As promised, here is the photographic overview.
Across the Continents:
There are several relevant species in this strangely miscellaneous exhibit, such as Turkmenian Kulan, Addax, Maned Wolf, Guanaco and of course the Brown Hyenas! There are a few others that could count but I'm not too sure, such as Eastern Wallaroo.
Like most of the northern half of the zoo, atop the cliff, this part of the zoo is characterised by mature trees, abundant greenery and long grass, which makes for some really attractive enclosures. The Kulan enclosure is a little more akin to your generic, sandy hoofstock yard, but is still visually appealing. All enclosures are spacious, and the highlight with regards to exhibitry, much as in terms of collection, is the Brown Hyena enclosure: a pair of equally sized paddocks separated by a well-disguised moat, very undulating and littered with hidden dens.
@vogelcommando - Brown Hyena enclosure.
@Robaque - Addax enclosure.
@vogelcommando - Guanaco enclosure.
Africa Up Close:
A very interesting exhibit, in that it focuses solely on the often-overlooked smaller fauna of the African continent. I believe that the educational value of such an exhibit is quite immense, as the average visitor won't know the wildlife of Africa beyond the photogenic savannah giants. It's winding design makes it a little more visually engaging than most similar exhibits for assortments of smaller animals. There is also an outdoor area attached, which I really liked for its tasteful rockwork and garden-like ambience, being hidden away from the rest of the busy zoo and only accessed by a staircase. Chester actually has an answer to this in the new 'Heart of Africa' exhibit with 'the Hidden Savannah.' A bit of me wonders if Prague's exhibit in any way inspired this one...
Highlights here include the enormous troop of 8 or more Senegal Bushbabies, the Mechow's Mole-rats (whose enclosure actually lets them dig for once!), the very rarely kept Garnett's Greater Bushbaby, Honey Badgers and a few vivariums towards the end, which struck me as being some of the largest and best-landscaped desert enclosures that I have seen, with the thickness of the sand layer being especially commendable. A grasslands-based reptilian highlight would be the Vaillant's Mabuya.
There are no photos of the desert terrariums, but there are photos of a very similar one in the Feline and Reptile Pavilion which I will attach later.
@lintworm - Moholi Bushbaby and jumping rat enclosure. The aforementioned Senegals have a similar one next door which they share with tenrecs.
@lintworm - outdoor portion, featuring the likes of Honey Badger, Bat-eared Fox and Cape Ground Squirrel to name just a few.
An unfortunate lowlight of the pavilion (which it would be unfair to Chester not to mention) is the selection of small mouse enclosures near the entrance, almost all of which are far too small, even for the really small species they contain. For example:
@vogelcommando - Barbary Striped Mouse enclosure.
Hippo Pavilion:
Not sure if the hippos themselves count (as they are surely more of a 'water' species), but the series of excellent grassy antelope paddocks that surround their enclosure surely do. These hold Eastern Bongo, Nile Lechwe, and another rarity, Mhorr Gazelle.
@vogelcommando - Eastern Bongo enclosure.
Elephant Valley:
Prague has a good Asian Elephant enclosure which is often forgotten about. With three enclosures (one for the herd, one for the bull, and a third massive one which I believe alternates between the two), there is a lot of space and good separation options, but what really struck me was the abundance of grass, with the main herd's enclosure in particular being gorgeously green. Compare it to the sandy yard at Chester and it is certainly much easier on the eyes, although of course one could argue that the structural complexity makes the Chester enclosure superior. Both, I thought, were a little let down by mediocre indoor areas, especially Chester.
@Kalaw - elephant herd paddock.
@MagpieGoose - elephant indoor area.
African Savannah:
Prague's African Savannah is widely accepted as being one of the best in an urban zoo. I'm not sure how the new one at Chester compares to it, though. It spans 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres), has almost complete grass coverage, and features a really large roster of species that includes Beisa Oryx, Black Sable and Kafue Lechwe, both a little unusual in a mixed-species setting such as this. My favourite aspect, however, were the many European Sousliks. Prague is responsible for breeding and releasing 400 of these to the wild, after they were nearly wiped to extinction in Czechia, and although technically wild, their preferred place to linger is this savannah (fittingly, as it was in a big offshow cage behind the savannah that they were bred). As well as being something very commendable in terms of conservation value, the sousliks are endlessly entertaining and add something very special and interesting to the savannah viewing experience.
@Chapman'szebra - main savannah.
@twilighter - showcasing how far back it extends, although do note that since the image was taken a little bit of the far left corner has been severed off for the construction of 'Dja Reserve,' the new gorilla exhibit.
Opposite the savannah is the African Pavilion, the indoors for the giraffes, where one can also see displays for Meerkats, Aardvarks and Kirk's Dik-diks, all in decent enclosures. The indoor areas for the latter two particularly struck me as spacious.
@Robaque - viewing gallery for dik-diks and aardvarks.
Also in this area is a second Eastern Bongo paddock.
Plains:
In my review, I remarked upon how I thought this was the most unremarkable area at Prague Zoo, because it is just a series of so-so hoofstock enclosures. In hindsight, I was wrong. In my mind, I expected something Whipsnade-esque, deserving of the 'plains' monicker, but in reality, none of the hoofstock paddocks are necessarily sprawling (although none are small either), and the aforementioned mature tree coverage that is such a staple of the northern half of Prague Zoo prevails again, meaning it doesn't really feel like a plains. That, and the law of diminishing returns with the almost overwhelming amount of hoofstock present in the northern half of the zoo, is why I took to it so badly, but in the time since then, I have tried to think of any area of any zoo I have been to even remotely similar to this one, and I haven't been able to. All the hoofstock paddocks (except maybe the European Bison one) are large, well-landscaped, and designed in such a way that does well to evoke the habitat of the species it holds: peccary have a rugged landscape, takin have a slightly hilly one, and camels have a very grassy paddock. There are plenty of rarities here: Kiang, Javan Rusa and Chacoan Peccary, for example. The whole thing has a charm to it which I would very much like to return to Prague to appreciate better. And from an animals' perspective, the enclosures are good, too.
@Kalaw - Chacoan Peccary enclosure.
@vogelcommando - Burmese Brow-antlered Deer enclosure.
@Swedish Zoo Fan - European Bison enclosure; not bad, but definitely the weakest link here.
Gobi:
Prague's newest exhibit. To quote how I described it in a previous thread where it was relevant: "it's really good. With a lot of impressive educational material depicting Prague's extensive in situ conservation work with the Przewalski's Horse without ever coming across as distasteful or excessive, with a wonderful modern, clean feel to it all. There is a Przewalski's Horse enclosure that is one of the very few to provide sand substrate rather than concrete or grass, and a series of noteworthy reptiles and small mammals indoors ranging from Steppe Lemming to Tartar Sand Boa (the species that inspired the myth of the 'Mongolian death worm') and the only Mongolian Sunwatcher Agamas in Europe." The reptiles I referred to are kept in another really attractively landscaped desert terrarium, which proves even exhibits that appear simple require skill and attention to landscape to perfection.
@Kalaw - Przewalski's Horse enclosure.
@MagpieGoose - educational features and terraria.
@Green_mamba - Long-eared Hedgehog enclosure.
@Green_mamba - for a selection of lizards, including those Mongolian Sunwatcher Agamas!
More photos to come!
I very much hope that someone is willing to provide a similar resource for Chester in order to demonstrate my above point, but if no one bothers to do so by tomorrow night I'll get something thrown together!