We walked in and a keeper said it was closed, just as we spotted the lake Titicaca frogs in the opening exhibit
I'll reserve judgement on this until I know more - anyone recall the incorrect addition of Crozet Shag to ZTL a year ago? But I very much hope it's true.
28th September is national bank holiday and the zoo celebrates 88 years since establisment so zoo sponsors get customary free family tickets for that date. That means attendance number close to 20.000 (if weather is not too bad). Not a good day to visit and spot some shy feathered creatures. Will wait and visit on some rainy workday later.
Amazing news, just in time for my visit on the 1st! I'd all but given up hope of it opening before then...
This is indeed true, zoo confirmed it in their arrivals list. 4 animals (2,2 I would guess) arrived at the end of July
Yes, I'd noticed that a pity they will likely not be on-display in time for my visit, but I can always hope! They are indeed 2,2 animals, and came from a private collection in northern Italy.
On Monday I visited Prague Zoo, my only previous visit was in 2017 and I really loved the zoo back then and I still do. Not much has changed in these two years, the only new exhibit was one for Lake Titicaca frog (which are really cool) in the Terrarium. The new parrot house looks finished, but was still closed... It looks nice architecturally but it looks like it is on the small side for the number of inhabitants planned. Next door they are constructing an Australian area for Tasmanian devil, Yellow-footed rock wallaby, Echidna, Lord Howe's stick insect and more. It looks promising, but won't be very big either. Prague is a zoo that is somewhat hard to define but it has something for everyone. The collection is gigantic, including many rarities, with Javan green magpie, Lake Titicaca frog, Etruscan shrew, Kagu and Panay cloud rat (unseen again) new on show since 2017 and Ganzhorn mouse lemur signed but not on-show. The zoo has quite some enclosures that are not quite adequate or on the small side, including many of the enclosures in the Rainforest house, Africa up close and the cat house. But on the other hand there are some of the best enclosures Europe has to offer. Most eye-catching are naturally the mountain ungulate enclosures on the cliff side. But the real highlight for me is the Sichuan house, which is a relatively simple but highly effective free-flight aviary with a variety of Chinese birds. It is a theme not often seen in Europe, but the result is just lovely. The Giant Salamander house, Gharial house and the whole wetland area are also extremely nice as are the sprawling hoofstock paddocks in the higher part of the zoo. With many zoos either following a taxonomic, biome or continental lay-out, Prague combines all three and it adds to that nice feeling of surprise where you can wander through a zoo with unexpected sights at every turn. It makes it relatively easy to miss enclosures, but for me that is also the fun of exploring a zoo. The Chacoan mara tucked away next to the Fur seals, the native bird aviaries in the Children zoo or the Goral behind one of the restaurants, are all easy to miss if you are not paying attention or aren't willing to explore all the corners of this huge zoo. In a time when zoos seem to be dumbing down visitors with fixed routes, less species and bad theming, a zoo like Prague sticks out even more with celebrating diversity, not only of species but also in the diversity of how to display them. Prague may not be the best in any single given ranking, but there is a lot to enjoy for any type of zoo nerd. It is not a perfect zoo, but it might well be the most diverse zoo on the continent.
I whole-heartedly agree, and this variety is also what easily makes Prague one of my favourite zoos. I hadn't realized the Javan green magpies had been moved on-show, where are those located in the zoo, and are they easy to see?
Coming from the Penguin they are in the second aviary of the row marked Laughingthrushes. The pair was easy to see, but I imagine would be quite hard to photograph. I have uploaded a few enclosure pictures in the gallery: Prague Zoo Praha - ZooChat
