Director´s view

Director´s view
Director´s view
Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

There is exactly one week until the opening of the Rákos’ House with its exhibits of rare parrot species. Seven more days and it will be here. Finally!

Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

Today is International Vulture Awareness Day. This was foreshadowed by the news on Tuesday that a female Egyptian Vulture, which had been hatched at Zlín Zoo and placed in an artificial nest in the Bulgarian mountains at the beginning of August, had passed away. She flew into some power lines on her very...

Photo: Petr Velenský, Prague Zoo

The entire genome of the world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, is now available at the US National Center for Biotechnology Information under access number SJPD00000000. An article on how it was read and analyzed was published in the August issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution by a thirty-member scientific team,...

John Singleton Copley’s famous painting “Watson and the Shark”. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.

So far there hasn’t been a repeat of the Czech teacher attacked by a shark in the Adriatic. However, sharks are once again circling the media waters in abundance. Just as it was last year, two years ago, or, for that matter, twenty years ago, the threat they pose to holidaymakers at seaside resorts is once again being...

Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

European ground squirrels were in the news this week thanks to the release of 85 individuals in the Louny region, which took place in the presence of the Prime Minister. But it’s not the first time they’ve been celebrated by the media. For instance, they entered the public consciousness in connection with the deliberations...

Przewalski horses in Khomiin Tal. In this case, two connected harem, one of which lives Cordordula with his descendants. Photo by Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

The cars pushed their way through the sandy terrain, bumping, sinking in and then leaping into the air again, it brought back vivid memories of when I first came here eight years ago.

The Union of Czech and Slovak Zoological Gardens (UCSZOO) has placed several billboards on the roads leading from Prague and Bratislava airports to the respective centres of both cities. They show a dead robin or goldfinch.

Loading the horses for the first time in Kbely. Then the plane had to almost completely unloaded and loaded again.

Now we’re okay. The mares Tárik, Tara and Spina are taking it easy in the acclimatization enclosure and here, at the base in Takhin Tal, a celebration is being prepared in honour of the ninth Return of the Wild horses. Finally, we can relax, and this time it’s well-earned.

Ali and Minka became the basis of the breeding programme at Prague Zoo in 1932. Photo: Prague Zoo Archive

We commemorate three anniversaries this year: 180 years since the birth of geographer Nikolay M. Przhevalsky, 120 years since the first transport of Przewalski’s horses from Asia to Europe and 60 years since the 1st International Symposium to Conserve Przewalski's Horse, which took place in Prague. All...

Pelikáni bílí, kteří v zázemí čekají na cestu za královnou, zatím bílí nejsou - ale to se spraví. Foto Petr Hamerník, Zoo Praha

Sun, Moon and Star are three great white pelicans who will embark on a journey from Prague Zoo to London next Thursday. Their new home will become a small lake in St. James’s Park, which is overlooked by the windows of Buckingham Palace. Sun, Moon and Star will be a de facto gift of the City of Prague to Her Majesty Queen...