From the history of the Prague zoo

1881

• On the occasion of the marriage of prince Rudolph and princess Stephanie of Belgium, an appeal to establish a zoological garden in Prague was published in the newspapers by count Sweerts-Spork.

1891

• A council for establishing a zoological garden in the Kings’ Game Park was founded (not realised).

1899

• A memorial treatise of the Cooperative for establishing a zoological and acclimatisation garden was published. The Kinský’s garden was chosen out of ten suggested localities but that was the end of it all.

1904

• The grammar school professor Jiří Janda entered the scene and started preparing a zoo on the Štvanice Island.

1919

• At the meeting of the advisory board for mathematics and natural sciences at the Ministry of education and national enlightenment, a committee was established to start the preparatory work on the establishment of the Prague zoological garden.

1922

• The important landowner Alois Svoboda donated the land in Troja declaring that a zoological garden was to be built there.

1923

• The professor Jiří Janda was put in charge by the above-mentioned ministry to start the preparations for establishing the zoo.

1926

• The Business, Purchasing and Building Cooperative of the Zoological Garden was founded.

1927

• 8 hectares of the future zoo were fenced towards the end of the year.

1930

• The owner of the Rebernigg circus donated the lioness Šárka to the zoo. As there was no suitable dormitory for her in the zoo, she lived as well as some of the other inhabitants of the zoo in the villa of professor Janda in Troja.

1931

• On 28th September “The building site of the zoological garden” was opened for the public and in the sunny afternoon the first visitors entered the gate.
• The administrative building was built at the main entrance.
• The Janda’s aviary for birds of prey was built.
• The arrival of the female wolf Lotta who was the first animal to appear within the area of the zoo.
• The arrival of the first Przewalski’s horses (Mink and Ali).

1932

• The arrival of the first tigers (Mitau and Bengali).

1933

• The arrival of the elephant Baby, hippopotamus Petr and rhinoceros Max.
• The first tiger cubs were born.

1934

• The first lions (Ctirad and Šárka) came to the zoo.
• The actor Vlasta Burian donated the sea lions Hýta and Batul to the zoo.

1935

• The pavilion of carnivors was built under the rock.

1938

• The zoo staff started organising circus performances.
• The first young Andean vulture in the world was hatched and reared.

1940

• The so-called farm, a complex of barns and other buildings, was built.

1941

• The March flood reached up to the pavilion of carnivores

1942

• The first cub of polar bear was artificially bred in the world (the female Ilun).

1944

• The female hippopotamus Zuzana came from the bombed Berlin.

1950

• The pavilion of monkeys was built.
• The first chimpanzee came, the female called Moke.
• The zoo came under the management of the state administration, the city council of Prague and was controlled by the Ministry of Information and Enlightenment.

1954

• The arrival of the first giraffe, the female Lenka.

1956

• The pavilion of small animals was built.

1959

• Dr. Zdeněk Veselovský was appointed the director of the zoo. Under his leadership, the Prague zoo got among the best zoos in the world and it also reached some world class successes in the area of breeding and scientific research.

1960

• The Prague zoo was appointed to keep the International studbook of Przewalski’s horses.

1961

• The arrival of the first orangutan, the female Soňa.

1963

• The arrival of the first gorilla, the male Titan.

1969

• The Janda’s aviary for birds of prey collapsed under the heavy snow.

1971

• The WZO conference took place in Prague (The International Union of The Directors of Zoological Gardens) and professor Bernhard Grzimek took part in it.
• The new pavilion of big mammals was opened (elephants, hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses).
• The orangutan Kama was born.

1972

• The first cubs of cheetahs were born (the second breeding in the world).

1978

• The arrival of the first aardwarks in the history of the zoo (Bojsa and Nebojsa).

1991

• The pavilion of big cats was opened.

1995

• The new exhibit called America was opened and the exhibits of polar bears and black bears were reconstructed.
• The EZE conference took place in Prague (European Association of Zooeducators).

1998

• The pavilion of big tortoises was opened.

1999

• The pavilion of monkeys was demolished.

2001

• The first artificial breeding of a Przewalski’s horse in the world.
• Two new pavilions were opened – the African house and the Gorillas’ pavilion.
• The EAZA conference in the zoo.

2002

• The August flood affected almost half of the area of the zoo.

2003

• Two new elephants came (the male Nagathan, the female Praya) and the male lowland gorilla Richard arrived.

2004

• The new pavilion Indonesian jungle was opened (29th November).
• The first young of the lowland gorilla in Czech zoos history was born (13th December).

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