Didn't know they already bred it succesfully but glatt to hear. Also nice they are working with more than just one pair which is unfortunatly still common pracsise in most zoos !
The new mixed exhibit with Malayan tapirs, siamangs and eastern white pelicans has got a good media coverage and visitors reaction is positive. Also, its surroundings (Asiatic garden) has undergone some revamping with added themed details. August has brought some hatchlings: milky storks (4), painted storks (2), a yellow-billed tocko (1?), a Darwin´s nandu (1), a violet turaco (1), a Ross's turaco (1), white-faced whistling-ducks (4). The 3 scarlet-headed blackbird chicks are the first for Zlín-Lešná zoo. There is also a third secretary bird chick, but it is beeing hand-reared. The Greater flamingo colony had dissapointing results. From cca 14 nests only 1 chick has been reared at the end. The 3 caribbean chicks growing in the colony are from adopted Ostrava´s eggs. A really bad spring weather with long-lasting snow and later floods caused a large attendance drop in all Czech zoos, Zlín was no exception. A nice summer and the new tapir exhibit brought help and the zoo is now only slightly behind last year´s figures.
2,2 Swinhoe's Striped Squirrel (Tamiops swinhoei0 arrived in November, according to the collection's Facebook. They are currently offshow in the breeding facilities, but are intended to go onshow in an enclosure near that of the Siberian Tigers in the New Year. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=616415708418261
The zoo recived four pairs of capuchinbirds (Perissocephalus tricolor). Spotted hyena pair Zoltan and Gilly got one cub in March.
I definitelly recommend a visit there, despite its location in countryside far from everywhere. A well hidden gem among Czech zoos, only second after Prague in attendance. And a lot of future plans too - they´ve just secured additional 20 hectars.
I - like Jana - can fully recommend this zoo. I was literally blown away by both the collection, its presentation and the effort gone into visitor facilitaties and interpretation. Absolutely a wonderful zoo to be in. BTW: there is a bus service from in town (34 / 36, all be it an hourly service, it gets you there in 25 minutes).
Some news from last weeks: Recent offspring: 1 Red Panda 2 Egyptian vultures 1 Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) 1 White-crested Hornbill 1 Black stork 1 Painted Stork 4 Milk storks 1 Yellow-billed stork 4 Black-necked Swans 2 Red-rumped caciques 4 Kattas 2 Violet turacos 9 Darwin nandus 2 Australian magpies 4 Swinhoe's striped squirrels 1 Maguari stork 1 Scarlet-headed Blackbird 2 Greater white pelicans 1 Gelada baboon 1 Humbold penguin 1 Guianan Toucanet Recent arrivals: 2,3 African Openbills 0,1 Saddle-billed stork 2 Impalas 2 Cape Barren geese 5 Pied avocets 1 Hooded Vulture 1 Somali domestic sheep The young Giant Anteater ´s got baptised as Diego (is 5 months old now). Flood has hit the lower zoo part a bit. The creek ran over the new Japanese garden (finished just in May), Amazonia exhibit, antelope meadows, Australian restaurant, children playground, lion exhibit... Damages were low and all was cleaned within few days.
I have to tamper your enthusiasm a bit here. Zlin-Lesna has only one Rothschild's giraffe breeding pair and currently has 3.1 giraffe. The breeding cow Camilla gave birth to one male offspring July 8. Further: I am not sure if this has changed she is still classed as an unknown (not hybrid, but there are questions of her purity).
She opened the exhibition "Zátoka rejnoků" In pavilon live 20 sib omani which it is possible to pat and feed.
A few details about the new touch pool: There are 2 male and 18 female Oman cownose rays in a pool 1 meter deep and 100 m2 large. Visitors have to wash their hands before they can touch them (two volunteers watch it). Bowls with shrimp should be distributeds to visitors so they can feed them, but I don´t know if they started with it yet. There is one additional exhibit near the rays - a tank with juvenile Coconut crabs. The new touch ray pool proved to be attractive - the zoo got 10.000 visitors last weekend. It is only pity that it was opened only after the main summer season is over.
The attendance reached a new record of 585.118, an increase by 24% compared to previous year. It is mainly thanks to good weather, new Japanese garden and new ray petting pool. The zoo obtained a Kiwi recently and plans to put it on exhibit soon. A new young pair of Moloch gibbons lives in the former siamang house. New bird species obtained recently are African open-bill, Black-throated Magpie-jay, Javan pond heron and Rhinoceros Hornbill. The import of Sloth bears from India is still hampered by paper war, but might happen in 2015. Construction of a new exhibit complex called Moře Trávy (Sea of Grass) is starting in autumn this year, it should depict Everglades - with Alligators in outside pens, Roseate Spoonbills and Cougars. There were published some skizza for the planed african Karibuni areal. Link. The zoo launched new support for in-situ projects. One koruna (Czech currency) from each sold ticket will be donated to wildlife protection. The first money goes to one nigerian reservation, lesser flamingos in Ethiopia and secretary birds in SAR.