Thirteen brought Zoo not only bad luck

Photo: Tomáš Adamec, Prague Zoo

Thanks to the effort of the Zoo’s employees and volunteers as well professional firemen, only a very small number of animals died and a major part of movable property was saved. The floods brought about a surge of huge solidarity.  All the Zoo’s fans offered not only finances and materials, but they also helped to limit the damages.

Support from visitors
The flood marked the beginning of the season and thwarted the expected high numbers of visitors´ turnout. But in spite of flood damages and closure of the lower part of the area, more than 1,100,000 visitors made it to the Zoo in 2013, which can be seen as a great success as well as a proof of the fact that the Zoo has always lots to offer.

Joy and sadness
As early as at the beginning of 2013, the first elephant, female Sita, was born in the Zoo. Another exciting addition were later newborns of  Sumatran Orangutan (first after more than 40 years) and  Sumatran Tiger. Enormous succes of Prague-zoo-keeperswas the worldwide first breeding of turtles of the Smiths and hatching of the new offspring of Palm Cockatoo called an international interest. However, during the last year Prague Zoo have also experienced a few loses. In December, the elephant female Tonya died, probably due to virus infection,and the orangutan Padang died of a digestive system malfunction.

News for visitors
Following the opening of the sightseeing path Zakázanka, the main season was launched by the opening of new Elephant Valley and Hippo Pavilion. Mainly the Elephant Valley excited a great interest of visitors and became a pride of Prague Zoo. Also the construction of Salamander Pavilion continued. The floods, however, hindered some plans, such as the renovation of the Big Mammals Pavilion. The priority was given to the plan to build the new Gorilla Pavilion outside of the flood area and the flood protection of the lower part of the area.

The 2013 year is also noted for the endangered species protection. The Wandering Bus project started in Cameroon, and four mares of Przewalski's horse were successfully transported to Mongolia by the CASA plane.

Miroslav Bobek, Director of Prague Zoo