ZOO Plzeň Plzen zoo news

The Zoo received 1,1 shensi takins : a five years old male called John Woo from Wroclaw and one year old female Bathory from Liberec.

In the press release it is indicated that 4 other zoos received shensi takins this year (I don't know which ??).

Zlatá nadílka -

 

They are new inhabitants of the former musk ox enclosure. When no new musk ox animals were available though EEP, the zoo put yaks there for a short while and now they got replaced by takins.

 

They didn't want new musk ox, it's not good exhibit for them at all.

 

It is both I would say. The zoo decided to give up the species after more than a decade of lackluster results. And the EEP is not doing good, lack of breeding and shortage of young perspective animals.

 

The EEP is not doing so bad; there are non-EAZA zoos that are cooperating well and the population is stable with a good genetic situation.

 

The zoo has sent €5540 to Talarak Foundation in Philippines to help them after Odette typhoon damaged their breeding centre.

 

Mother with four joeys Common Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) arrived at Plzen zoo! Not clear which subspecies, yet. The animal was captured in France, probably kept as a pet and released by its owner.
Vačice s příběhem -

 

How on earth a common possum was captured in France and how in the universe it arrived in Plzen !
This zoo is surely the best in the world to get unique animals from all origins !

 

The zoo has sent all its remaining Chilean flamingos to Prague, now only 15 Greater flamingos remain in Plzen. The zoo plans to repair their pond, build an aviary over it and increase size of the group - but no timetable is announced.

 

0,1 Marsh mongoose born in February

 

Beautiful news! I was fascinated by this creatures at Plzen last year

 

I only remember having seen a marsh mongoose at Colchester Zoo.

 

According to the zoo's instagram 2 Brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) were born at the end of last year.

On the 13th of March a female Bactrian camel was born.

Source:
Instagram of Zoo Plzen (23/03/2022) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbdQ3CJLGCu/
Instagram of Zoo Plzen (01/04/2022) https://www.instagram.com/p/CbxakbLNOmK/

 

2021 annual report is now available on the zoo's website

 

The zoo keeps 1,1 speckled dwarf tortoises (Chersobius [Homopus] signatus) and one their egg hatched on 3rd of May. Parents live in the succulent plant greenhouse (near penguin exhibit, the greenhouse is rather hidden but well worth visiting it) while the baby is kept backstage.
Odchov želvy trpasličí -

This might be the first zoo breeding within our country, however the first breeding of the species in Czechia happened by a private breeder (who btw lives in Plzen-region) already in 2017.
Chovateli na Plzeňsku se podařilo odchovat mládě vzácné želvy trpasličí

 

Remember that we saw the parents of this baby last year at the succulent greenhouse and great that they now have bred it !

Speckled tortoise - Chersobius signatus by vogelcommando posted 18 Feb 2022 at 8:48 PM

 

It's always great when the Best Breeding Achievement of the Year contest is decided early (Yes this is a thing in Czechia and I'm preparing thread about it for Zoochat )

 

Don't count your trophy before you jump over. The baby must survive 3 months before you can sign it up for that contest if I remmember correctly...

 

I am mostly joking, there is still couple of species that could certainly beat this and have potential to breed.

 

Update on the Elephant House project:

In the latest issue o the IRIS magazine (a magazine covering what's happening in the zoo), zoo's director says that "Elephant house is not a dream, it is a target and we still work on it."

Then he says that the works on project documentation had to be paused for circa three months as they needed to solve some conservationist issues (keeping parts of the current biotope, etc. The concept had to be changed for like a fifth time already due to this.

Unless some complications appear all the documentation and permits should be completed within a year. Then the hardest part of the task comes - raising the funds.

Director is "aware of the situation in the markets and watches the changes with worries." but he doesn't want to give up on it as he sees it as "a sensible project which will complete the transformation of Zoo Plzen." (in the article he says "we see it..." but I have my doubts about the strength of support for this project within the zoo...)