Director´s view

You wanted them, so you will have them. Capybaras are coming back to Prague Zoo. Probably the most popular animals in the world at the moment. At least in the world of social networks, where they appear in countless memes with huge numbers of shares.

In mid-August I wrote here about a young mountain bongo female from our zoo, who lost her mother but showed a tremendous will to live. Thanks to her connection with the herd, she began to drink from two other females, who were caring for their own young, which, together with artificial supplemental feeding was sufficient for her...

When I wrote last week about the aardvark female Pieta, who became the oldest representative of her species in the world, also the oldest historically, I should not forget some other representatives of the oldest animals also living in our zoo.

I preferred not to talk too much about it, not to jinx it and waited patiently until Saturday. Then I went to congratulate Pieta with a handful of mealworms.

I missed the first two mountain bongos this year – by that I mean I did not see them on the day they were born - but the third one was a Sunday baby and I managed to be there. I found it lying at the feet of his now 14-year-old mother Maureen, who was watching me attentively. Everything seemed to be running smoothly....

The female of Chinese pangolin Šiska was half-a-year-old on Wednesday. We can consider her breeding completed – and we can add another item to the list of historical achievements of Prague Zoo, in this case in bold.

Whenever we release in western Mongolia Przewalski’s horses transported from Europe, I experience a feeling of satisfaction. Of course… However, I had a similar feeling also last week, when we returned to the East of Mongolia, the Valley of Monasteries, after half a year.

I have collected some photos of butterflies during my walks around the zoo. When I looked at them yesterday, I realized that it is a decent collection and includes some very rare species. Even the experts, who determined the relevant species, refer to a few shots from Sklenářka in their reports.

In Darwin Crater we have recently introduced Winkleigh, the wombat female, to the public. And now we also have a contemporary of dinosaurs in this exhibit. It is Wollemia nobilis, whose unbelievable story began to unfold in front of the eyes of people all over the world less than thirty years ago.