As promised elsewhere, in this thread, I would like to introduce you to another fun part of the Czech zoo community. Part that sparks joy, controversy, provokes discussion and if you don't take it too seriously it's quite fun. So without further ado, let's jump straight into it:
What is this all about:
White Elephant is an award organized by a civic association called "Česká Zoo" (Czech Zoo) and the idea behind it is well summed up in their slogan: "Our (Czech and Slovakian) keepers are amongst the best in the world, our goal is to thank them for their work" meaning that every year this association chooses "the best" breeding achievement within the members of Union of Czech and Slovak Zoos (UCSZOO)
How it works:
There are 3 categories for breeding achievements: Mammals, Birds, The Rest (Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish, Inverts), and also there is an award for the best newly opened exhibit (up until this year this was separated into two categories: Best newly constructed exhibit and Best exhibit reconstruction). Each zoo nominates the entries themselves, and technically there is no limit on the number of nominations by each zoo. Results are decided by a jury - a mix of association members and "independent experts" (but I have my doubts about how independent they really are). Few weeks prior to the official announcement of results and award ceremony. The 4 highest scoring nominations in each category are announced, so the zoos can see whether it makes sense for their representatives to attend the ceremony.
Brief history:
The association itself was established in 1994 and the award started the same year, after initially solid success, the association hit a rough patch as interest within zoos to compete was low and some financial issues appeared as well. But thanks to the former president of the UCSZOO, who saw the need for such competition as a way of promoting keepers' work to the general public, the association gained the official support of the Union and the Union even decided to support the award financially. Slovakian zoos started participating at that time, which helped as well.
Issues/Controversies:
There is one but sort of a big one - a general lack of transparency. You can't find much info about the competition and the association even on their website. How the voting/scoring works, who is voting, that kind of stuff some would say is essential for such award. This combined with some very questionable choices in some years makes you question the legitimacy a bit.
What can you find here:
In this thread, I would like to walk you through the results of each year (adding some additional commentary where I can give it), take a look at the best-performing zoos throughout the years in all of the categories and further update the thread as long as the competition (and Zoochat) will go.
And what other way to start the thread than with the very freshly (last week) announced results of White Elephant for the year 2021. Some zoos already shared it on their social media, so you might have noticed it, but they just share their results and not everything. In total, 13 zoos participated and nominated 57 species. So the results are as follows:
Mammals:
1st place - African elephant (Loxodonta africana) - Zoo Zlín-Lešná
2nd place - Short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii) - Zoo Plzeň
3rd place - Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) - Zoo Prague
I mean...once the elephant calf survived the first months, everyone knew what the first place will be, as it is a great achievement. Echidna getting the edge over the orangutan, is a pleasant surprise for me, I was expecting it the other way around.
Birds:
1st place - Pesquet's parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Long-tailed glossy starling (Lamprotornis caudatus) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
3rd place - Kea (Nestor notabilis) - Zoo Brno
Again, no surprise in the first place at all. Starling in second place as a super rare breeding success works for me as well. Kea in 3rd place feels kinda weird, IMO from the other nominated species, both the Great curassow (Zoo Brno) and Great hornbill (Zoo Zlín-Lešná) should've been ranked above it.
"The Rest":
1st place - Blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei) - Zoo Jihlava
2nd place - Yellow-headed temple turtle (Heosemys annandalii) - Zoo Ostrava
3rd place - Nitsche's bush viper (Atheris nitschei) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
Reptiles are not my forte, so I can't comment on this much, other than that I would probably put the bush viper in the 1st place. Also, a fun tidbit for the future - when I will be walking you through the past results, get ready to see Ostrava in the top 3 of "The Rest" category a lot, usually with some species of fish or turtle
All nominations by each zoo can be seen here.
And as the Best New Exhibit:
1st place - Giraffe house - Zoo Dvůr Králové (only winner is announced)
I am a big fan of this house and its design, so I am glad that it got further recognition. This house, along with some other changes allows Dvur to overcome one of its weaknesses - visibility of certain fan-favorite species in winter when they can't access the huge paddocks.
I hope you'll like this new view in our local zoo-enthusiast community. (And who knows maybe someone high enough in the zoo hierarchy in another country reads this and gets inspired to organize something similar
) Also for those of you, who'll enjoy it, let me know what would you be interested in the most in the next post. Some historical results or some more recent results, or the "all time winners" post, I mean we eventually get through all of that, the only question is in what order 
What is this all about:
White Elephant is an award organized by a civic association called "Česká Zoo" (Czech Zoo) and the idea behind it is well summed up in their slogan: "Our (Czech and Slovakian) keepers are amongst the best in the world, our goal is to thank them for their work" meaning that every year this association chooses "the best" breeding achievement within the members of Union of Czech and Slovak Zoos (UCSZOO)
How it works:
There are 3 categories for breeding achievements: Mammals, Birds, The Rest (Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish, Inverts), and also there is an award for the best newly opened exhibit (up until this year this was separated into two categories: Best newly constructed exhibit and Best exhibit reconstruction). Each zoo nominates the entries themselves, and technically there is no limit on the number of nominations by each zoo. Results are decided by a jury - a mix of association members and "independent experts" (but I have my doubts about how independent they really are). Few weeks prior to the official announcement of results and award ceremony. The 4 highest scoring nominations in each category are announced, so the zoos can see whether it makes sense for their representatives to attend the ceremony.
Brief history:
The association itself was established in 1994 and the award started the same year, after initially solid success, the association hit a rough patch as interest within zoos to compete was low and some financial issues appeared as well. But thanks to the former president of the UCSZOO, who saw the need for such competition as a way of promoting keepers' work to the general public, the association gained the official support of the Union and the Union even decided to support the award financially. Slovakian zoos started participating at that time, which helped as well.
Issues/Controversies:
There is one but sort of a big one - a general lack of transparency. You can't find much info about the competition and the association even on their website. How the voting/scoring works, who is voting, that kind of stuff some would say is essential for such award. This combined with some very questionable choices in some years makes you question the legitimacy a bit.
What can you find here:
In this thread, I would like to walk you through the results of each year (adding some additional commentary where I can give it), take a look at the best-performing zoos throughout the years in all of the categories and further update the thread as long as the competition (and Zoochat) will go.
And what other way to start the thread than with the very freshly (last week) announced results of White Elephant for the year 2021. Some zoos already shared it on their social media, so you might have noticed it, but they just share their results and not everything. In total, 13 zoos participated and nominated 57 species. So the results are as follows:
Mammals:
1st place - African elephant (Loxodonta africana) - Zoo Zlín-Lešná
2nd place - Short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii) - Zoo Plzeň
3rd place - Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) - Zoo Prague
I mean...once the elephant calf survived the first months, everyone knew what the first place will be, as it is a great achievement. Echidna getting the edge over the orangutan, is a pleasant surprise for me, I was expecting it the other way around.
Birds:
1st place - Pesquet's parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Long-tailed glossy starling (Lamprotornis caudatus) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
3rd place - Kea (Nestor notabilis) - Zoo Brno
Again, no surprise in the first place at all. Starling in second place as a super rare breeding success works for me as well. Kea in 3rd place feels kinda weird, IMO from the other nominated species, both the Great curassow (Zoo Brno) and Great hornbill (Zoo Zlín-Lešná) should've been ranked above it.
"The Rest":
1st place - Blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei) - Zoo Jihlava
2nd place - Yellow-headed temple turtle (Heosemys annandalii) - Zoo Ostrava
3rd place - Nitsche's bush viper (Atheris nitschei) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
Reptiles are not my forte, so I can't comment on this much, other than that I would probably put the bush viper in the 1st place. Also, a fun tidbit for the future - when I will be walking you through the past results, get ready to see Ostrava in the top 3 of "The Rest" category a lot, usually with some species of fish or turtle
All nominations by each zoo can be seen here.
And as the Best New Exhibit:
1st place - Giraffe house - Zoo Dvůr Králové (only winner is announced)
I am a big fan of this house and its design, so I am glad that it got further recognition. This house, along with some other changes allows Dvur to overcome one of its weaknesses - visibility of certain fan-favorite species in winter when they can't access the huge paddocks.
I hope you'll like this new view in our local zoo-enthusiast community. (And who knows maybe someone high enough in the zoo hierarchy in another country reads this and gets inspired to organize something similar
) Also for those of you, who'll enjoy it, let me know what would you be interested in the most in the next post. Some historical results or some more recent results, or the "all time winners" post, I mean we eventually get through all of that, the only question is in what order 
), very nice, successful, and interesting year IMO.
