim well and likes to stay near water, but at the same time it also spends time on land, in the undergrowth of the forest.
“We mostly tried to keep the cryptic turtles in the display trench, but with their ability to climb even sloping walls, it was impossible. In the end, their attachment to the environment of a heavily overgrown tropical stream won out, so they live freely on the entire upper floor of the Indonesian Jungle pavilion,” advises Velenský, where you can see the turtles in the zoo. It is best if they look for them opposite the binturong and orangutan exhibits.