There is also a native species area somewhere that I have managed to miss on both of my visits. I think not getting a map was an anomaly, I know I did. If Javan leopard is a priority maybe you will need several visits to the Cat House.
We had no issue seeing the Javan leopard, but yes I would suggest planning several visits to the cat house just in case!
Zoo's director announced on his Instagram account that the zoo will obtain 4 Tasmanian devils but he didn't specify when.
He said they will come in November this year - in an interview from last month. Dont know if it´s still valid.
The same info is in his last Facebook post - arrival at the end of the year, on-show in spring 2020. The post also contained a note that they should arrive directly from a breeding station in Tasmania, so the rumors that were going around the Czech zoo community are pretty much confirmed.
So Rákos pavilon for parrots should be open this year, or so said director. Tasmanian devils should arriver this year too, but exposition would be open next year.
One Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis) hatched in April. Maybe first breeding in Europe of this species?
Quite sure its an European first breeding because the species is rarely very rarely kept in Europe, at the moment Prague Zoo is the only public collection keeping ( and now thus also breeding ) it !
Sri-Lanka elephant cows Janita and Tamara are both expecting a calf in March/April 2020. Father is local bull Ankhor, he successuly mated them on first attempt after his longer separation from the herd. Zoo Taipei has promised to donate Chinese Pangolins. However, first an enclosure has to be built within the new gorila house. So we are looking at minimum 2 years into the future, but considering huge delays in planning of this house, I am sceptical about time plan.
Why the gorilla house? Surely the Indonesia house would be more geographically appropriate, as well as having suitable nocturnal exhibits already.
The enclosures in the Indonesia house would all, bar maybe the Civet enclosure, be far too small for a Pangolin... Maybe they want to make them real stars, because in the Asia house they would be overlooked by 90% of the visitors...
Of course, most of the pangolins I have seen have been in Asia where the enclosures were absolutely of similar size
I dont know why they plan with Asian pangolins in gorila house. I can only speculate - maybe pangolins were always planned, but the zoo found out it is impossible to import healthy young individuals of any African speacies of pangolins. So those Chinese ones will be considered to be sort of ambassadors for pangolin/bushmeat crisis in central Africa?
Which gorilla house? New or old one? If old, there is no "geographical problem" with it (mhm, I am really curious who will inherit it... any info or speculation about it?)
The original post says it will be in the new gorilla house The original gorilla house sits in a very low portion of the zoo that is very prone to flooding (the entire lower zoo is really, but the gorilla house is particularly susceptible), this being the reason a new one is being built higher up in the zoo's elevation. Due to this, I think it's safe the say the zoo doesn't want any species occupying this location any longer. ~Thylo
I seriously doubt that they will let cca third most expensive building in the zoo empty, nor they tore it down. But the question, what will be there after gorillas is one that probably noone ever will be able to answer until the zoo announces it. And even the probably has no idea so far. The problem of the building is that it's way to specificly built to house gorillas that putting anything other there is huge overkill.
@HOMIN96 yup, exactly. I heard before about some another primate species, but not sure about it (and as you say, at this moment probably neither zoo is sure ) How badly "evacuate-able" (in case of flood, for example) are big baboons as mandrills or gelladas or bonobos? (I can not think much more species fitting into thats, pretty big, exposition)
I still fundamentally reject the attitude of pangolins in human care, because in the many unsuccessful attempts in the past to date, even in the 21st century, nothing has been achieved except the superfluous deaths of countless pangolins. How many of the pangolins that have been exported to Florida a few years ago are still alive? How many have been born and raised in human care since then? How many Pangolins of the F2 generation live in zoos? Even Taipei does not breed the species and under breeding I understand more than just the occasional birth-usually of pregnant-caught females, and occasionally even a rearing-and that only pases in Taipei. If the Prague Zoo already thinks they have to keep these animals, then tehy should give the animals the best possible housing conditions, and that includes a large outdoor enclosure.
