News

Decades of ongoing efforts to save the Przewalski’s horse and return it to the wild, efforts in which Prague Zoo has played a key role, are gradually coming to fruition. This was confirmed by an analysis recently published in the journal Conservation Letters. The authors of the analysis posed the question ‘How many...

One kilometre of pipes, seventy valves, a filtration system that filters 360 cubic metres of water per hour. The reconstructed Hippo House in Prague Zoo hides a small factory. Thanks to the new filtration system we finally managed to have clean water. However, the reopening of the house was not the only celebration at Prague...

The situation with covid-19 not only forced us to reduce Monday’s Prague Zoo Anniversary Celebration, during which we will reopen the Hippo House, but also to completely cancel the showing of the photo exhibition, The Beauty of Wild Horses, which shows the “Przewalski’s” in the wilds of Mongolia and China. Although it is...

Almost nine months have passed since Rachel Hogan and I sat in her office in the Primate Sanctuary in Mefou, Cameroon, planning the building of children’s accommodation. The children are brought to Mefou from the villages surrounding the Dja Biosphere Reserve by our Wandering Bus. Here, they take part in an educational...

On Sunday we named both our baby elephants. The daughters of Tamara and Janita, our Prague elephant princesses. I’d like to remind you that the first was born on March 27th, when the zoo had been closed for a fortnight, and the second on May 9th, when it had been reopened, but many restrictions still applied. Of course, right...

Yes, I’ve decided to build a hotel. An insect hotel. In the zoo we have a lot of insect hotels and inns, but now – as I’m writing this chapter – I’m going to build one with my own hands and place it in the garden of our cottage. So before leaving for the weekend I’m gathering material and tools. Also, I must not...

The main goal of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) campaign entitled “Which Fish?” is to draw attention to the plundering of the seas and oceans. At Prague Zoo, we will join the campaign on Monday 8 June, to celebrate World Oceans Day, during which we will turn our full attention to the plight of sharks and...

It was before “corona”. While on holiday in Palolem, in the Indian state of Goa, we went for a walk along the beach after dinner. Fish and seafood vendors had set up simple stalls. I photographed some northern red snappers and several barracudas, and then I was surprised to see that two sharks barely forty centimetres long...

In a few days, it will be half a year since Dave Schaap sent me a photo from Tasmania’s Hobart Airport. It was of a concrete runway with two carts in the foreground. A sign above one of them – with four wooden crates – read: Ready to load. “At last!” I cried out in joy.