Tchéco frolics in clean water, Prague Zoo’s hippo house opens after reconstruction

Visitors to Prague Zoo can now see the new male hippopotamus every day in the reconstructed Hippo House. The new filtration unit now allows you to watch the hippos as they move underwater. Author: Khalil Baalbaki, Prague Zoo

“The Hippo House has reopened, and visitors can finally admire these remarkable mammals as they move underwater. Unfortunately, we had to do without a big opening ceremony to mark the end of the long and demanding reconstruction of the pools’ water treatment plant”, says Prague Zoo’s director Miroslav Bobek, “unfortunately, the last treatment plant was poorly designed, during the zoo’s previous management. It was as though they’d forgotten that a hippopotamus produces about 150 kilograms of faeces and urine a day, so there’s a difference between a pool system for hippos and one for humans.”

Once again, visitors can watch not only the new male, Tchéco, but also the female, Maruška, and her offspring, Fanda, as they lark around in the water. At the moment, they live separately, however, in the future, Tchéco should become Maruška’s new partner. The new male hippopotamus came to Prague Zoo last November from the French safari park Plaisance-du-Touch. The French keepers named him Tchéco [cheko] in honour of the founding of our republic, because he was born on 28 October. That means he will be four years old this year.