Grimnir
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Probably one of the best compiled census among annual reports
Zoo Ostrava Zoo Ostrava news
- Thread starter cockroach
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Probably one of the best compiled census among annual reports
The back side of Tanganika house is open. New species on show - banded mongoose bachelor group. No signs of warthogs. Place intended for cichlid tank (7000 litres) is empty.
At the same time the night section of Tanganika house is open again for visitors. The zoo doesnt mention if all former species are back on show, it mentions only southern tree hyrax, Garnett galago, electric catfish (this species returns after 2 year of absence), and african brush-tailed porcupine.
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Current list of birds kept here is following:
Aviary: Himaláje (Himalayas)
- red-billed chough
- Himalayan monal
Aviary: Náhorní plošiny Tibetu (Tibetan plateau)
- red-billed blue magpie
- Tibetan white eared-pheasant
Aviary: Bambusové porosty Sečuánu (bamboo growes of Sichuan)
- Chinese bamboo-partridge
- Temminck's tragopan
- Indian grey-capped emerald dove
Aviary: Junnan – smíšený les (Yunnan mixed forest)
- Chinese spotted dove
- grey peacock-pheasant
- black-breasted thrush
Aviary: Nížiny východní Číny (east Chinese lowlands)
- Baer’s pochard
- smew
- pied avocet
- Eurasian oystercatcher
- Asian azure-winged magpie
- white-shouldered starling
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Year 2024 is so far going splendidly for the zoo. It just celebrated its half-a-million visitor - 3 weeks earlier than last year. My rough calculation gives me 12% growth in attendance. If the rest of the year goes in similar gard, it could see new record at year-end, with appx 685.000.
While I´m happy for Ostrava, it still is not enough. The whole Upper Silesian Aglomeration has 5,3 million people. And it´s served by only 2 major zoos - Ostrava and Chorzów (480.000 attn.). So much unused potential....
While I´m happy for Ostrava, it still is not enough. The whole Upper Silesian Aglomeration has 5,3 million people. And it´s served by only 2 major zoos - Ostrava and Chorzów (480.000 attn.). So much unused potential....
How many minor zoos, including dodgy petting facilities, are there in the region? Do many people choose to go to these places over Ostrava and Chorzów?
After cursory look into ZTL and maps, I come to 16 paid mini zoos, native fauna parks, petting farms, mini aquariums and similar places on Czech side of the border and it might be close to reality. Polish area gives me 25, but it probably leaves some out, I dont know much about this area. I must admit I see many of the names for the first time, seems like 1/2 of them got established in last 5-7 years and are very tiny. I didn´t include entertainment parks like Skalka Family Park with integrated petting farm. Or Palmiarnia Gliwice (botanical garden with animal collection).
Egzotarium Sosnowiec sold 60.000 tickets in Nov-Dec last year after it re-opened thus it might become another major player in the region this year. For the rest of those places however, I don´t know their attendance figures and dont dare to guess. In both countries, this segment booms in quantity (but not quality).
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A female king vulture arrived from zoo Olomouc. She hatched on 28.3.2024 and has been hand-reared (using a puppet). She will join a male king vulture chick that hatched this year in Ostrava, they should grow up together and become a harmonious future breeding pair.
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Forecasted heavy rain and strong wind might close zoo gates during the weekend - some planned events were already cancelled. (Eastern Czechia expects floods up to 20 or 50-years maxima levels.)
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Forecasted heavy rain and strong wind might close zoo gates during the weekend - some planned events were already cancelled. (Eastern Czechia expects floods up to 20 or 50-years maxima levels.)
The zoo is closed for the weekend and might stay closed for a few more days. The town got 7 inches of rain, expects to double it till Monday and soil can´t soak so much at once. Lemurs got relocated from islands to bts, ground-dwelling aviary birds got moved indoors. Some visitor areas got flooded.
Pics on FB
Pics on FB
The zoo will open tommorow again - even if some paths are restricted due to ongoing removal of large tree trunks.
Ostrava was the last of large local licensed zoos to re-open.
Among small private licenced zoos: Zoo Sedlec got hit by water and might not re-open till end of this season. Faunapark Horni Lipova saw just some standing water in their enclosures and storage rooms with little impact.
Whereas all the flooding is indeed devastating, I do hope something may be learned from the extreme weather patterns in the last decades increasingly impacting our backyards.
Hopefully, authorities will devise new renaturation plans for the Danube, Odra, Nysa and Elbe will somehow in future assist in reducing the huge damage currently being seen around Central and Eastern European river systems.
Large-scale renaturation is probably out of question, even if small projects get realised at some places. But increased construction of new infrastructure, housing and industry areals in fact decreases space available for renaturation year after year.
But back to the zoo. Its director gave an interview. There was not much new info but here we go:
- the planned new penguin species is confirmed to be African.
- construction of the second zoo entrance should start at the end of this year and be open before start of 2025 main summer season
- the zoo aims (in far away future) for attendance of 1 mio, and thus it increases investment in further visitor amenities to spread crowds better within the areal, their next project is to build a crêpes food stand in front of dwarf mongoose exhibit and they look for land to build additional parking house on
- the zoo already employs 2 full-time staff whose only resposibility is caring for wellbeing and biodiversity of free-living native animals and plants that live within the zoo areal (100 ha)
- the current elephant exhibit is not acceptable anymore, the zoo will start a discussion with its owner (city of Ostrava) if it can find funds for a 4,5 ha new elephant exhibit or if elephants will be phased-out in future
Source-YT
BTW, I like his ambitions for the zoo.
Today, the walk-through aviary Papua opened again for visitors after a makeover. It included an erlargement and more theming - concrete fake trees, a mud wall with "aboriginal" paintings.
Species inside this aviary remain almost identical just like before the renovation:
- Sclater`s crowned-pigeon
- rainbow lorikeet
- red-winged black-capped lory
- masked lapwing
- Australian thick-knee
- green-naped pheasant-pigeon
- pied imperial-pigeon
- blue-faced honeyeater
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The Malá Amazonie pavilion has been closed temporarily (little house with fish tanks and tamarins). It undergoes reconstruction of its roof. The adjoining parrot aviaries have been emptied.
Species inside this aviary remain almost identical just like before the renovation:
- Sclater`s crowned-pigeon
- rainbow lorikeet
- red-winged black-capped lory
- masked lapwing
- Australian thick-knee
- green-naped pheasant-pigeon
- pied imperial-pigeon
- blue-faced honeyeater
Source
The Malá Amazonie pavilion has been closed temporarily (little house with fish tanks and tamarins). It undergoes reconstruction of its roof. The adjoining parrot aviaries have been emptied.
Twin Visayan warty pigs born on 13th October are already on show with adults.
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The zoo announced the elephant house floor got renovated and the house is again accessible by visitors. The former aviary inside elephant house is still derelict and empty, but its renovation is in 2025-pipeline of projects.
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The zoo announced the elephant house floor got renovated and the house is again accessible by visitors. The former aviary inside elephant house is still derelict and empty, but its renovation is in 2025-pipeline of projects.
What is the new plan for the old aviary in the Elephant House?
Sorry, I don´t have more info on how that aviary should look like when it finaly gets revived.