Inspired by the desert of the same name on the border between Mongolia and China, the Gobi exhibit showcases not only Przewalski’s horses but also other animals from Asian semi-deserts and steppes—including the legendary Mongolian death worm.

The visitor area includes scenic viewpoints, an authentic Mongolian yurt used as an exhibition space, and artificial rock formations faithfully replicating a real Mongolian location: the world-famous Flaming Cliffs, renowned for their Cretaceous dinosaur fossils, whose replicas you will also get to see in the exhibit.

Integral parts of the complex include a traditional Mongolian ovoo (a sacred stone cairn), a stone engraved with petroglyphs (replicas of carvings of varying ages) modelled on a real find made by Prague Zoo’s director Miroslav Bobek, and the popular bronze statue of a Przewalski’s horse from 1966, created by sculptor Vincenc Vingler.

The dramatic outdoor setting leads into a small pavilion, built into the terrain and entirely covered in vegetation. Inside, visitors will find terrariums housing smaller desert-dwelling species, ranging from tiny rodents and the long-eared hedgehog, to several species of lizards and the Tartar sand boa—a snake thought to be the inspiration for the mythical Mongolian death worm, or olgoi-khorkhoi, the sand worm said to kill from a distance.

A significant part of the pavilion interior is dedicated to a small “museum” presenting the story of the last true wild horse and the efforts to save the species and return it to the wild, in which Prague Zoo played a major role.

The new complex concludes with two spacious outdoor aviaries for Pallas’s cats—long-haired felines from Central Asia dubbed the grumpiest cats in the world.

Further reading

• The Truth about Olgoi-khorkhoi
• The Czech Myth about Olgoi-khorkhoi