In exactly three weeks time, I will have a short visit to the Czech Republic, and I will be staying in Brno for four nights which will give me three full days in the area with a day driving to/from Warsaw at either end. I do, of course, plan to visit some zoos during these three days and I think I will use a day each for Zlin Zoo and Zoo Brno because from what I've heard, those are both quite good. For the other day, I was thinking that I could do either Jihlava or Olomouc. Suggestions as to which is better? I don't think there are any other major zoos around there, but are there any smaller places that I should consider? Of course with fairly short opening times in October and November, I would struggle to fit in two zoos in one day, but I might manage with smaller places. I doubt I'd be able to visit anywhere that is much more than about an hour and a half (driving time) away from Brno though. I am posting this thread quite early to ask what the best combination of zoos would be for three days around that area (and then to allow enough time to work on persuading my parents to take me to them ) and also once I have decided on the zoos, to ask about any zoo-visiting advice, must-see species or exhibits, and all that sort of thing. Thanks in advance for any help!
Both have their flaws, and each is interesting. They each have elements that are excellent, alongside the dodgier parts - but I would say that Jihlava is much the better zoo. It's quite an attractive town too - certainly worth a potter about. There's a whole load of smaller places to the south of Jihlava, but, from Brno, I would have thought you'd have been looking at 2 or 3 hours to get there - I think you'd be better off concentrating on Zlin, Brno and Jihlava (even if Hluboka in particular is very good indeed). An hour south-east of Brno is Hodonin. This is the only "major" Czech Zoo to which I have not yet been - but I'm not sure that it is anything special. Nearer still is Vyskov, which is great if you are interested in domestic species, but has a very limited collection of exotics (rt lemurs, capuchins and coypus). I believe that the next issue of Zoo Grapevine magazine will have a very exciting article about the zoos of Moravia.....
Thanks very much for the reply. Looks like a day each in Zlin, Jihlava, and Brno would be my best option then.
That is definitely something I would want to see, however according to zootierliste there is only one remaining and it is off show. Is this correct?
Yup, she is definetly off show. About your other questions: Brno, Zlín and Jihlava is at this time of year your best combination. Hodonín isn´t really good(also there is a big reconstruction undergoing now and the most interesting species are in other zoos) and Vyškov is really only about domestic animals.
Oh, that explains why a Czech friend told me that he "failed to see the seriema when visiting that zoo". What a shame. I would do anything for get a behind the scenes tour that allow me see and photograph this unique bird.
Yup, but there are plenty of other intersting birds in Zlin, so you´ll certainly enjoy it By the way,do you have an approximate date for your trip? Because I live in Brno so naturally I´m pretty often in the zoo, so if you want some tips (favourite places of animals in exhibits, etc.) or even a tour guide don´t hesitate to PM me. I have plenty of free time and I would love to meet new people with the same hobby as me. Coincidentally, I plan to visit Jihlava too, but the date is already set and I think it´s just after your visit
The last remaining Black-legged seriema is currently being kept in the aviary right next to the Giant anteater's inside den. How will situation evolve in the next three weeks that is the question. Hope you will be lucky to spot it.
So due to certain unavoidable circumstances associated with visa problems, this trip has had to be delayed by two months. So instead I will be staying in Brno for the nights of the 30th and 31st of December and the 1st and 2nd of January. The visa problems mean that we cannot go to any countries in the Schengen Zone apart from Poland until around late December, so instead we will be doing a slightly shortened trip within Poland at the same time as we had planned to do this Czech trip. The new plan involves a three-night stay in Wroclaw, the first day will be driving from Warsaw and an afternoon short visit to Wroclaw Zoo, the next day will be a full day in Wroclaw Zoo, the day after will be a day trip to Opole Zoo, and then we will drive back to Warsaw with a stop that should allow me about 4 hours in Lodz Zoo on the way back (hopefully this will be enough time). I have visited Wroclaw Zoo in the past about a year and a half ago, but I wanted to revisit to see a few of the new things and look at this fantastic zoo again. Just as a side note, this plan would get me two new zoos rather than three as originally planned, and as a result, this will leave me on 99 zoos on my lifelist, rather than hitting the 100 mark as I'd hoped. Not hugely bothered about that though. Thank you for the information about the Czech Zoos given above. According to their websites, all three zoos (Jihlava, Zlin, and Brno) are open every day around the New Year period, so the plan should remain the same. I should especially apologise to HOMIN96 who I had arranged to meet up with, but there was no option other than delaying the trip in this situation. I will come back to this thread in a few months time when I hope to genuinely do this.
It's not completely relevant to this thread, but I just thought I'd post that even Plan B for this trip didn't go exactly as hoped. The first two days went as planned and I had a fantastic full day and a half at Wroclaw Zoo but unfortunately I got a really bad stomach virus/stomach flu that meant I couldn't go to Opole or Lodz. Oh well, c'est la vie.
There are great reviews of 5 Czech. Rep. zoos in the latest Zoo Grapevine magazine. Zlin, Ostrava, Olomouc, Brno and Jihlava are covered in an extensive 7-page spread.
I keep planing to subscribe to this magazine and then forgetting to do so. I'm going to try and remember to subscribe to it for Christmas.
The focus of the article was the zoos of Moravia. In addition to the five places listed above, the piece makes a brief mention of Vyskov (probably all that it merits, unless one is interested in farm animals); the author was unable to visit Hodonin, so, unfortunately, it is not included. Ohrada is in Bohemia; I believe that, if the article had included Bohemia's zoos, then Ohrada would have received a rave review.
