So, let's start with the first zoo.
Brno Zoo
The zoo of the second largest city in the Czech Republic was founded in 1953 and houses about 800 animals of 210 species. Most of the zoo is located on and around the Mniší hora (Monk's "Mountain"). As a result, part of the paths and exhibits are pretty steep, which turns pushing a stroller/pram or wheelchair during Your zoo visit into quite a nice exercise...
Nevertheless, it's an easy walk.
Starting from Brno's main station, You can reach the zoo direcetly by Tram 1 (though this takes quite a while), 3 or 11. From the tram station, You turn to the right, cross the bridge, walk to the left, and voila-You're at the zoo.
Let's take a look at the map
Zoo walkthrough :: Zoo Brno
From the submontane entrance/exit, the path leads You higher and higher up the hill, with the Africa Savannah exhibit visitor area marking one of the elevated points of the zoo.
Until recent years, Brno Zoo has been quite unremarkable, if so to say, with little improvisation according to recent standards of modern zoo husbandry. Quite a bunch of the exhibits are still what could be euphemistically called "old school" - small "bars-and-concrete" exhibits which resemble old dog kennels. The local tiny barren concrete cage which until recently housed a fully grown Polar Bear and is now home to a binturong, is another good example for this kind of zoo architecture that is still, but luckily less and less (at least in the public areas), a common sight even in modern zoos.
Bit by bit, the zoo is currently renovated. Newer exhibits like the one for Sumatran tigers and Sri Lankan leopards or "Beringia" and the upcoming "Kamtchatka" theme area show that the zoo does have potential and is willing to improve, but there still needs a lot to be done. This is especially true for most of the kept primates, small carnivores, birds and some reptiles. Some of the pictures in the gallery might illustrate better than my meager description what is meant.
Judging as objectively as possible, I'd recommend the following parts of Brno zoo to the interested zoo visitor:
-The Reptile House (which also houses some tamarins, amphibians and meerkats): not perfect, as afflicted with the usual husbandry problems its kind faces worldwide (some overcrowding tanks, a little cockroach problem, individual debatable husbandries...), but still quite nice, with an interesting collection (several Malaysian Giant Turtles (Orlitia borneensis), nice looking Basiliscus sp., a bunch of Cuban Ground Iguanas, housed together with Madagascar Radiated Tortoises, etc.) and one of the nicest Caiman Lizard exhibits I have ever seen in a zoo.
-"Beringia": The best part is the Polar Wolf exhibit, abundantly covered with vegetation. Visitors can watch the animals (if the wolves feel like showing up...) through two large panorama windows within a large log cabin. This cabin also houses various exhibits of authentic Haida artwork, including a canoe. Other exhibits, like that for the Steller Sea Eagles or American beavers, are more or less adequate. The currently built Canadian lynx exhibit looks promising-and is certainly an improvement to the current husbandry. The barren Polar Fox exhibit disappoints; however, at least its various furry inhabitants seem to have therebye escaped their otherwise fatal destiny at the fur farm...At the moment, the rather large Bear Grotto houses a pair of Polar Bear cubs with their mum. Just follow the (in comparison to Berlin tiny) crowds-they will lead You the way, past the antique South African Seal exhibit ...
-The Tiger Restaurant: most likely, one of the nicest zoo restaurants I have ever been to-which doesn't mean a lot actually, as I usually have no time nor wish to eat at a restaurant during a zoo visit...This one, nevertheless, is worth a visit. Large panorama windows allow a great look at the densely planted tiger exhibit. Sitting at Your table and eating a nice and inexpensive meal while a Sumatran tiger, almost at eye level, slowly sneaks past is indeed quite an experience. Additionally, the stairs up to the gift shop lead You closely around a tall and well decorated bamboo aviary, inhabited by a lively pair of Grizzled Giant Squirrels as well as a second, lightish aviary with Bali Starlings and Crested Wood Partridges, and to a balcony overlooking both the tiger and the adjacent, equally well-planted leopard exhibit.
However, there is a downer: the indoor exhibits for the big cats, especially the Sri Lankan leopards, are small and rather bare, and due to having just one outdoor exhibit for each species, one of the pair (may it be tigers or leopards) spends most of its time in the tiny indoor quarter, without a possible visual retreat from the visitors. Here, focusing on just one big cat species would have been the better choice.
-The design of the (wooden) information signs is one of the nicest and most artisticly appealing I have seen in zoos so far-and well accepted by the visitors, too. Surrounding "theme" structures, like tepees at the bisons or a Mongolian "Jurte" serving as the stable for the Takhis and the Kulan, as well as the odd combination of petting zoo and playground (poor rabbits...) are equally popular among most visitors.
Most of the ungulate exhibits, among others for Mishmi Takin, Grevy Zebra, Maral, Eurasian Moose, West Caucasian Tur, Barbary Sheep (together with Geladas in an exhibit within the surrounding beech forest, full with hotwired trees...) are large and well-planted, yet more structural elements (f.e. benjes hedges) could be useful. The African Savannah and the South American Pampa house the usual combination You can expect (Reticulated Giraffe, (North African?) Ostrich, Damara Zebra, Blue Wildebeest-has become quite rare in zoo, hasn't it?-and respectively, Lowland Tapir, Magellan Goose, Capybara, Mara, Rhea and Coscoroba Swan) and are rather plain, but seem to satisfy the animals kept within more or less.
All in all, the majority of the animals appears to be healthy and well looked after. Let's see how Brno Zoo will look one day when its planned improvements have taken place. At the moment, (and I hope that doesn't sound harsh, as the zoo staff has been quite friendly to me...), it's a rather unremarkable zoo, especially in comparison to other Czech zoos I'm going to write about in the future. If You happen to go to Brno and have some spare time, why not visit the zoo? But unlike Dvur, I wouldn't go to Brno just for the zoo...
There's also a small public aquarium at Brno, close to the tourist office within the city centrum. However, due to the not really remarkable collection and the rather inadequate husbandry (overcrowded tanks!!!), I wouldn't recommend a visit.
Well, that's my first review. More to come...
