With South America, there are some really nice things and some mediocre or straight up bad things in Prague.
As usual, Prague keeps some really cool and interesting species, but often in not so great exhibits. I'm speaking of tayras for example. Those mustelids are always fun to watch, but their exhibit is quite outdated in my eyes. Everytime I watch them I can see they would aprecciate a bigger space. Especially the male, which is VERY active.
Same goes for jaguarundis. Their exhibit is small, ugly, outdated. Basically a set of not very aesthetically pleasing and not too big cages.
In my opinion, this part of the zoo is one of the worst ones in Prague, together with the polar bear enclosure of course. That's why I believe it would be better to just remove it and build there something new instead.
The maned wolf enclosure is quite mediocre, there's nothing interesting about it. Same with bush dogs, where I would love to see even just a small water pool. Geez.
And again, I want to complain about how tapirs are being kept. Although they have a lot of space to roam, the enclosure isn't particularly appealing. Which I would not mind as much as the fact the pool with water is quite small, especially considering it's never entirely filled.
On the other hand, I like the monkey islands! They look really nice, especially in summer and it's a pleasant to watch the monkeys jump high in the trees. But! The indoors are REALLY small, ugly and plain and it's a shame considering how much time the monkeys spend there.
The best of the indoor enclosures is the newest one for capuchins. But it's still really ugly. Why are there caged plants in the back? And since they are already there, why don't they cover the whole wall? I'd love to know who designed this...
The exhibit for coatis is spacious and just nice in general. It can be hard to spot the animals sometimes, but that just makes it more fun.
There's also an exhibit for capybaras and giant anteaters. Those two species are kept separately. There were actually no capybaras just until few years ago when they became a trend and that was when the director decided it was a good idea to get them. Eugh!
And although I've said the jaguarundis don't have a nice space, there is other feline species that does. I'm talking about the Geoffroy's cat. Their enclosure is really nice, together with the others meant for small felines in the carnivore house. But those others are not South American, so it doesn't matter.
I also like to call the Chacoan maras "Prague's hidden gem". Sarcastically. I like the species, their exhibit really is kind of hidden... but when you approach it, you may feel disappointed. I don't know. I find that place really funny.
From my point of view, Prague's biggest strength is birds. If we forget about the Pheasantry, they are usually displayed very nicely.
I like the exhibits dedicated to South America in the Rakos pavilion, although I believe there's still space for an improvement. But they've got some cool species - Tataupa tinamou and wattled jacana being my personal favorites. Though, I should not forget the Lear's macaw.
The Bird Wetlands are, of course, home to more amazing birds. Everyone knows about the Brazilian mergansers. I find their exhibit to be the best looking one. I aprecciate that there's one more awesome species with them, besides the ibises, and that's the crested oropendola.
I should not forget the Humboldt penguins. Not a huge fan of their exhibit, but it's fine, although the indoor enclosure is kind of weird. I aprecciate they share space with steamer ducks, but I haven't seen them during my last two visits.
I won't comment on amphibians and reptiles. When it comes to amphibians, there just aren't many. With reptiles... Well, I just don't think I can really comment on them since they are not my target group and I don't know much about them.
) I'm leaning heavily towards Chester.
