Brno Zoo - 2/9/19
'Fire, I'll take you to Brno'
Including Brno in my trip was a bit of a protracted process; it was initially going to be a stop between Vienna and Prague, but then Vienna (and Salzburg) got cut from the itinerary due to time constraints and therefore so too did Brno and Zlin. However, I had arranged to meet
@HOMIN96 the previous year, which fell through, so when I was looking for an extra zoo near Prague, and Wroclaw really was too far away, Brno snuck back in.
Firstly I just want to say what a fantastic host
@HOMIN96 was. Sadly our day was marred somewhat by absolutely torrential rain, literally turning some of the paths into streams. I luckily had a poncho in my bag for exactly this eventuality , because my showercoat absolutely wouldn't have handled it.
@HOMIN96 soon became the proud owner of a Brno branded umbrella
We tried to do as many of the indoor areas as possible first, but this wasn't a great solution due to the amount of walking between them. I found myself really wishing I was visiting Munster! Without a guide I'd have been really stuffed, as using a paper map was out of the question.
The visit got off to a cracking start, because we had great views of the Javan ferret-badgers, which I had been under the impression were off-show. A nice tiger exhibit followed, but soon we were viewing a very old set of primate cages, that were at best 'functional' and at worst awful.
Brno is really a zoo of two halves: the often excellent new exhibits and the really poor old ones. There are some exceptions to the latter: the deer paddocks with old iron fencing are actually very nice, but at times Brno is a bit of a horror show that really has you questioning your visit. It's also one of those zoos in a wood on a hill, where there are often spans of walking between exhibits that feel
too long. Happily, in the case of one of the worst exhibits, for chimpanzees, a new enclosure is under construction right now, so the zoo earns the credit it desperately needs in this area.
Some old parts have been successfully renovated; the Australian House is very good indeed, with a nice array of slightly unusual mammals. Other structures like the Reptile House seem like they could use the same vision.
The best part of Brno is undoubtedly the North American complex in the lower part of the zoo. There is a fantastic, and huge, aviary for bald eagle. It's funny how when you actually give birds of prey space they always seem to use it. Another great enclosure for arctic wolves, and then a huge bear exhibit, with a wonderful almost ha-ha effect when approaching it that makes it look like the bear could just hop into the log cabin next to it. A real triumph and a great way to 'finish' the zoo.
There are a number of zoos in Czechia that are 'must-visit'. Aside from the obvious choices like Prague and Plzen, since my afternoon at Jihlava last year I've included it as one of this group, despite its small size. Brno is not a Jihlava. Happily, its good parts feel exactly like it, so it's on the way. I predict that one day it will be a firm fixture on a 'Czech tour'. For now, despite its positives, it's hard to justify, at least on a first visit to the country.
An anecdote to finish: the zoo was so impressed by our dedication to zoo visiting even in adverse weather conditions that a picture of our bedraggled forms (surreptitiously taken) made it onto the official Instagram page.
