Baringogiraffe12
Well-Known Member
I believe a male fossa moved to Zoo Praha from Port Lympne therefore freeing Port Lympne up to receive a new male themselves from Chester.
Prague Zoo Praha Prague Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter Rhino00
- Start date
I believe a male fossa moved to Zoo Praha from Port Lympne therefore freeing Port Lympne up to receive a new male themselves from Chester.
I visited yesterday and all species are visible, the mergansers were very easy to see too. There have been no floods in Prague, so the zoo was unaffected. Walking through the zoo you wouldn't guess it has been raining that much last week.
I have finally visited the zoo today after months of anticipation and oh my oh my, one of the best if not THE best zoo out there in my very personal opinion.
I also bought 2 of the most recent books by Mr. Miroslav Bobek which I immediately began reading, they're a very easy read from a not-so-avid reader like myself.
I've learned my lesson though, no more first zoo visits on a weekend day, tried my luck today (counter at the entrance said almost 9000 visitors) and I have regrets in doing it, but it was still a darn good visit and was very lucky to see some of my first ever species!
Quoting Ice Cube: "I gotta say it was a good day".
I also bought 2 of the most recent books by Mr. Miroslav Bobek which I immediately began reading, they're a very easy read from a not-so-avid reader like myself.
I've learned my lesson though, no more first zoo visits on a weekend day, tried my luck today (counter at the entrance said almost 9000 visitors) and I have regrets in doing it, but it was still a darn good visit and was very lucky to see some of my first ever species!
Quoting Ice Cube: "I gotta say it was a good day".
August arrivals are published:
- a pair of kagu from Wuppertal (Prague kept only 2.0 for a few years)
- a group of lord Howe island stick insect from Bristol (new species, not officially presented yet)
- male yellow-billed amazon from Ostrava (Ostrava reconstructs its Mala Amazonie house and emptied thus also its parrot cages temporarily)
- female red river hog from Magdeburg (the zoo no longer has pure bachelor herd)
Among births is another black-and-rufous sengi, salvadori´s fig parrot, a Caribbean flamingo, 4 Chilean flamingos, a litter of green tree pythons and a bunch of african openbills.
- a pair of kagu from Wuppertal (Prague kept only 2.0 for a few years)
- a group of lord Howe island stick insect from Bristol (new species, not officially presented yet)
- male yellow-billed amazon from Ostrava (Ostrava reconstructs its Mala Amazonie house and emptied thus also its parrot cages temporarily)
- female red river hog from Magdeburg (the zoo no longer has pure bachelor herd)
Among births is another black-and-rufous sengi, salvadori´s fig parrot, a Caribbean flamingo, 4 Chilean flamingos, a litter of green tree pythons and a bunch of african openbills.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Only at Prague will such species as Black-and-rufous Sengi and Salvadori’s Fig-parrot merit nothing more than a casual mention at the end of a monthly summary post in their news thread.
It’s unbelievable how fast this zoo develops, and how many exciting new announcements are made every month which would be the headline of the year for some other zoos!
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
Hi! I first introduced to Prague Zoo when I'm aware of an exhibit called "Indonesian Jungle" a few years ago. From that on, the addition of that exhibit alone makes this zoo my number 1 list to go to if I ever had the chance to visit Europe, Czechia specifically. Not only from my own curiosity as an Indonesian to learn how foreign zoos curate their Indonesia-themed exhibit, but also just how good the design of most of the enclosures are (We barely got those here!).
Anybody have a complete list of the species held in the Indonesian Jungle as of now and in the past? Genueinely interested on the collection of species held there, especially in the nocturnal enclosures and paludariums.
Anybody have a complete list of the species held in the Indonesian Jungle as of now and in the past? Genueinely interested on the collection of species held there, especially in the nocturnal enclosures and paludariums.
cornu aspersum
Well-Known Member
I would recommend you to read this comprehensive review by @Kalaw. It includes a species list for each section of the zoo including the Indonesian Rainforest:Prague Zoo Walkthrough / Review [Prague Zoo Praha]
September arrivals:
- a group of Mangrove snakes of nominate subspecies arrived from private breeder, this traditional species returns to the zoo after a short break
- a female Black-chinned fruit-dove arrived from Walsrode, to join males that arrived previously
- a female suricata arrived from Dortmund
September births:
- female white-lipped deer
- black-and-rufous sengi
- Cuban hutia
- 2 common squirrel monkeys
- 2 rufous-cheeked laughingthrushes
- milky stork
- coleto
- Philippine metallic pigeon
- blue crane (second chick late in this season? or a mistake in database)
- pink pigeon
- Sunda laughingthrush
- 3x great white pelicans and 2x Dalmatian pelicans
- secret toadhead agama
- black marsh turtle
- Egyptian tortoise
- 5x Kenyan sand boas
- a group of Mangrove snakes of nominate subspecies arrived from private breeder, this traditional species returns to the zoo after a short break
- a female Black-chinned fruit-dove arrived from Walsrode, to join males that arrived previously
- a female suricata arrived from Dortmund
September births:
- female white-lipped deer
- black-and-rufous sengi
- Cuban hutia
- 2 common squirrel monkeys
- 2 rufous-cheeked laughingthrushes
- milky stork
- coleto
- Philippine metallic pigeon
- blue crane (second chick late in this season? or a mistake in database)
- pink pigeon
- Sunda laughingthrush
- 3x great white pelicans and 2x Dalmatian pelicans
- secret toadhead agama
- black marsh turtle
- Egyptian tortoise
- 5x Kenyan sand boas
Kalaw has already nicely described the current list of species held there. Thus I would just add some info about its history and former animals kept there.
The pavilion Indonesian jungle is an eliptic greenhouse on area of 1900 m2 built in 2004 near the zoo´s main entrance and replacing an old primate house from 1940s. Main task of the pavilion was to house popular Sumatran orangutan Káma (RIP) and his family who spent few years in Hodonin zoo waiting for its construction to finish. The zoo aimed to showcase only animal and plant species native to Indonesia here but it never acheved 100% purity due to practical reasons.
Original setup of species on show in December 2004:
Entrance rondel with 4 paludarium tanks
- Asian box turtle (Cuora amboinensis)
- Black marsh turtle (Siebenrockiella crassicollis)
- Roti Island snake-necked turtle (Chelodina mccordi)
- Red-bellied short-necked turtle (Emydura subglobosa)
- Pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta)
- Redtail sharkminnow (Epalzeorhynchos bicolor)
- Flying fox carp (Epalzeorhynchos kalopterum)
- Kissing gourami (Helostoma temminkii)
- Pearl gourami (Trichopodus leeri)
- three spot gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus)
- Bronze featherback (Notopterus notopterus)
- Indochina featherback (Chitala blanci)
- Tinfoil barb (Barbonymus schwanefeldii)
- Hoven's Carp (Leptobarbus hoevenii)
- bala shark (Balantiocheilos melanopterus)
- clown knifefish (Chitala chitala)
- Black sharkminnow (Labeo chrysophekadion)
- Tiger barb (Puntigrus cf. tetrazona)
- Black ruby barb (Pethia nigrofasciata)
- Lined barb (Striuntius lineatus)
- Filament barb (Dawkinsia filamentosa)
- Rosy barb (Pethia conchoniu)
- Clown barb (Barbodes everetti)
- Common treefrog (Polypedates leucomystax)
- file-eared tree frog (Polypedates otilophus)
Over the years, some turtle and fish species appeared and dissapeared (one tank is surrently heavy with rainbow fish species). But those Hoven's carps are still the same animals and with +20 years they are beautiful (coming from a person that doesnt care about fish at all). The turtles were almost all confiscated animals the zoo received from HK Kedoorie botanic garden.
Dragon exhibit
- Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis)
This exhibit is a dry-zone double pen built for a breeding pair of Komodo dragons our president received from Indonesian government in 2004. Nowadays, the pen is not devided but joined together and shows a group of adult males. The water moat has some fish but they are never signed and I´m not good enough to identify them - but once I think I saw some half-grown snakehead (Channa).
Otter island
- Javan langur (Trachypithecus auratus)
- small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea)
This island was built for tree kangaroos (and otters). Unfortunately, no tree kangaroo could be sourced by the zoo, ever. Thus langurs were put in for the grand opening day - but they were escaping repeatedly so they were sent to Dvur Kralove after just few months and replaced by binturongs. Small-clawed otters were later also replaced - by Indochinese smooth-coated otters.
Brackish tide pool
- Pearse's mudskipper (Periophthalmus novemradiatus)
Over years, other small fish species came and left. Today, it is inhabited by Spotted green pufferfish.
Macaque island
- Sunda pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina)
The water moat around this exhibit has several fish species that were added over years. Largest are Thailand giant catfish - several over 1,5 m but they are almost invisible due to lack of any underwater view.
Night section
- Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus)
- New Guinea ground cuscus (Strigocuscus gymnotis leucippus)
- northern dry zone slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus nordicus)
- brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
- western woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi)
- small-toothed palm civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata)
- sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps)
This section used to have 6 boxes. One of them not fully glassed but with a panel only 1m high and thus open into visitors corridor, it kept a strange mix of fruit bats and woylies. Those bats were imported for good money from an Indonesian animal trader, the zoo wanted to show some indigenous species, but after the group arrived and they got identified to species level, here came a big dissappointment, egyptians. Woylies were part of EEP (and no similar new guinean species was available in European zoos) so they got chosen. Later there were another changes in inhabitants, the Arctogalidia palm civet for replaced by a pair of common palm civets for example. The zoo here also kept dark dorcopsis, dusky pademelons, new guinean echidnas, or slow lorises in the corridor. But then several boxes got rebult for pangolins and number of species fell sharply.
Paludarium tank by staircase
- Oriental whip snake (Ahaetulla prasina)
- Banded archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix)
- Silver moony (Monodactylus argenteus)
- Knight goby (Stigmatogobius sadanundio)
- Spotted scat (Scatophagus argus)
- Silver scat (Selenotoca multifasciata)
Nowadays, it keeps only South Pacific tree boa while the water tank has no fish for some reason (hopefully this is only temporary).
Orangutan islands
- Sumatra orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus abelii)
- lar gibbon (Hylobates lar)
- Enigmatic leaf turtle (Cyclemys enigmatica)
Orangs and gibbons were mixed together. Gibbons were later sent away to get additional space for second adult orangutan male. The leaf turtles stay mostly in visitors area in a shallow creek and vegetation around it. The moat got filled with several turtle species, one of more staiking was a huge male painted terrapin.
Threeshew cave
- northern treeshrew (Tupaia belangeri)
This exhibit is open underwater for turtles living in orangutan moat that use sand soil inside to lay eggs. Treeshrews can´t dive undewater so they can´t escape.
Free-flying birds
- Bali star (Leucopsar rothschildi)
- Grosbeak starling (Scissirostrum dubium)
- Java sparrow (Lonchura oryzivora)
- ruddy turtle dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica humilis)
- red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus)
- Chestnut-naped imperial-pigeon (Ducula aenea paulina)
Out of these, only bulbus still live freely here. Other species wanished overtime. The zoo tried to experiment also with other bird species, and for example Pied imperial pigeons kept themselves for some years, but also them have not survived.
The last exhibit in the house, a glass vitrine that hosts Philippine porcupines today, was built only several years after opening the pavilion. Original inhabitants were Northern Luzon cloud rats, but later it kept also Asian brush-tailed porcupines or Javan chevroitan for a short time.
Inside the night section, here is a small tank with Bornean earless monitors - this is also relatively recent ad-on, not there yet in 2004.
This is probably not exhaustive list and I might done mistakes here, if anybody can bring any correction, feel free to add to it.
(I tried to find any good pic of the pavilion but without luck. It is so well masked by soil and vegetation that you can´t take pics as a visitor from outside. Here, it´s the glass bubble slightly up-right from centre of the pic.)
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Didn’t the zoo also keep ferret badger in the nocturnal section? Or were they in another pavilion of the zoo.
A great shame the zoo couldn’t incorporate brushtail possums to another exhibit.
Rizz Carlton
Well-Known Member
I wonder how an Indonesian supplier managed to get a hand of bats from Africa and the Middle East, instead of native Cynopterus fruit bats that are relatively abundant even in urban cities. Cynopterus bats, especially Cynopterus brachyotis, are quite common even in local bird markets.
Unles you are around during feeding time
(happened to me once quite recently - and was quite surprised. Btw macaques seemed as amazed as I was... I suppose they would like Jaws)
Well, there were once some plans for nocturnal house (around current south american mammals area/kulan paddock)... so maybe...
(but those plans were possibly scrapped)
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Yup, correct. I´ve forgotten to add this species to my list.
Thanks Jana for the historical perspective of the Indonesian pavilion. That was a great read and perhaps you should type up an account of each of Prague Zoo's exhibits.
This post took way more time than I´ve anticipated and yet I already know I forgot a good few species like ferret badgers, Malaysian giant turtle or southern river terrapin. Pretty frustrating experience. I admire your lenghty posts here on ZC.
That had to be amazing experience. When I want to see them, I must stare into water under certain angle and I still see just occasional huge moving shadows. But I question how safe it´s for baby macaques that like to play along the bank, could they ever become prey?
Few times, I tried to come up with an idea how to better present the catfish, 99% of visitors never realise what for monsters swim there. But unless the zoo would build a nice aquarium and move them, I don´t see a chance how to modify the current moat.
On my last visit the Giant Mekong catfish were very easily spotted, they were at least as big as me (≈1,75 cm in length) the big silhouette is unmistakable but few visitors managed to see as well as me.
I also managed to see the otters but of the binturong still no sight for me...
So the snakes' tank is not used by the snakes, I suspected it was too big to go just to the reptiles.
Also after some info that I read on Kalaw's thread (about the Indonesian Jungle but also about other backstage holdings) I looked around everywhere I could around the zoo to find backstage enclosures, and to the eyes of a passionate zoogoer they're pretty easy to spot and it's a fun little side-quest.
What I found in common with all the Czech zoos I've been to so far is that they managed space like gold and were very tactical resource-wise like using the heat of the whole indoor forest to keep the backstage animals warm as well, instead of isolating them in rooms and having to heat those as well as actively warming guests, same in the Sichuan House, where they don't even hide there's aviaries in the backstage.
Something I also found very clever was the usage of (supposedly) surplus treeshrews to help in the fight against cockroaches in the hyrax enclosure by Africa Up Close: the roaches, along with mice and rats, are a real plague in Czech zoos and are even signed in the Tortoise House!
On my first visit a demoiselle crane had a blind mouse in front of its eyes and I took a video right away thinking the crane would eventually take out the rat: as people my age used to say, I guess the mouse passed the vibe check.
On my second visit, a mouse was on the ground inside the Sichuan House, quite concerning if there's ground-nesting birds inside!
I also managed to see the otters but of the binturong still no sight for me...
So the snakes' tank is not used by the snakes, I suspected it was too big to go just to the reptiles.
Also after some info that I read on Kalaw's thread (about the Indonesian Jungle but also about other backstage holdings) I looked around everywhere I could around the zoo to find backstage enclosures, and to the eyes of a passionate zoogoer they're pretty easy to spot and it's a fun little side-quest.
What I found in common with all the Czech zoos I've been to so far is that they managed space like gold and were very tactical resource-wise like using the heat of the whole indoor forest to keep the backstage animals warm as well, instead of isolating them in rooms and having to heat those as well as actively warming guests, same in the Sichuan House, where they don't even hide there's aviaries in the backstage.
Something I also found very clever was the usage of (supposedly) surplus treeshrews to help in the fight against cockroaches in the hyrax enclosure by Africa Up Close: the roaches, along with mice and rats, are a real plague in Czech zoos and are even signed in the Tortoise House!
On my first visit a demoiselle crane had a blind mouse in front of its eyes and I took a video right away thinking the crane would eventually take out the rat: as people my age used to say, I guess the mouse passed the vibe check.
On my second visit, a mouse was on the ground inside the Sichuan House, quite concerning if there's ground-nesting birds inside!
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Can´t remember when I saw him for the last time... if ever there (aside of one short glimpse year or two ago, but that was on the secondary orang island... and I can´t by totally sure what I saw there)
Any tip where and when find this mysterious creature? : D
Could you mistake sakis for squirrel or capuchin monkeys? (first are indeed kept in Water world, seconds should move in... Sakis (pithecia) aren´t in Prague, as far as I know)