Part 6 - Darwin Crater, Gharial Pavilion and Sichuan Pavilion (plus overall summary)
(due to a combination of time constraints and low battery on my phone, I didn't take many pictures of exhibits, so will be relying on the ZooChat gallery partly here)
Immediately below the Rakos’ Pavilion, a large lawn serves as a walkthrough for kangaroos and wallabies, the finale of Darwin Crater. Themed around the namesake meteorite impact crater in Western Tasmania, surrounded by mountains and forests that are some of the island’s most biodiverse regions, this is the first Tasmania-themed exhibit that I personally have ever seen, although sadly the geographical accuracy is a little less consistent here (still predominantly good, though). To save time, I didn’t enter the walkthrough, which is found at the end of Darwin Crater, but did get some good views of the
Eastern Grey Kangaroos and
Bennett’s Wallaby who inhabit it. The enclosure, which is essentially just a sloping lawn with a path through the centre, has little to say about it.
As Darwin Crater is a one-way circuit, I had to loop around the kangaroo lawn to get to the entrance, in doing so passing the Bororo Reserve. This is the zoo’s playground, but because we are at Prague, where everything is a must-see, there is something for zoo enthusiasts as well, namely, three large South American mammals and a small Terrarium. The map gives the misleading impression that one can enter Bororo from below, just above the Chambal (the Gharial Pavilion), which prompted me to leave the Terrarium until later on in the visit. When I found the path that I thought would lead to the Terrarium was blocked, I decided to leave the exhibit until last, which I promptly forgot to do until minutes before 19:00, when all pavilions and indoor exhibits closed. Thankfully, after some hurried backtracking, I managed to see it, but this mistake did cost me being able to return to the pangolins, and looking back on it, I only wished I had visited the Terrarium before Darwin Crater. That said, one of Bororo’s aforementioned South American species can be seen from the entrance to Darwin Crater, that being the
Brazilian Tapir enclosure, of which I was quite fond with its relaxed, shaded ambience, large size and varying terrain, but sadly there was no sign of the tapirs.
Arriving at Darwin Crater, I was delighted to see two aviaries at the entrance. Using birds to enrich mammal-based exhibits, as I had so often heard Prague praised for, and it was pulled off delightfully here. With Darwin Crater being one of Prague’s newest exhibits (May 2020), this is a good sign. The first of these is referred to on the exhibit map as ‘Bush Birds’, and is where the species selection deviates from Tasmania the most. It is a decent aviary, with good vegetation, but I didn’t linger here for long (the next aviary being a walkthrough had me quite distracted!). The species list for Bush Birds is:
Common Bronzewing
Tawny Frogmouth
Budgerigar
Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
Wonga Pigeon
Golden-shouldered Parrot
By Prague’s standards, a fairly generic species list (although being one of only six holders of Golden-shouldered Parrot in Europe, that says more about Prague’s standards than anything else). The only true annoyance is that only the bronzewing and frogmouth are actual Tasmania natives.
However, the next aviary, labelled as ‘Wetlands Birds,’ appealed to me much more, and may well have been one of my favourite enclosures at Prague. A simple design. Small to medium sized aviary, with several small trees and other plants, but it was teeming with birds, all very lively, noisy and entertaining to watch. Whether it was a heron skulking down a log and fishing, or cormorants flying back and forth and fighting over branches, or ducks swimming about in the pool. Similar to the bushbabies earlier in the day, it perfectly demonstrates how having bigger groups of animals can drastically improve the value, or at least visitor enjoyment of any enclosure, although again like the bushbabies, I do worry slightly that any more births and new arrivals and it runs the risk of becoming overstocked. As it stands, though, that is not the case, and this aviary is brilliant. The species list is:
Australian Shelduck
Hardhead
Little Pied Cormorant
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Straw-necked Ibis
Rufous Night-heron*
After missing them in the Stork Aviary earlier, it was delightful to be able to get a second chance with the night-herons, and this time they delivered, slowly making its way down a log and craning its neck as though to fish in the pool, attempting this on a few occasions. A wonderful colour throughout, contrasted well with the bright blue around their eyes, with those bizarre white feathers hanging out of their neck being the best feature - I love all pelecaniformes and especially night-herons, but this has to be up there as one of my best encounters with that order. However, the night-heron is not the biggest rarity in this aviary, which is instead the cormorant, kept at just three European zoos. Although I will say that, given how close it is to becoming overstocked in there, Prague could do well to find other willing holders for some of their cormorants in the event of future breeding, something from which all parties will benefit.
Credit:
@vogelcommando
As great as these aviaries are, they are of course not the stars here. A glass-walled wooden boardwalk leads you between two enclosures (much like Gobi, I loved the clean and modern vibe here, as if Prague were trying to show off) for
Tasmanian Devil and
Tasmanian Wombat. Both were species that I was quite keen to see, having seen the devils before at Beauval, but asleep, and as such I quite hoped to see one more active here. Thankfully, one of the Prague individuals delivered here, albeit briefly, climbing along one of the fallen logs and running throughout the bushes before vanishing, presumably into a burrow. The wombats are a subspecies of the Naked-nosed Wombats, which, rather ironically given that they are the more common of the two wombat species in zoos, is the one that I haven’t seen (Longleat is the only place in Europe to keep Hairy-nosed, but they are the only zoo I have visited to keep wombats until now), and the wombats were once again cooperative, with one individual sniffing or foraging about in their indoor area for some time, very much visible. The differences between them and the Hairy-nosed are very striking, with a more rodent-like and less ‘peaceful-looking’ face.
Both the Tasmanian devil and wombat enclosures are outstanding, especially the former. Two huge outdoor enclosures with live trees, moats, thick vegetation, burrows, a variety of substrates and scattered rocks. If it wasn’t for the low fencing, one would assume this was a leopard or jaguar enclosure. The wombat enclosure, while not as impressive, is still outstandingly well-landscaped, and I love the authentic and rugged feel created by the random placement of natural elements. This is a theme throughout many of Prague’s exhibits, but these two exemplify it the best.
Indoors, a small cave opposite the wombat enclosure contained two terrariums, one for
Rough-scaled Python and the other for
Common Death Adder, both scarcely kept snakes that serves as lifeticks for me, but the death adder in particular was interesting, an iconic venomous taxa kept at just six European collections. Moving towards the walkthrough kangaroo enclosure, I located the
Short-beaked Echidna enclosure, although sadly, having only seen the species in a nocturnal setup before (not including my view of the species at Hemsley, when all I could see was the quills beneath a log), I missed out on the chance to see a daylit echidna here. From what I have heard, the Prague echidna, who share their enclosure with
Long-nosed Potoroo, like to take advantage of the thick natural substrate in their enclosure to completely bury themselves under the floor during daytime, hence the absence. Opposite them was the indoor enclosure for the Tasmanian Devils.
Overall, I loved Darwin Crater, with a noteworthy species list, a wonderful modern atmosphere, some brilliantly crafted enclosures and fairly active animals. It is in stark contrast to what could be found opposite, a row of aviaries titled ‘Birds of Southeast Asia,’ which is very simple and old-fashioned in its design. This row of aviaries is in turn part of a greater row of aviaries that span this portion of the zoo, colour-coded differently to the surroundings on the zoo’s map and, if I am not mistaken, known by most Prague visitors as the ‘Pheasantry.’ The whole Pheasantry area is a guilty pleasure of sorts, being packed with rare birds ranging from charming, colourful passerines to huge hornbills and eagles. And while for some of the smaller birds these aviaries, clearly some of the older exhibits in the zoo, are of a decently high standard (being big enough for them and very well vegetated), for the larger birds they are at times far too small, hence my decision to refer to this area as a guilty pleasure. In a way, it reminds me of the aviaries on the North Bank of the Regent’s Canal at my local London Zoo (which sadly sit empty for now), in that they are small and overgrown, but for some of the smaller birds just about adequate. That said, while I enjoyed this corner of the zoo for its species selection, I hope that the larger birds, especially the hornbills (my favourite animals, who I don’t really like seeing displayed like this) receive improved homes soon!
The ‘Birds of Southeast Asia’ row contains (in order from the tapirs to the penguins):
White-crested Laughingthrush
Vietnamese Pheasant
Edward’s Pheasant
Black-breasted Thrush
Sunda Laughingthrush
Northern Rufous Hornbill
Luzon Tarictic Hornbill
Palawan Peacock-pheasant
Philippine Metallic Pigeon
Philippine Scops-owl
Palawan Hornbill
Sumatran Laughingthrush
Bronze-tailed Peacock-pheasant
Coleto
Rufous-fronted Laughingthrush
Forsten’s Lorikeet
Salvadori’s Pheasant
Javan Green Magpie
Green Imperial Pigeon
Bali Starling
The highlight for enthusiasts would surely be the only Sunda laughingthrush in Europe, a strikingly coloured bird with a gradient-like blend of hazel and bluish grey colours, but most notably a large white patch around the eye. Luckily, I was able to see one of the many Sunda laughingthrushes that Prague keeps in this aviary. Other rarities to look out for include Philippine Metallic Pigeon (I have always had a soft spot for species that resemble our native pigeons, but with subtle differences), Luzon Tarictic Hornbill, Javan Green Magpie, Salvadori’s Pheasant, Bronze-tailed Peacock-pheasant, Palawan Hornbill as well as of course the Coleto. I managed to spot all of these barring the magpies (which I was not all that bothered by, given that they are kept by my local) and the Coleto (which I was slightly more irritated by, given that it is a major rarity and a bald starling!).
Nearby, Ring-tailed Lemurs, the second enclosure for this species at the zoo, occupy a standard island which can be walked through by visitors, but much like the kangaroos, due to being pressed for time, I decided to skip the walkthrough portion and appreciate the enclosure solely from the outside, which seemed to be a decently spacious island. What stood out to me most was the indoor area, which was curiously designed with glass walls on all sides, and as such seemed as though it sat quite comfortably in the surroundings.
Marabou Stork and more Cape Barren Goose occupied a large, wooded, sloping enclosure, that, as far as enclosures restricting birds flight go, is probably one of the better ones I have seen with its very pleasant setting. I now decided to begin making my way towards the Gharials, a species I had been fascinated by all my life, and behind only the birds-of-paradise and pangolins was my third biggest target of the day, passing the extension of the Pheasantry labelled on the map as ‘hornbills’ in doing so.
Regrettably, the ‘hornbill’ aviaries had the same issue as the ‘birds of Southeast Asia’ ones, in that, while their simple, overgrown design works well for the smaller birds, they are simply not adequate for the larger ones. In particular, a pair of huge Rhinoceros hornbills could hardly stretch their wings, it seemed. While most of the discussion seems to revolve around the orangutans and big cats, I think that it is these hornbill aviaries, along with the small rodent enclosures in Africa Up Close, that need to receive the most urgent attention after the completion of Arktida. As it stands, however, the following species can be found here:
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Kagu
Hill Myna
Asian Glossy Starling
Madagascar Crested Ibis
Pink Pigeon
Great Indian Hornbill
Nicobar Pigeon
The species in this aviaries that appealed to me the most was the Kagu, a bizarre species whose exact taxonomy is up for debate, but is considered by some to be a relative of the gruiformes (cranes and rails), with its closest living relative likely being the Sunbittern, although to me, they have always looked like a mix between a very large gull and a very small heron, with some attributes of pigeons thrown in, and of course their signature wire-like neck feathers. Sadly, when first arriving at their enclosure, I had no luck, but a return later on in the day revealed a Kagu sitting in the far corner of its enclosure, making a rather bizarre noise. A great lifetick, although sadly all but its head was obscured by the long grass in the enclosure.
It was at the end of this pathway that I had anticipated being able to enter Bororo Reserve and the Terrarium, but upon realising I could not, I instead had to follow a rather odd path which first leads through a viewing shelter, appearing to be nothing more than that, only for it to lead the visitor onto a boardwalk over a moat. This moat, it turned out, was just a small part of a bigger series of moats, streams and lakes, forming a variety of islands interconnected by boardwalks. This exhibit is known as ‘Water World and Monkey Islands,’ which I do find to be a rather sloppy name when just one or the other would have done fine, and hence, for convenience’s sake, I will now be referring to it as WWAMI. In some ways, this area is simple in its design, with almost every zoo having its equivalent. The stars are the namesake primate islands (a common zoo idea) with wild Crucian Carp and Marsh Frogs bringing life to the water that surrounds it, and many captive waterfowl can also be found (again, a common zoo idea). However, I have never seen it on this scale, with seven or eight islands, many bodies of water and some delightful viewing lodges to watch the birds. There are a lot of areas of Prague Zoo where I feel as though if I weren’t rushing through them (something which, considering how big the place is, I had no choice but to do), then I may have gotten much more joy out of them. And for me this (along with another exhibit that I will discuss shortly) was worst affected by it. Not only was I rushing, but as a result, I was getting quite lost (the map shows a gibbon island, but I couldn’t find it, although there was a construction site roughly where the map indicates that the gibbons are, so I suspect that is why), not able to find several key species with many others presumably hiding due to the fact that it was quite late on in the day. Even still, I did love WWAMI and its design, with all the wildlife only bringing more life to it.
After first entering through the aforementioned viewing hut, the first enclosure one sees houses:
Chilean Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
Crested Duck
American Wood Duck
Not the most interesting selection, but it is always nice to see two flamingo species side by side and compare them. Nearby is the first of the primate islands, that being a huge, green one for
Mexican Spider Monkeys. Although the ground portion is perhaps a little barren, the height and maturity of the live trees in the enclosure was very impressive and far exceeds what is typical of primate islands in zoos. What is most exciting about this particular enclosure, however, is that the Mexican subspecies of spider monkeys is kept at just two other European zoos (all I saw, however, was a single monkey sitting on the grass). Also here is the first of two viewing points for the
Malayan Tapir, a species that I was rather keen to see, an old favourite of mine from when they were once kept at London, although since their departure I do not see them often enough. Unfortunately, I made it two for two with tapir misses, and moved on, in doing so noting that their enclosure, although pleasantly shaded, was hardly all that special. Much like the spider monkeys,
South American Squirrel Monkeys benefit from a smaller, but equally spacious and pleasant, island.
The exhibit in this area that I most looked forward to was Chambal, also known as the Gharial Pavilion. Chambal is a river in India that serves as a tributary of the Yamuna, which is in turn a tributary of the Ganges - however, the ‘Chambal’ in the name refers to a sanctuary along said river, which was formed to protect the Gharial (along with two other species - the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle and the Ganges River Dolphin). This Pavilion is, architecturally, my favourite in the zoo, with all of its walls made out of bamboo planks, but covered by genuine bamboo, allowing it to sit discreetly into the surroundings. Outside the entrance of Chambal, one can find a large pond for
European Pond Turtles, which is also signed as being a favourite hangout spot for the native Marsh Frogs found throughout the zoo, but especially in WWAMI. Of the three outdoor enclosures I have seen for pond turtles (the others being Exmoor Zoo and Tierpark Wittenberg), this one seemed to have the least action going on, with all of the turtles basking on the shore, compared to Exmoor where I reliably see large groups in the water, resulting in much joy trying to spot their raised heads, although it is still a lovely enclosure and I suspect that the time of day when I visited plays a big part in their inactivity.
Now, overcome with excitement to see one of my most long-awaited lifeticks, I made my way down the ramp and into the Pavilion. I mentioned that the Velemlokarium, or Giant Salamander Pavilion, is the best exhibit in Prague Zoo in terms of what it achieves, and that the Rock Outcrop with its goats on the towering cliff is the best in terms of enclosure quality. I stand by both those opinions, but I think that in terms of my personal enjoyment of each exhibit, the Gharial Pavilion easily takes it. I had wanted to see Gharials for as long as I can remember - as a child, crocodilians were my favourite animals, and the idea of one heavier than alligators and as long as a Saltie that preys almost exclusively on fish, with the specialist adaptations to show for it, just fascinated me. That said, I know that as reptiles grow continuously throughout their life, there was a high chance that the gharials at Prague weren’t full grown, and would disappoint in that regard. However, they certainly did not, as all six of the Prague animals were huge. And they weren’t alone either. The pool held:
Gharial
Northern Batagur
Crowned River Turtle
Indian Roofed Turtle
Brown Roofed Turtle
Indian Star Tortoise*
Giant Danio
When I first arrived in Chambal, there was one swimming about in the pool, one resting on the shallow stretch of land near the tree in the centre, one on the bank to the right, and two on the bank at the back, with the sixth nowhere to be seen. When I returned near the end of the day, there were two under the tree, three swimming about, and just one on the banks. These Gharials, who have been at Prague since 2008, were huge and probably some of the biggest crocodilians that I have ever seen (off the top of my head, only the Siamese male at Crocodiles of the World is comparable), but what made the whole thing so lively were the batagurs. Huge terrapins that, by the time it was discovered to be a separate species to the Southern Batagur (which Prague also keeps in the Indonesian Jungle), were thought to be extinct in the wild, until miraculously, through using old documentation about turtles mentioned as being potential batagurs, herpetologists were able to locate them and bring the into specialist breeding centres throughout India, with some individuals eventually finding their way into European zoos for ex situ breeding.
This article on the zoo’s website provides more interesting information about it, and it is quite fascinating. It was also fascinating to watch them, as they appeared to be cleaning the gharial’s scales, with all three of the crocodilians that could be seen swimming being routinely pestered by the terrapins. They seemed unbothered, until one particularly painful nip caused the gharial to flinch and in response to it, the gharial briefly began to fight back, biting at one of the terrapins, who evaded it with ease by tucking its head into the shell. From then on, it was more peaceful with both species being more gentle, although there was still a crowd of batagurs following the gharials wherever they went.
In terms of animal activity, watching the gharials and batagurs, as well as the smaller turtles (all three of which being rare in zoos) and the star tortoises, who showed a commendable lack of fear when approaching the gharials on land, was easily the highlight of my day. The Giant Danios were interesting too, being a keeper of the smaller but related Zebra Danios myself. This further exemplified the point that I have made many times throughout this and my other reviews, and will no doubt continue to do so - the easiest way to make any species entertaining is to keep them, and their company, in larger numbers. Six gharials and nine batagurs is quite something, but due to the huge size and depth of the ball with banks on all sides but one, it never feels near overstocked. A truly brilliant exhibit.
Reluctantly, I moved on from Chambal and began making my way towards the Sichuan Pavilion. In doing so, I passed the other South American mammals in the Bororo Reserve, the
Giant Anteater and
Capybara, although other than a very impressive anteater curled up amongst some straw, there was little going on here. The WWAMI offerings continued with a lake for:
Ruddy Shelduck
Red-crested Pochard
Eurasian Shoveler
Greater Flamingo
Thus bringing the total number of flamingo species at Prague up to three. Here was also another viewing of the pelican lake from earlier.
The next exhibit at Prague Zoo is perhaps the most beloved among zoo enthusiasts - the Sichuan Pavilion, known also simply as Sichuan. An indoor hall filled with free-flying birds, which is a simple concept and one that many zoos around the world have their own take on. However, what makes this exhibit at Prague so special is that, as opposed to focusing on tropical birds of Southeast Asia, Africa or South America, this one has decided to focus on birds of temperate climates from Eastern Asia, with the namesake region being a province, basin and region in central China. Before sharing my thoughts on the exhibit, the species list is as follows:
Emei Shan Liocichla
Red-tailed Laughingthrush
Grey Peacock-pheasant
Common Emerald Dove
Pekin Robin
Barred Laughingthrush
Barred Cuckoo-dove
Ashy Woodpigeon
Eurasian Hoopoe
Little Bittern
Scaly Laughingthrush
White-rumped Shama
Bar-backed Partridge
Golden-crested Myna
Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
Orange-headed Thrush
Cabot’s Tragopan
White Wagtail
Blue-crowned Laughingthrush
Mandarin Duck
Great Argus
With 21 species, its an impressive species selection indeed, and with Europe’s only Scaly and Barred Laughingthrush, as well as Bar-backed Partridge, Barred Cuckoo-dove, Golden-crested Myna and Ashy Woodpigeon all being kept at five or less European zoos, it is hardly devoid of rarities either. With only spending ten minutes in the house (really not enough to do justice to it, but time was against me now), I managed to see all of those rarities barring the cuckoo-dove and Barred laughingthrush, although it is possible that I did see those and simply didn’t realise, as there were many instances when a bird flew overhead or across the path and I did not have time to identify them. However, the highlight for me were the hoopoes. Very common compared to the other species, having been kept at London Zoo for a brief window fairly recently and being native, and yet I had somehow never seen them until this visit. At Prague I saw four or five hoopoes flying across the hall and occasionally landing on the pathway, gathering food and returning it to the nest. Their black and white stripes on the wings are far more pronounced in person than they appear to be in photos, and it more than made up for the many disappointments of having missed them in the past. I was also delighted to see the outstanding tail feathers of a male Great Argus, and in a sense, it was the common species, sometimes even the species kept at my local zoo, that were brought to life by their means of display here that made it feel special. My only regret is that I couldn’t find the Little Bittern!
However, I do have a guilty confession to make. Despite all my words of praise above, I did not enjoy Sichuan near as much as I thought I would. The pathway only covered a small portion of the pavilion, which is fine, as the birds need the option for privacy, but there were many instances where it left me longing for something slightly more creative in terms of viewing options, such as the stairway embedded into the tree that could be seen at Rakos’, or even a toned down version of Burgers’ Bush with trails into the woods. And while I loved and appreciated the bamboo, at times quite mature and impressive, the inclusion of tropical palm trees in a temperate-themed exhibit partly ruined the immersion for me. To be clear, I really enjoyed Sichuan. A brilliant theme, some lovely species, and well-stocked enough to guarantee some good activity. I just wasn’t amazed by it as I have heard other zoo enthusiasts who visited Prague claim to be. To me, it felt no different to other walkthroughs, only with a slightly more interesting selection of birds, and I would much prefer the more simplified approach of, say, London’s Blackburn Pavilion, where I find it much more entertaining to spot the animals than I did here. That said, out of all the exhibits at Prague that I rushed round due to time constraints, this, a walkthrough where patience pays off to see the birds, certainly suffered the most, and is the one that I am most curious to see how my thoughts adapt in relation to upon a return visit (hopefully over the next few years, I will return to this gorgeous city and its zoo in the process).
Credit:
@lintworm
Very recently, Sichuan received a new addition, that being an aviary in front of it. With just one supporting pillar circling around the entire thing, and then netted over, it is a very good example of zoo architecture in my opinion. My favourite feature of it, however, is how the small pond in the front leads into a small water feature across the visitor path, crossed by a few stepping stones that no doubt keep children entertained during busier times, and then leads into the pond in front of the ‘Gaston Restaurant’ mentioned in an earlier post, with a statue of the fur seal Gaston in the pool. The aviary holds:
White-shouldered Starling
Scaly-sided Merganser
Crested Myna
Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush
Spotted Dove
All five of which are decently rarely kept, but the laughingthrush is the highlight, held at just one other European zoo.
I then made my way through the Children’s Zoo, which is primarily domestic animals as well as children’s entertainment such as a train ride and paddling pool, however does bring something of note to the table for zoo enthusiasts with ‘Nature Around Us,’ three aviaries for native European birds (with a rather random aviary for
Australian Magpie found nearby), although a very attractively coloured Dwarf Zebu also caught my attention. Having just seen the far superior and more extensive European aviaries at Dresden, and having arrived in Prague on a bicycle trip that allowed me to see some of these species in the wild, I did find these aviaries to be slightly underwhelming, but they are beautifully crafted with some great use of native plants to create a rugged and natural feel, and I appreciate the fact that two of them are walkthroughs. Much like Sichuan, these aviaries are objectively and conceptually great, but I was a little indifferent to them.
The first walkthrough held:
Song Thrush
Stock Pigeon
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Hoopoe*
White Wagtail*
Common Linnet
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinch
Of which the linnet was the most interesting species to myself, although it was great to see some very active wagtails, as well. The next walkthrough had a corner taken out of it which served as the aviary for
Little Owl, so densely covered in conifers that it was all but impossible to locate the owl. Unfortunately, although I was fond of the vegetation, I did find it to be just a little too small for the species in question. The second walkthrough contained:
Common Chaffinch*
Grey Partridge
Common Starling
European Roller
European Turtle-dove
I was quite struck by the colours of the roller, which appeared less vibrant and more ‘pastel’ than I had expected.
From here, I followed back into WWAMI, where I found the zoo’s
Western Sitatunga enclosure. Exhibit-wise, this is perhaps one of Prague’s most noteworthy enclosures, giving this swamp-dwelling species an enclosure that suits their nature, with long grass, patches of thick vegetation, and a moat that weaves around the enclosure and allows the animals to wade in it. Although hardly comparable to Exmoor’s enclosure (the same thing but far larger and within the dramatic setting of a valley), it is still fairly nice, and far better than the frustratingly vast number of enclosures that give this species dull, savannah-inspired lawns that do nothing to represent their natural habitat. Although I could not see any, more Marabou inhabit this enclosure. Nearby, I found the indoor viewing for the Malayan Tapirs where I was thankfully able to spot the individuals this time, with two adults, far larger than I ever remember them being at London, were clearly visible.
Nearby, the ‘Pheasantry’ resumes with a series of enclosures for birds of prey. Although, thankfully, far larger and better suited for the inhabitants than the previous portion of the Pheasantry, I still felt as though they were just slightly on the small side, only allowing for brief periods of flight, especially compared to the excellence of the Great Aviary not too far away. The species held in these aviaries are:
Egyptian Vulture*
King Vulture
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
Red-legged Seriema
Egyptian Vulture*
Steller’s Sea Eagle
Spectacled Owl
Bald Eagle
Hooded Vulture
European Honey-buzzard*
Pel’s Fishing-owl
Buffy Fishing-owl
This area is of course a must-see for zoo enthusiasts due to the two species of fishing-owl, with the Pel’s being the only representatives of their species at a public collection in Europe, and the Buffies being one of just 5. Although I had no luck with the latter, I was delighted to see three individuals of the former, one of which I believe being a chick born at the collection earlier in the year (first breeding of the species and genus at a public collection), who is maturing rather well, being the same size as the adults albeit still with much fluffier feathers. A delightful species, with the scale-like markings on the wings and spots on the belly making them one of the more interestingly coloured owl species that I have personally seen.
Nearby, the Penguin Pavilion was about as standard a penguin enclosure as it comes, featuring your classic
Humboldt Penguin, which in a zoo so littered with rarities did leave me wishing somewhat for a rarer species, or at the very least more than one; for a zoo that has five species of porcupine, three species of flamingos, three subspecies of tigers and too many laughingthrushes to count, I thought that having one species of penguin, one species of bear and one species of crocodilian, when these are the animals most often represented by multiple species in zoos, was odd to me. Not a criticism, just an observation. Although the enclosure and choice of species is basic, I did like that the indoors was onshow, something which is not always seen with penguins, and that they shared with
Fuegian Steamer Duck, a lifetick and a species that I thought benefitted quite a bit from the underwater viewing.
Just around the corner from the penguins were the
Cape Fur Seals. Although from an aesthetics standpoint, I wasn’t too keen on this very concrete heavy enclosure, especially with the water not appearing to be too clean (by no means dirty enough to be an issue for the inhabitants, but not all too friendly on the underwater viewing area), I actually think it is of quite a high standard for the animals, with a huge, deep pool and plenty of rocks to climb on in the land portion, even featuring a slide. Around now, I relaxed and watched the fur seals, deciding to return to the gharials and pangolins, only to suddenly realise that I had fifteen minutes until the pavilions closed and still hadn’t seen the Terrarium.
So, after backtracking rapidly to the Bororo Reserve, I visited the final exhibit at Prague Zoo, the Terrarium. Tucked away behind a playground and accessed only by a boardwalk, I suspect this is among the easiest missed exhibits for first time Prague Zoo visitors. And while it was nothing special, it was actually fairly interesting and certainly worth the last minute rush to see, if only for completeness sake. When you walk in, you first enter a dark room with a huge
Lake Titicaca Water Frog enclosure to the left. I have never seen such a large tank for this species, nor such a well-themed tank, presumably trying to give the impression of Aztec ruins, nor so many in one tank. I counted a staggering total of eighty, although given how many may have been hiding under the rocks it is probably closer to one hundred. I was also fairly impressed by the water quality.
The rest of the enclosures in the house, which is essentially just a long corridor barring a small room at the far end for native species, are rather akin to one another, so aren’t really worth discussing. However, they housed:
Caiman Lizard
Tokay Gecko*
Northern White-lipped Python
Puff-faced Water Snake
Small-banded Kukri Snake
Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Vietnamese Longnose Snake
Eastern Montpellier Snake
Red Tegu
Ruthven’s Kingsnake
Gila Monster
European Glass Lizard
Urartian Rat Snake
Spotted Whip Snake
Bate’s Tree Boa
Mangrove Snake
Nosy Komba Ground Boa
Quince Monitor
Giant Asian Pond Turtle*
Eastern Black-bridged Leaf Turtle
Grass Snake*
Dice Snake*
Aesculapian Snake
Smooth Snake*
Adder*
While the Feline and Cat Pavilion was heaven on Earth for lizard-lovers, this is surely the equivalent for snake-lovers, with fourteen species and some major rarities, such as the whip snake or the montpellier snake among them. I was particularly impressed by the size of the Red Tegu, and thought they made a pleasant change given how commonplace Argentine Black-and-white Tegus are. I was also fond of how the final five species, all kept in a separate native species-themed room at the end, are almost exactly the same as the species in the cliffside ‘Czech Reptiles’ exhibits, as though to offer a second chance for visitors who may have had bad luck seeing them earlier (which, Dice Snakes aside, included myself).
I then made my way back to the Gharial Pavilion, as staff were fairly lenient about closing it at 19:00, and admired the very active crocodilians, along with the batagurs, before attempting to see if staff were equally lenient with regards to the Indonesian Jungle. They were not, so only one pangolin encounter for me, but on the bright side, had I chosen to go to them instead of the gharials, I would not have gone back past the Pheasantry and thus wouldn’t have seen a Kagu. With the outdoor portions staying open to 21:00, and seeing as I was already in the area, I instead settled for watching the Polar Bears, who were also asleep in their dens. With all the pavilions closed, little activity outdoors, and a thunderstorm approaching, I decided it was time to leave.
There is always a strange symmetry to leaving a zoo after you visit for the first time, and this was no exception. Walking down towards the bike park, unlocking our bikes and then riding off, back towards our hotel, I remembered my excitement arriving at Prague Zoo, when I first saw the Indonesian Jungle’s domed roof from a bridge leading towards Troja Palace and thought to myself “that is where I am about to see a pangolin.” I remembered the anxious walk up to the zoo’s gates, when I began to worry that the pangolin wouldn’t show itself. And I also remembered the greater worry I had - that Prague as a whole would disappoint and I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. That one made me chuckle. Walking away from the zoo, instead of worrying if I didn’t enjoy it, I worried instead if I had ruined zoo-going for myself by seeing the best zoo that the world has to offer too early. Maybe not. I haven’t been to Berlin, San Diego, Bronx or Singapore, and truthfully, I wasn’t even sure that Prague was the best zoo I had personally visited, and for most of the journey back to London, in the back of my mind, I was comparing it to Zurich (my favourite prior to this visit) and trying to decide which I preferred.
Here is the conclusion that I came to: Zurich’s biggest selling point is its exhibit quality, and while its best can easily beat the best of Prague (with all due respect to the cliffside exhibits and the giant salamanders, they aren’t Masoala or Kaeng Krachan level), I would argue that its worst is actually weaker than the worst of Prague. Although those rodents in Africa Up Close and the hornbills in the Pheasantry did concern me, I believe the Ape House is a bigger atrocity. While there is a debate on other areas (Zurich, for example, is conservationally the most significant zoo in continental Europe, and I was very fond of the way that they evidenced this with some tasteful theming), as far as key areas go, exhibit quality is the only area where Zurich is clearly better than Prague, and while the Ape House still stands, it cannot claim to be too far ahead in that aspect either. For that reason, as it stands, I would say that Prague is a better zoo than Zurich. There is, of course, no objective way to quantify greatness, and everyone is entitled to an opinion, but using my own criteria, standards and perception, Prague is just about the better zoo. This may well change given coming developments, of course. Zurich has a very exciting masterplan that should further establish its excellence and address the issues of the Ape House, and then things may change, but for now Prague is marginally the best zoo that I have visited.
However, of course, ‘best’ does not translate to ‘favourite,’ and while Prague was never going to beat my beloved Whipsnade for the title of my favourite zoo, it could have easily taken second place from Zurich. And this debate is what bothered me the most, as it is really difficult to answer. On one hand, while I loved every second of Zurich, there were elements of Prague that just didn’t quite click with me, whether that was due to high expectations making them underperform by comparison (Sichuan or the African Savannah) or due to poor exhibitry that made me feel a little uncomfortable (Africa Up Close or the Pheasantry). But on the other, I don’t have a single memory from Zurich that compares to seeing my first pangolin. It’s not even close. Not even my first step in Masoala, or the awe of seeing an elephant in front of Kaeng Krachan’s dome, or the thrill of seeing Mongolian Wolves minutes before closing time mere days before they left the collection. And to be honest, seeing the birds-of-paradise and gharials was probably more memorable than any of that as well. I think for now, I will leave this question unanswered, as recency bias is far too powerful a thing to be accounted for appropriately, and I must wait to see how positively I look back on Prague in a few months time.
I will say, however, that Prague played to my personal interests far better than I thought it would. I had two big reservations going into my visit that I thought might have ruined it all for me. The first was that, after the elephants at Antwerp and the polar bears at Hagenbeck, I knew from experience that having one truly poor enclosure for an animal I was fond of could ruin my mood and enjoyment of that animal. I had heard some enthusiasts criticise the inconsistency of Prague’s exhibitry, and feared that the same might apply here. Thankfully, it did not. The polar bear, orangutan and especially big cat enclosures far exceeded my low expectations, and barring the hornbills (my favourite animal with very little flight space) there were no offensive atrocities. My other worry, and this is more personal, is that I tend to lean more towards zoos with a few hyper-ambitious, world-class exhibits, rather than a sea of consistent ones. My love for Burgers’ and Zurich, and preference for them over Chester, demonstrates this. And while I do still think that Prague could do with more ambition (I remember reading at one point that there were plans for a tropical house with manatees that would have provided this, although I believe they were shelved), I was surprised to realise that ‘ambition’ is the wrong word to describe it. A better word would be ‘awe,’ which is evoked by Masoala or Bush, but is also evoked by standing anywhere in that bottom half of Prague Zoo, with excellent imaginative enclosures, filled with rarities and designed in ways that encourage activity, on all sides, with a mighty cliff face looming over you, delightful botanical features filling the gaps, and the echo of bizarre sounds in all directions. For that reason, Prague dismissed all my concerns with ease. Instead, it gave me another issue, and it made me feel like quite the hypocrite. I often hear enthusiasts criticise zoos like Chester or Beauval for being too big. I have never understood a zoo being too big as a criticism - surely it is something to praise. And while I still think that objectively a zoo that manages to house more species than any other, so long as it doesn’t compromise exhibit quality, should be applauded for that, I understand how it could be a personal criticism. Prague had so many delightful exhibits that need patience and time to get the most out of, but barring the gharials and cormorants, I rushed and didn’t give many of them enough time, which meant underappreciating gems such as Sichuan and WWAMI, but also missing out on rarities such as Horned Screamer or Coleto, that, if we were at Shaldon or Hemsley, I would have happily waited outside their enclosure to see. I am not, however, saying the solution to this is for Prague to downsize, because that would be ridiculous. Instead, I would say that if (I would love to be able to say when) I return to Prague, I would either have to allocate myself two days or be ruthless in terms of leaving out exhibits that I don’t deem to be worth a return, most likely the latter. However, for first time visitors, I cannot recommend two days enough!
Overall, I spent just over 9 hours at Prague Zoo and thoroughly enjoyed it. Like I say, it is probably the best zoo that I visited, and it gave me my first pangolin, so it will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I cannot wait to return!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, 5 days and 32,000 words later, I would like to thank all readers for taking the time to read this, and hope that you enjoyed it!
, as the zoo was just too vast and too filled with rarities for me to be able to return to any species that I missed earlier. Luckily, I saw my three main targets, those being the pangolins, birds-of-paradise and gharials, as well as the mergansers, kagus and others that I wanted to see. I understand your visit was over two days, but I still can't imagine being able to return to Rakos' six times! It was one of the only exhibits in the zoo (along with Chambal and a few others) that I managed to return to twice, and I was still pressed for time! And to think that I thought I was a fast walker!
