Journey to the East

02-10-2008

Very interesting report. Semi-open night exhibit looks interesting. Do visitors have contact with japanese macaques?

02-10-2008

In theory, yes. However, during my visit the macaques stayed away from the visitor path.
Olomouc Zoo: Entrance to the Japanese Macaques Walk-Through Exhibit » ZooBeat Photo Gallery

02-10-2008

Thanks for these very descriptive critiques. I enjoyed reading them as I doubt I shall ever visit any of these places, though the last three don't seem to be too strongly recommended.....

02-10-2008

@Pertinax: Thanks-and don't worry: quite a few positive are going to come up, too...

03-10-2008

It seems as if there are a number of disappointing and outdated Eastern European zoos, but that was what I expected. However, I am enjoying the reviews and photos so keep up the great work!

04-10-2008

Well, I'm sure many Eastern exhibits are bad. But this is the best Japanese Macaque exhibit I seen, and one of largest primate exhibits worldwide...

04-10-2008

From my experience, it is true that zoos in east Europe have many bad, small and/or outdated animal enclosures, and the more you go east the worse it gets. But at least in the Chzech Republic, Poland and Hungary things are definately improving at a good rate in many zoos!! I think Prague Zoo has always had a good standard (not without "black points" but comparable with german zoos).

04-10-2008

You know it is because Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic (and Slovakia) are actually Middle Europe not Eastern. Germany too.

07-10-2008

Ah, the differentiation between East and Middle Europe-a topic that can inflame the soul and sharpen the tongue of every Czech, Slovakian or Pole, no matter how benign and placid they usually are.

Judging from the geographical situation, culture and larger parts of history (Habsburger Monarchy, Prussia...), the transitions within the countries in the middle of Europe (whose actual segue to Asia is always a source of heated discussions among different nations-see f.e. Turkey and the EU) are more or less smooth, even though there are certain, obvious boundaries in regard to the germanic and slavic languages-and people, as one can see in the form of gorgeous Slovakian girls...

Ahem...
However, the classification of the Czech Republic, Slovakia etc. as "East Europe" is imho a result of the more recent history, in form of the "Eastern Bloc", which segregated back-then Czechoslovakia, Poland etc., but also an Eastern part of Germany from the "more western" part of Europe, with most of Germany and Austria in the middle.
Therefore, it'd be maybe better to refer to this typical form of zoo architecture, which can be still seen in Czech, Slovakian, Polish, but also Estonian, Hungarian, Ukranian, Romanian...but also East German zoos as "East Bloc" architecture...or "old school", as the "concrete-and-bar" zoo architecture wasn't alone limited to these countries, but also rised and still rises its ugly head all over the world, inclusive most if not all of the modern zoos (though there often just behind the scenes...).
Therefore, if we (or rather, me) scold these imperfect husbandries, one should not forget that quite often, modern ones in "western" (sic!) zoos might not be any better at all. Hodonin Zoo's old jaguar exhibit does look horrible-but the ones in Omaha Zoo for big cats, including the cougars in the Desert Dome, aren't, if we are fair, any better-and in Hodonin, the jaguars can at least enjoy some sunlight and fresh air...and will move to some better enclosures in the near future
@snowleopard: Coming from the "King of Zoo Reviews", this praise surely equals an accolade; thanks
@Jurek7: I wouldn't go so far to call it the best, especially in regard to the indoor enclosures...but it's at least large and the animals can enjoy natural ground to forage upon.


So, I promised positive reviews, and here are the first two:

Zlín-Lešná Zoo does not only have a very pleasing Homepage, but the zoo itself is most certainly one of the nicest I have ever been to. Embedded in an English Garden-style park, the 48ha zoo, founded in 1948, is home to 1150 animals of 210 species.
Starting from the central train station, You walk into the direction of the Shoe Museum (Al Bundy and SATC-Carrie would surely appretiate that...), cross the street (there's an underground passage, in the case You don't want to be run over...) and take bus 34 or 36 to the zoo. But beware: do read the timetable of the bus station at the zoo when You arrive there. Otherwise, You might fall prey to (like I did) the more than irregular bus schedule and spend a longer period of time waiting for the bus after Your zoo visit, secretly praying to arrive at the train station in time to get Your connecting train (which You nevertheless get, though being late, as the Czech trains are notorious for being late themselves...).

Similar to other zoos, the zoo tries to divide itself into several zoogeographical sections-and similar to other zoos, You end up with South American Green Oropendolas next to African Hornbills, Gorillas facing Humbolt Penguins and Asian Shark catfish in the African Elephant House...
Nevertheless, a lot of effort and love to details has been invested to illustrate and teach about the zoogeographical aspect, including colourful life-sized images of typical representatives of the local fauna, signs and zoo architecture in "ethno-style" (like a Japanese Arch or a wallaby exhibit with red earth, artificial termite hills, Aborgine art and didgeridoo music), ethnographical scenarios and touch-on experiences (maned wolf skin, capybara skulls etc.). The zoo "themes" are often quite nicely represented: "Australia", for example, besides Black swans, kookaburra etc. also houses a playground with "kangaroo jump" trampolins and the petting zoo with sheep and rabbits, underlining the local importance of these critters in AUS.
For fans of historical buildings, the zoo also offers a visit of the Lešná Chateau, located within zoo grounds, with some of its reptile collection hidden in the cellar of the castle. Alas, human lovebirds might find the (in my opinion a little too much kitsch-y) Chateau so charmingly romantic that they may choose to marry there-which, as I could observe, seems to happen quite frequently. As a result, the happy couples now have a special zoo sign on their own, next to those for the crocs and the flamingos...

I especially liked the South American part of the zoo, including the Yucatan Hall (with a nice basic presentation of Maya culture, and Cuban ? crocs) and the Exhibit of Amazonia, where the immersion effect was sometimes amazingly successful and yet rather easily achieved: You walk through a small forest, before You face a muddy body of water, filled with tree roots, trunks etc. From the other side of the "river", You can hear squirrel monkeys scream in the canopy of the trees-but You have a hard time actually seeing them, similar to conditions in the wild. Equally mentionable: the lushly planted exhibits for Amur tigers and Moon Bears (a little too much hotwire, maybe), the Asian steppe with Bactrian camels, blackbucks, geese and wing-clipped (booh!) griffon vultures (would be perfect for saiga antelopes...), the African Savannah (Addax, Lechwe, Ostriches, Marabous..so much about zoo-geogr..., ahem-pardon the smart-alecking ), the African Animal Stable (another donut...), the rows of different hornbill exhibits, the interesting black-and-white-ruffed lemur exhibit (see a photo of Jana on that in the gallery), the nice crane exhibits, the large walk-through deer exhibit...
Of course, there are the things one can nag about: the gorilla, gibbon or other primates' exhibits, the indoor enclosures for several species (among others, for the animals in the "African Donut", with the visitors looking upon and thus throwing things at, the animals), wing-clipping of vultures, cockatoos etc.
...but all in all, it's a nice, enjoyable zoo, worth a visit. But check out the bus schedule before You enter...

ZOO Zlín - zámek Le?ná - zoo kontinent?


Yesterday's beautiful local autumn weather prompted me to visit another Czech Zoo-and it was more than worth it.

Jihlava Zoo is quite tiny (7ha), but what it lacks in size, it makes up in the quality of husbandry (officially naming itself "the first barless Czech Zoo"-a bit of a misleading misnomer, as there were, to mutual dismay, cleary bars between me and a cuddly babirusa...), presentation and species collection (Tonkean Macaque, Campbell Monkey, Savu Python, Margay, Amur Cat, Sri Lankan and Persian leopard...). There's hardly a place where one could get so close to pygmy hippos from the public visitor area-see video clip.
Beautiful outdoor exhibits for Lowland Tapirs, various lemurs, tamarins (the "speciality of the zoo) as well as crowd pleasers like meerkats, coatimundis, Asian Small-clawed Otters etc. Interesting enclosure for Common Seal (together with Black Storks). Nice playgrounds for children, beautifully situated bird of prey show (inclusive plenty of apple trees, currently full of delicious apples...). The African village is amazingly nice and has a very cool small nocturnal house (or rather, hut), as You will see in the video clips.

There are nevertheless points one could rightfully animadvert, like the tiny, bare and sterile, "old school" indoor exhibits of the tapirs, cats, pelicans,
primates...etc., the partly overcrowded reptile tanks, the old aviaries...
but all in all, my overall opinion about Jihlava Zoo (and the equally nice town)
could be abstracted as:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhzOD1amluc

I will certainly visit this zoo again!

Oh, I almost forgot:
A little insider advice on how to get to this zoo: don't take the train. Get a bus ticket (f.e. from Student Agency)-it's much cheaper and faster. From the bus terminal, head to the central travel shop (can't miss that-there's nothing else there...), turn left, walk past the sex shop and then turn left until You're standing in the city centrum. Go downhill to the end of the centrum, where signs will lead You straight to the zoo.

07-10-2008

Thanks for the fascinating reviews .

I am currently reading Michael Palin's 'New Europe' so find the comparisons between 'West' and 'East' zoo culture very interesting .

08-10-2008

New photos and video clips-among them the coolest pygmy hippo video You'll ever see, and two Blair-Witch-Project-like clips of the Nocturnal Hut-now in the Gallery.

EDIT: Sorry, can't upload 2nd Nocturnal Hut video....

29-11-2008

Ostrava Zoo

Ostrava Zoo was officially founded in 1951. On an area of about 60ha, it houses about 1465 animals of 268 species. Additionally to the animals, it also offers various horticultural exhibits (of which, due to the winter season, I did not see much at my visit last Saturday).

If you come to Ostrava by train, take bus 101 from the central station to the zoo; if you arrive by the means of a Student Agency coach, take Bus 104.

One noteworthy and laudable thing about the zoo is its hp, offering various information in 5 different languages. Wish some big & posh zoos in both Europe and America would have a similar service...

Let's use the zoo map for a virtual walk through the zoo. Additionally, I have posted some pics in the gallery (vid function unfortunately no longer available-sorry).

ZOO Ostrava - interaktivní mapa botanická

After entering, you will at first encounter some Carribean flamingoes, Whistling Ducks and other waterfowl at your left side; if you turn right, you will get to an animal show theatre, corrals for ponies and donkeys and an Eurasian Eagle Owl aviary. If you head straight on, you approach the "China" part of the zoo; a beautiful Chinese Garden, slightly uphill, leading over small streams and through bamboo and rhododendron hedges to various nicely embedded, partly walkthrough aviaries with interesting Asian bird species like Hume's Pheasants, Chinese Bamboo Partridges and Red-billed Choughs. Enter a walk-through exhibit with a pair of White-Necked Cranes, and then go to a small wooden "pagoda" viewing platform overlooking both a Red Panda and a Pere' David Deer exhibit. The latter as well as the following exhibits for Vietnamese Sika Deer and Altai Marals are large, well structured and allow the apt seperation of males if needed. Next to your usual petting zoo exhibits(including a spacious pot-bellied pig enclosure), You can find a formation of three old bear grottos (see pic in the Gallery), housing two Moon Bears, coatis and a Syrian Brown Bear, respectively. Like in the case of the other old zoo buildings, the zoo has set up a large sign explaining (one could also say apologize for) the current condition and future plans of improvement. In case of the Moon Bears, a new exhibit which they will share with Tarai Gray Langurs (the current group(s) is at the moment kept in the old primate house) is currently built. Past more or less large aviaries for griffon, bearded, monk vultures and various other birds of prey as well as quite nicely planted aviaries for various species of owls (Great Grey Owl, Ural Owl, Snowy Owl...; the zoo is btw. involved in several local owl protection programs) You will encounter a small building housing various small cats (Pallas', Geoffroy's, Serval..), snowleopards and agoutis. Go back to see some quite lushly planted exhibits for Caracals, Canadian and Eurasian Lynx (both currently teeming with healthy-looking offspring) as well as Fishing Cats to the old cat house. This, like the closeby "iron bars" enclosures for breeding Amur tigers (formerly home of Kodiak Bears and Cougars) is another relict the zoo wishes to improve in the near future. Currently, it houses a pair of Asian lions (whose male seems to be smitten with his new Swedish lioness...), Binturongs, a pair of Sri Lankan Giant Squirrels (yeah!) and 2.3 Sri Lankan Leopards (two playful cubs, born this summer). Passing the old primate and the old pachyderm house, one enters the recently built elephant house, inhabitated by 0.4 Asian Elephants and also sporting a small rainforest exhibit, including Blue-crowned Hanging Parrots, Pied Imperial-pigeons and a Pangasius species.

Talking about relicts:
-two old birdhouses: one currently being renovated; the second one is planned to be turned into a "House of Evolution", integrating a better exhibit for their chimps.
-an old primate house, with breeding groups of the mentioned Grey Langurs and Lion-Tailed Macaques, Diana Monkeys, as well as Mandrills, chimps, and probably a bachelor mixed-species group of lemurs as well as a central exhibit housing bird species like Bernier's Teals and Madagascar Partridges; several other lemurs, including Sclater's, are kept on "lemur islands" in the summer time. Just like in the case of the other "oldies", one can see its age and years of use; especially the outdoor exhibits recall old memories of the " only concrete and bar" period in zoos. Still, like in its other examples, Ostrava Zoo openly addresses its flaws and tries to work with what they have, planning to improve bit by bit.
-an old paychderm house (as seen in the Gallery); it currently contains a small group of River Hippos, an obese female Mugger croc, an old Southern White Rhino bull, a reticulated python, two species of galagos, a small marine fish tank, some Southern Red Bishops, Gambian Giant Pouched Rats, Red Eared Sliders and Straw-coloured Fruit Bats. Once the rhino has gone to his maker, the building will be renovated, sporting a new glass roof and a bigger outdoor area for the hippos.
-the old African Mammal Indoor House is also opened for visitors; it contains Grevy Zebras, Giraffes, Blesbock, Eland, Ostriches, African Marabous and Grey Crowned Cranes in kind. Alas, this house expects renovations, but that might take a while...

Résumé:

As one can expect, especially judging from my "oldies" list, Ostrava in its current state is far away from a "perfect" zoo. Nevertheless, I do plan to return, most likely in the spring or early summer. Not just because I want to see those horticultural exhibits at full blossom, calmly slender through the park areas of the zoo ( and because I also missed the cloud rats here - @Jana: do You where to find them? ) but also because I want to take a look at the progress accomplished till then. It does appear that the Ostrava Zoo staff and the zoo management are willing to improve their current status. There are already some nice features there (like the mentioned Chinese Garden and the rather large hoofstock outdoor enclosures); with some more money and smart investment of this money, this could indeed become a recommendable zoo, having still a lot of spare ground to build on. I already got a glimpse at that promising future last Saturday, while walking through the snowy zoo on my own, watching the camels stroll over their roomy paddock and listening to the mating call of the deer during a little snow storm ...

29-11-2008

The newly received pair of Luzon cloud rats is still off-show (backstage) I suppose.

30-11-2008

@Jana: Thanks, I'll ask for them the next time.

I'm not sure whether I should visit Vyškov; doesn't appear to be all too overwhelming...

01-12-2008

Zoopark Vyskov is in the first line a collection of domestic animals (with a few exceptions), and most of their exhibits are rather small and not innovative in any way. If you are interested to see 15 different breeds of rabbit or a lone rhesus... go there.