News

News
Red-legged Golden Orb-web Spider in new gorilla house — Dja Reserve, Photo: Petr Hamerník

It was a bit of a provocation from me. I let people vote on Twitter on whether to release nephilas in the jungle in our new gorilla house – The Dja Reserve. What an idea! Although the voting ended in a tie, otherwise reasonable people were writing angry posts in the discussion about toxicity of these spiders or neurotoxicity...

The second Beer Beast Festival will be on Saturday May 13th in the gardens of Troja Chateau. This year too, the proceeds from the event will help endangered species, such as the Tasmanian devil. Source Prague Zoo.

The Beer Beast Festival returns to the gardens of Troja Chateau. The second year of the charity event under the auspices of Prague Zoo will take place on Saturday, 13 May from 12.00 to 22.00. Visitors will be able to taste a variety of craft beers named for animals, listen to music by Michal Hrůza and Michal Horák and gauge...

Source: Pixabay

Last year around Christmas the prominent Lugash ethnographer Charles Litton stayed in Czech Republic. Now I have received a draft of his scientific paper, which he titled “Christmas Fish: Tradition and Rituals in Czech Republic (Eastern Europe)”. Of course, I will remind him again that we are located in Central Europe, and I...

Prague Zoo has acquired two male, critically endangered Siberian cranes. Photo Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

As of last week, Prague Zoo’s visitors can marvel at two male Siberian cranes. Not only is the zoo enticing visitors to see the uniquely coloured chicks of this critically endangered species, but it also has the largest collection of cranes in the Czech Republic.

Prague Zoo launched its 92nd main season with Meet Them! The campaign introduced nearly two dozen animal personalities to the public. Photo Oliver Le Que, Prague Zoo

The christening of a pangolin baby, the launch of Seznamte se! (Meet Them!) and the opening of the exhibition 60 Years of Gorilla Breeding – these are just some of the things that Prague Zoo kicked off its 92nd season with. The animals that make up the new campaign were introduced, and the event was marked by the live premiere...

The obvious difference between the red panda and the giant panda: The first of them has a long furry tail, while the other one is completely missing this feature.

If somebody says that the red panda is a mysterious animal, I will agree. For instance, already for almost two centuries the proper classification of this carnivore has been debated. Today it is clear, that for sure it is not related to giant panda, but I will get to that later.

A digital recontruction of a humback whale trap feeding. Credit J. McCarthy

Monsters and weird creatures from ancient legends and old bestiaries often are not just pure figments of the imagination but tend to have their real prototypes. As it has recently transpired this is also true about the sea monster, referred to as hafgufa in Norse sagas and manuscripts. Nevertheless, its mystery has been...

Anastasia gave birth to the olive-green baby last Wednesday. Photo Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo

The little De Brazza’s monkey was born at Prague Zoo in the early hours of last Wednesday. His mother, Anastasia, is an experienced female and the keepers say both are doing well. Visitors can watch the olive-green infant in one of the main exhibitions of Prague’s latest pavilion.

Ing. Josef Zelinka still in the rank of lieutenant colonel in his residence at Salvátorská Street 7. Source: Austrian Film Museum

Thirteen film reels with almost five hours of footage, which is extremely valuable for us in Prague Zoo as well as for military historians. After a complicated investigation we managed to find their author. It was Col. Eng. Josef Zelinka.

The author of the films was this Czechoslovak army officer. He was the mysterious "Mr. Zet" for us for a long time. Source: Collection of the Austrian Film Museum

I haven’t experienced such a well-attended press conference as on Thursday, February 23, in Prague Zoo, for a long time. We held it because of recently discovered films that captured our zoological garden in the early years of its existence. We wanted to identify the author of the films – an officer of the Czechoslovak Army...