Breakthrough year 2022 at the Prague Zoo – Seznam Medium
#1 Opening Reservation Dja
After about three years of construction, the Dja Reserve was opened at the Prague Zoo – a generously conceived pavilion designed for gorillas and other representatives of the fauna of the Congo basin. The Dja Reserve is largely inspired by the biosphere reserve of the same name, which is located in Cameroon and where the Prague Zoo’s Roaming Bus educational and awareness project takes place. Its central part is planted with many plants that evoke a tropical rainforest, the atmosphere is enhanced by surround sound. Other additions to the pavilion are, for example, a school classroom imported from Cameroon or the tent of the reserve guards equipped with a number of original objects in addition to replicas. Prague’s Dja Reserve receives great reviews from both visitors and foreign experts.
#2 My story continues
The decision to keep Richard and his two sons Kiburi and Nuru in the original gorilla pavilion opened up the possibility of creating a new breeding group in the Dja Reserve. The coordinator of the European Lowland Gorilla Breeding Program proposed to supplement the trio of “Prague” females – Kijiva, Shinda and Kamba – and the young male Ajabu with a new leader male as well as another female, with the provision that two females would be allowed to reproduce in the group thus created. He recommended placing in Prague the male Kisuma, who until now lived in Schmiding, Austria, and the female Duni, who comes from Cabárcena in Spain and is the daughter of the famous gorilla Moja. This recommendation anticipates all our expectations: Thanks to her daughter, my story can continue here in Prague.
#3 Other residents of the Dja Reserve
Although the Dja Reserve is referred to as the new gorilla pavilion out of inertia, it actually represents eleven species of vertebrates and eight species of invertebrates. For the very first time, visitors to the Prague Zoo can see the fawn or some representatives of the invertebrates, such as the golden nephilim and the menacing nephilim. Other species have already appeared in the Prague Zoo, albeit in the distant past. An example is the very attractive Brazza cat, which was briefly kept in 1954 and 1968/69. Other species of Dja mammals are kept traditionally and were previously housed in other parts of the zoo. These are mantled gueres, which now share the exhibit with lowland gorillas, northern talapoins, African brush-billed monkeys, African wasps and giant rats.
#4 Great Cubs
During 2022, 450 mammals were born and 475 birds and 318 reptiles and amphibians hatched at the Prague Zoo. In total, there were 218 species of the four groups of vertebrates listed; in the case of reptiles, breeders achieved a record of forty propagated species. Probably the most popular among visitors was the female Cape grebe and triplets of maned wolves. The media was very interested in the hatching of the mysterious turtles – a species that entered the Prague Zoo even before it was scientifically described and which reproduces without human intervention in the Indonesian Jungle pavilion. From the point of view of breeding, the most valuable breedings are the Szechuan goral, the rat kangaroo, the Cabot’s satyr, the golden-eared lorikeet and the Somali thornbush.
#5 The beginning of nutcracker breeding
In April 2022, a pair of short-tailed nutcrackers, male Guo Bao and female Run Hou Tang, were imported from Taipei Zoo. Prague Zoo thus became one of only two zoos in Europe where these scaly mammals can be seen. Luskouns deserve the public’s attention not only because of their uniqueness, but above all because they are the most illegally traded mammals in the world: After all, the Prague Zoo participates in their protection in Asia and Africa. The arrival of a pair of nutmegs was preceded by a number of demanding preparations, including a complex reconstruction of the night exposition in the Indonesian jungle. After more than half a year, it seemed that the care of these extraordinary birds had been managed and that the first European nutcracker cub could be born in Prague.
#6 Reconstruction of Planí
After a reservoir was expanded in the southeastern part of the so-called Plání, the construction of new stables and paddocks for Převalský’s horses began, which will complement the exposition of manuls and “olgoj chorchoj”. This is the first stage of the transformation of the entire Plains, which will be dedicated exclusively to Asian fauna. The Prague Zoo will thus return, among other things, to the breeding of rhinoceroses, which visitors often ask about. In addition to the work on Plány (and, of course, the completion of the Dja Reserve), a number of smaller construction activities were also taking place, and last but not least, the preparation for the Arctic exhibition complex. It will be mainly intended for polar bears, without the construction of a new breeding facility, the Prague Zoo would have to end breeding. Construction of the Arctic could ideally begin at the end of 2023.
#7 Great-grandchildren of our “rollers” in the Gobi
Between 2011 and 2019, there were nine air transports of Převalský’s horses to western Mongolia. The 10th didn’t happen due to covid – the great news is that it won’t even be needed. The thirty mares transported from Prague to the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area have not only had eighty foals, but have also had eleven grandchildren and even the first great-grandchildren. The total number of Převalský’s horses in this reserve has already grown to a sufficient number of more than four hundred individuals. However, the activities of the Prague Zoo in Mongolia do not end there. Its workers are preparing, in cooperation with local colleagues, a completely new reintroduction project for Převalský’s horses for Eastern Mongolia. Currently, the location is already selected.
#8 We save the common crucian carp
The Prague Zoo continues or supports a number of projects for the protection of biodiversity on five continents, but is also dedicated to the protection of the fauna of the Czech Republic. One of the species on which it is focusing from 2021 is the formerly abundant and typical fish of our waters, the common crucian carp. Due to changes in management and the spread of the invasive silver crucian carp, it found itself on the verge of extinction. After a methodology was developed together with the Biological Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Czech University of Life Sciences to find the last surviving common carp of the Elbe genetic line, they were transferred to four tanks on the grounds of the Prague Zoo. In 2022, the first breeding successes have already come, so in October, the first landing of 99 propagated fishes could take place in the pond in Vinoř.
#9 To help Ukrainian zoos
Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Prague Zoo announced a fundraiser to help Ukrainian zoos and, in particular, in cooperation with its Polish partners from the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, began sending feed and equipment to Ukraine via Poland. This was followed by financial support for selected Ukrainian zoos, and at the end of the year, a powerful diesel generator was purchased for Mykolaiv Zoo. By December 29, 2,756 contributions totaling CZK 5,263,352 had been made to the Ukrainian collection. From this amount, CZK 4,076,896 was provisionally spent on the above aid. Another form of aid was a symbolic entrance fee of CZK 1 for women and children fleeing the war; this event lasted from February 28 to April 30.
#10 A look into the first years of the Prague Zoo
In Vienna’s Österreichisches Filmmuseum, the local curator of the amateur film collection began dealing with 13 reels of 9.5-millimeter films. As it turned out, some of them depict the Prague Zoo in the early days of its existence, specifically in the period from 1935 to 1937. This is extremely valuable material, especially since a substantial part of the Prague Zoo archive was destroyed by a flood in 2002. The found films depict prof. Jiří Janda and his wife, his assistant dr. VJ Staňka, a number of breeders and, of course, many animals, both famous and completely forgotten. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to find out the author of these films, we only know that it was most likely an amateur shot by a lieutenant colonel of the Czechoslovak Army.
Thank you to everyone who helps Prague Zoo,
even to those who visit it and like it!
Miroslav Bobek, director of the Prague Zoo