News

News
Samec Jamvan a samice Ginni, foto: Petr Hamerník, Zoo Praha

Naturally, it's bad news. But it does show a sign of hope.

In the same week that the main season began at Prague Zoo, we set off for Berlin’s Tierpark with Prťka (Midget).

Similar to a dragon, it hovered in the Cambrian seas by waving its body. It had large compound eyes, to help it search for trilobites, long appendages, a kind of claw, protruding from the front of the body, a circular, downward-pointing mouth with lamellar plates, for crushing prey, and a series of flaps along the body that,...

Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

Finally they’re here! The “venerable frogs from Lake Titicaca” came to Prague Zoo and I saw with my own eyes how truly exceptional they really are. Soon, you too will be able to see them for yourself. Our “venerable turnip”, the Czech name for this wonderful amphibian, will be presented to you at our new Titicaca...

The rare Titicaca Water Frog arrives at Prague Zoo. Now Prague Zoo, together with certain North American and European zoos, is involved in a programme to create an insurance population in captivity. Photo: Petr Hamernik, Prague Zoo.

On Friday evening, a package of seventy Titicaca Water Frogs arrived at Prague Zoo. These frogs are exceptional in many aspects; they only live in Lake Titicaca, however, they are critically endangered, primarily due to pollution. Prague Zoo, in conjunction with certain North American and European zoos, is taking part in a...

Poached pangolin, Kamerun, photo: Miroslav Bobek

In the belief that World Pangolin Day has already entered public awareness and that the media would provide information about it in copious amounts, I devoted the last Director’s View to the recent birth of a male giraffe. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite the fact that just four days before, the...

The wandering Bus in Messamena before officially starting its first journey. Not only is it decorated with pictures of gorillas, but also, for instance, bongos. Photo: Khalil Baalbaki, Prague Zoo.

The first official ride of the new Wandering Bus took place in Cameroon. This will lead to nature conservation for the next generation of children in the surroundings of the Dja Biosphere Reserve in the east of the country. Not only will it give them the opportunity to see the gorillas at the Méfou Rescue Station, but they can...

The entrance to the temple complex on the mountain in Tirukalukundram. The word eagle or vulture is also part of the ancient name of this site. Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Zoo Praha

After climbing 565 stairs in the Indian town of Tirukalukundram, we reached the top of the mountain, which features a Hindu temple complex known as the Eagle or Vulture Temple. This has gained fame outside of the state of Tamil Nadu because it was on these cliffs, with a broad view of the surrounding countryside, that the...

Jamvan and Ginni - purebred Asiatic Lions in their enclosure in Prague Zoo. Together with another female, Suchi, they came to Prague from the Indian state of Gujarat in the autumn of 2015. After a hiatus of two decades, they were the first lions of this subspecies to have been brought directly from their homeland to Europe. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

On Wednesday evening, Ginni, an Asiatic lioness originally from the Indian state of Gujarat, underwent artificial insemination. This was carried out in Prague Zoo by a team led by Professor Thomas Hildebrandt, from Berlin’s Leibniz Institute, in cooperation with Prague Zoo’s veterinarians. The sperm used for the procedure...

Photo: Miroslav Bobek, Prague Zoo

My fairy tales featuring gorillas from Prague Zoo were written for my children years ago. Later, they reached many other Czech children in book form. In the end, however, it was in Central Africa that they celebrated their greatest success. Twenty thousand copies of Gorilla Fairy Tales – some of which were written by Tereza...