“Today is for the sponsors and adoptive parents of our animals. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their support. Over the year they have given more than nine million crowns in support, and this is even more important for us due to the huge financial losses we suffered in the previous two years from covid,” said Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo’s director. He felt that this year’s statistics were also significantly affected by the arrival of one new animal. “In less than a year, Cooper the wombat, who made his debut in January this year, has become a star among visitors and takes first place amongst the most sponsored animals. He has even surpassed the hugely popular gorillas.”

The Big Richard Award went to Mrs. Renata Petrová, who has been an adoptive parent of the zoo’s animals since the flood of 2002. Every year she adopts a cheetah and a wolf. Over two decades, she has donated the incredible sum of CZK 526,000 to support these species!

Mr. Marek Votlučka, who received the Little Richard Award, also originally supported Prague Zoo’s reconstruction following the floods 20 years ago. From 2003 to the present, he has continuously contributed to the upkeep of his favourite animal, the hippopotamus. In total he has donated a generous 201,000 crowns.

This year’s Wild Richard goes to Mrs. Božena Banková. She has collected an impressive 1,029 food vouchers for all animal species as part of the Meal Vouchers for Animals project. The zoo’s management considered this number so “wild” that they decided to award the prize to her.

The Sponsors' Day was also taken as an opportunity to christen the young aardvark. Readers of the portal iDNES.cz chose the female’s name. It was an African name - Farisa, translated as “she who brings happiness”. To mark the occasion Táborský said, “I have always had a soft spot for ugly ducklings. I first fell in love with the aardvarks years ago, as I felt the tall giraffes stole the limelight and they were overlooked. When I saw them eating mealworms with such gusto, well my family and I all fell head over heels in love with them. It is a great honour for me to be able to christen the famous Kvída’s fourth cub today.”

The winners of the “I Take Photos at Prague Zoo” competition were also announced during the programme. The winning pictures from each category can be seen in the Dja Reserve opposite the main gorilla exhibit near the vivaria. Finally, the traditional talk with people from the Prague-Troja district took place in the Education Centre.