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Any Prague zoo books in English?

Discussion in 'TV, Movies, Books about Zoos & Wildlife' started by itsallfaction, 3 Nov 2020.

  1. itsallfaction

    itsallfaction Active Member 10+ year member

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    Dear Zoochatters

    Is there any book about the Prague zoo was written in English?
    Or if there is any thread/website that has depth description about it (especially its management as I heard nearly half of its fund were from the government)?
    Really want to know more about this fascinating zoo.

    Sincerely
     
  2. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I´m afraid no such book exists in other languages than Czech. I also can´t find any webside with detailed info.

    I do visit this zoo for +30 years. If you have any question, I (or other zoochatters) might be able to find an answer for you.
     
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  3. itsallfaction

    itsallfaction Active Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you so much!
    How about the e-book? any of the Prague zoo publications?

    I want to know more about the Prague zoo because I am from Taiwan, and the Prague zoo might be the most suitable model for the Taipei zoo to learn how to better structure the institution. Since both places have similar consumption levels (1CZK equal to 1.24 NTD), thus, more easily to match the cost and I've heard that the Prague zoo is also highly supported by the government just like Taipei.

    I would like to ask you mainly about the relationship between the Prague zoo and the government (like in what percentage the zoo was funded by the government), and how the Prague zoo allocates its funds.

    Thank you again.
     
  4. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Ok, this will be a short initial answer to your question with links to some sources (all in Czech language unfortunately).

    Prague zoo is "příspěvková organizace". This is a special type of a public law nonprofit organization that is directly (100%) owned and run by a any Czech municipality or local government. It must obey detailed rules about its structure, annual budgeting, accounting, cost allocation, its employee salaries, number of employees, contract bids and approvals and so on.

    Founder / owner of Prague zoo is a municipality, in this case the City of Prague. Its "zřizovací listina" (Deed of Foundation) is online, click on this page and download the full text in pdf.

    The zoo publishes its annual reports. It is 2 documents now. "Výroční zpráva" (annual report) describes overall activities and info, including a short overview of finances. "Zpráva o plnění rozpočtu" (report of budget fulfillment) is a report to the owner, how the planned budged was used.

    Prague zoo is currently not fully self-reliant on own revenues but gets substantial subsidies from two other sources. The City of Prague as the founder gives it 2 types of subsidies. First an annual agreed sum of money for running expenses, second a directly targeted money for individual investments.

    And there is also a small subsidy from the Czech state government - this is based on current law about zoos, on one hand all local zoos need a zoo licence, on the other hand they get a small state subsidy.

    If we look at the latest annual report 2019, the zoo had own income from ticket sale of 242 649 000 CZK and from rents and other marketing 92 170 300 CZK. The City of Prague did contribute 130 167 700 CZK subsidy for running costs. Czech government (ministry of environment) did send subsidies of 3 686 300 CZK. Total annual expenses were 458 917 200 CZK. The zoo put profit of 6 640 400 CZK into own reserves and 3 105 400 CZK is money that should be returned back to the founder as a profit.

    The theme of budgeting, type of expenses, approval rules etc. is wast. Please give me specific questions that I can answer.
     
    Last edited: 4 Nov 2020
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  5. itsallfaction

    itsallfaction Active Member 10+ year member

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    I can't thank you enough!
    The annual expenses were much lower than my previous thought (same data for Taipei zoo was 699 584 457 NTD in 2018 and nearly 80% was covered by the government, considering that its number of animals is only half of Prague, it definitely can do better), I will carefully read the information/files you provided and ask you again if there are further questions.
     
  6. Antoine

    Antoine Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    @itsallfaction There were some nice but small guide books in english five or six years ago. You can see front pages on "Les Zoos dans le Monde" here : Les Zoos dans le Monde - Zoo Praha
    There are interesting but will not give you the informations searched.

    There were maybe old annual report in english but I am not sure.
     
  7. itsallfaction

    itsallfaction Active Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you for the information!