White Elephant - The Best Breeding Achievement of the Year award

As promised elsewhere, in this thread, I would like to introduce you to another fun part of the Czech zoo community. Part that sparks joy, controversy, provokes discussion and if you don't take it too seriously it's quite fun. So without further ado, let's jump straight into it:

What is this all about:
White Elephant is an award organized by a civic association called "Česká Zoo" (Czech Zoo) and the idea behind it is well summed up in their slogan: "Our (Czech and Slovakian) keepers are amongst the best in the world, our goal is to thank them for their work" meaning that every year this association chooses "the best" breeding achievement within the members of Union of Czech and Slovak Zoos (UCSZOO)

How it works:
There are 3 categories for breeding achievements: Mammals, Birds, The Rest (Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish, Inverts), and also there is an award for the best newly opened exhibit (up until this year this was separated into two categories: Best newly constructed exhibit and Best exhibit reconstruction). Each zoo nominates the entries themselves, and technically there is no limit on the number of nominations by each zoo. Results are decided by a jury - a mix of association members and "independent experts" (but I have my doubts about how independent they really are). Few weeks prior to the official announcement of results and award ceremony. The 4 highest scoring nominations in each category are announced, so the zoos can see whether it makes sense for their representatives to attend the ceremony.

Brief history:
The association itself was established in 1994 and the award started the same year, after initially solid success, the association hit a rough patch as interest within zoos to compete was low and some financial issues appeared as well. But thanks to the former president of the UCSZOO, who saw the need for such competition as a way of promoting keepers' work to the general public, the association gained the official support of the Union and the Union even decided to support the award financially. Slovakian zoos started participating at that time, which helped as well.

Issues/Controversies:
There is one but sort of a big one - a general lack of transparency. You can't find much info about the competition and the association even on their website. How the voting/scoring works, who is voting, that kind of stuff some would say is essential for such award. This combined with some very questionable choices in some years makes you question the legitimacy a bit.

What can you find here:
In this thread, I would like to walk you through the results of each year (adding some additional commentary where I can give it), take a look at the best-performing zoos throughout the years in all of the categories and further update the thread as long as the competition (and Zoochat) will go.

And what other way to start the thread than with the very freshly (last week) announced results of White Elephant for the year 2021. Some zoos already shared it on their social media, so you might have noticed it, but they just share their results and not everything. In total, 13 zoos participated and nominated 57 species. So the results are as follows:

Mammals:
1st place - African elephant (Loxodonta africana) - Zoo Zlín-Lešná
2nd place - Short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus lawesii) - Zoo Plzeň
3rd place - Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) - Zoo Prague

I mean...once the elephant calf survived the first months, everyone knew what the first place will be, as it is a great achievement. Echidna getting the edge over the orangutan, is a pleasant surprise for me, I was expecting it the other way around.

Birds:
1st place - Pesquet's parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Long-tailed glossy starling (Lamprotornis caudatus) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
3rd place - Kea (Nestor notabilis) - Zoo Brno

Again, no surprise in the first place at all. Starling in second place as a super rare breeding success works for me as well. Kea in 3rd place feels kinda weird, IMO from the other nominated species, both the Great curassow (Zoo Brno) and Great hornbill (Zoo Zlín-Lešná) should've been ranked above it.

"The Rest":
1st place - Blue tree monitor (Varanus macraei) - Zoo Jihlava
2nd place - Yellow-headed temple turtle (Heosemys annandalii) - Zoo Ostrava
3rd place - Nitsche's bush viper (Atheris nitschei) - Zoo Dvůr Králové

Reptiles are not my forte, so I can't comment on this much, other than that I would probably put the bush viper in the 1st place. Also, a fun tidbit for the future - when I will be walking you through the past results, get ready to see Ostrava in the top 3 of "The Rest" category a lot, usually with some species of fish or turtle

All nominations by each zoo can be seen here.

And as the Best New Exhibit:
1st place - Giraffe house - Zoo Dvůr Králové (only winner is announced)

I am a big fan of this house and its design, so I am glad that it got further recognition. This house, along with some other changes allows Dvur to overcome one of its weaknesses - visibility of certain fan-favorite species in winter when they can't access the huge paddocks.



I hope you'll like this new view in our local zoo-enthusiast community. (And who knows maybe someone high enough in the zoo hierarchy in another country reads this and gets inspired to organize something similar ) Also for those of you, who'll enjoy it, let me know what would you be interested in the most in the next post. Some historical results or some more recent results, or the "all time winners" post, I mean we eventually get through all of that, the only question is in what order

 

Very interesting @HOMIN96 ! It would be very nice, if you list the historical winners and give your opinion about the "All-time" bests.

 

In Czech language, it lacks any negative connotations.

If anything, "white elephant" wakes in me an instant association with "white deer". In early 1990s, we had an immensely popular Czech TV show/soap opera called "Území bílých králů" (Land of white kings) that was about life of people living near/caring for an enclosure with a large herd of white deer with blue eyes. White deer were here for centuries kept at king/royalty settlements, basically a luxury animal. Rare and prized, often sent as gifts to foreign royalty members.

 

Sorry for the prolonged delay, got caught up in other stuff

Anyways, it's time to start our journey through historical results, starting all the way back in 1994 back then the award only had one category and the exhibit part wasn't divided into construction/reconstruction categories, so that makes things easier. The results of the first-ever Breeding Achievement of the Year award were:

1st place - Southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Aardvark (Orycetopus afer) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Amur leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis euptilurus) - Zoo Jihlava

Best new exhibit - Carnivore house - Zoo Jihlava

Since about 2011 or so, you can read some further context on the nominations (why the zoo nominated it, why this breeding is such success, etc.). However, these are not available when it comes to the historical results, so we can only assume...Aardvark in 2nd place is probably the easiest to explain given that even currently the breeding isn't quite easy.

1995
The year of the first big change: The exhibit section was split into newly constructed/reconstructed sections. But let's start with the breeding category.

1st place - Grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) - Zoo Olomouc
2nd place - Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Muskox (Ovibos moschatus) - Zoo Liberec

Best new exhibit - Callitrichidae house - Zoo Jihlava
Best reconstruction - "Great Ape exhibit reconstruction" - Zoo Liberec (I assume current chimpanzee exhibit)

Second year, second victory for a species of bird and a second victory in the new exhibit category for Jihlava with their other staple species apart from felids.

1996
The year I was born brought another (and probably the most important) change - splitting the breeding part of the award to 3 categories - Mammals, Birds, Others

Mammals:
1st place - Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) - Zoo Brno
2nd place - Northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) - Zoo Ústí
3rd place - Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) - Zoo Plzeň

Birds:
1st place - Golden myna (Mino anais) - Zoo Olomouc
2nd place - Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Tanimbar corella (Cacatua goffiniana) - Zoo Ústí

Others:
1st place - Kleinmann's tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni) - Zoo Brno
2nd place - Solomon Islands skink (Corucia zebrata) - Zoo Jihlava
3rd place - Madagascar tree boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis) - Zoo Jihlava

Two first places for Brno show their former glory, the birds' category shows very nice diversity so far, and the double podium for Jihlava in reptiles shows how strong their tradition in reptile keeping is.

The best exhibit awards were not awarded this year, due to the lack of nominations

 

As @Jana said, it hasn't really negative connotation here, quite the opposite I would say. At least for me "White elephant" symbolized always something very rare and unique.

 

A quick 'Google' shows the following on Wikipedia -
In the West, the term "white elephant", relating to an expensive burden that fails to meet expectations, was first used in the 17th century and became widespread in the 19th century.

 

This is the timeframe we will be covering today. So let's get to it!

1997
The award committee had now finally settled on the form and the structure of the award (how many categories in the breeding part, in the construction part, etc.).

Mammals:
1st place - Tailless tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) - Zoo Olomouc AND Crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus) - Zoo Ústí

Double podium for Prague and a rare 3rd place tie with two species of small carnivores (had this award been known Europe-wide, I bet @TeaLovingDave would be massively celebrating at that time ), very nice, successful, and interesting year IMO.

Birds:
1st place - Tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) - Zoo Liberec
2nd place - Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) - Zoo Olomouc
3rd place - Red-billed blue magpie (Urocissa erythroryncha) - Zoo Olomouc AND Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - Zoo Prague

Birds of prey galore this time, with only the magpie spoiling it by drawing with the eagle. Funnily enough, the turkey vulture got 2nd place second year in a row, but the zoo has changed.

Others:
1st place - Emerald tree monitor (Varanus prasinus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Cuban rock iguana (Cyclura nubila) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Pancake tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri) - Zoo Prague

Clean sweep by Prague, very impressive! However it is worth noting, that only 4 species were nominated in this category, so that lowers the achievement a bit and also foreshadows what came next for the award itself...

Best new exhibit - "Exotic animals' house with primate exhibit" - Zoo Liberec (I assume current monkey house?)
Best reconstruction - only one exhibit was nominated so they didn't award it.

1998
After the lack of nominations in some of the last year's categories, everyone hoped that this year will be better...well...not quite

Mammals:
1st place - Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) - Zoo Ostrava
2nd place - Blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) - Zoo Ústí
3rd place - Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) - Zoo Liberec


Birds:
No species nominated

Others:
1st place - Saddleback clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus) - Zoo Olomouc
No other species nominated

Best exhibit awards weren't awarded due to a complete absence of nominations

So...yeah, that was underwhelming. At least orangutan being beaten by two "lesser" species is something

1999
After the previous year's disappointment, let's see if this one will look better...


Mammals:
1st place - Emperor tamarin (Saguinus imperator) - Zoo Jihlava
2nd place - Goeldi's monkey (Callimico goeldii) - Zoo Olomouc
3rd place - Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) - Zoo Jihlava

At that time, Jihlava and Olomouc were very well known for their Callitrichidae collections, and both hold to this tradition even in current times.

Birds:
1st place - Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Blyth's hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus) - Zoo Bojnice
3rd place - Boat-billed heron (Cochlearius cochlearius) - Zoo Prague

First major success for Slovakian zoos (in terms of this award), many more to come!

Others:
1st place - Rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Green iguana (Iguana iguana) - Zoo Brno
No more species nominated

Best new exhibit - "Bird World" - Zoo Dvůr Králové
Best reconstruction - no exhibit nominated

So all in all, things are slowly getting back to normal after the crisis year, but they are not quite there yet, interest was low, especially in these exhibit categories. In the next part, we'll finally jump into the new millennium

 

I mean...I kind of "missed" it myself if you look at the pauses between the updates

Originally I wanted to do the updates more regularly but I got caught up in other stuff and the plan went out of the window...

 

In another episode of my very irregular thread...

Into the new millennium we go!

2000

Mammals:
1st place - Northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
2nd place - Dhole (Cuon alpinus) - Zoo Olomouc
3rd place - Rothschild's giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) - Zoo Olomouc

Who else could've won it other than "the millennium baby" from Dvůr. Joined by Olomouc's double, with the giraffe being the famous successful raising of twins.

Birds:
1st place - Red-bellied macaw (Orthopsittaca manilatus) - Zoo Ostrava
2nd place - Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) - Zoo Prague

With the exception of 1998 there has always been at least one bird of prey species in the top 3 of the bird category since the categories were established, we do have a thing for them here

Others:
1st place - Jackson's chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii) - Zoo Brno
2nd place - Dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) - Zoo Jihlava
3rd place - Cuban rock iguana (Cyclura nubila) - Zoo Jihlava

Historical stuff like this doesn't do Brno much justice...they are not a bad zoo at all, but all these historical records show they used to be MUCH better...

Best new exhibit - "Amazonia House" - Zoo Jihlava
Best reconstruction - Tropical Kingdom reconstruction - Zoo Brno


2001

Mammals:
1st place - Manul (Otocolobus manul) - Zoo Bojnice
2nd place - Linnaeus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) - Zoo Ústí
3rd place - Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) - Zoo Ústí

Slovakian zoo gets first place for the first time ever and straight up in the "king" category. Personally, I'm kind of surprised that the red panda success wasn't higher though...

Birds:
1st place - Bearded barbet (Lybius dubius) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
2nd place - Purple-naped lory (Lorius domicella) - Zoo Prague
3rd place - White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) - Zoo Liberec

Birds o Prey streak continues, Prague shows their long successful history of lori keeping but both have to bow before the lovely bit of African success from Dvůr and IMO one of the most beautiful birds

Others:
1st place - Tanimbar blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides chimaera) - Zoo Jihlava
2nd place - Northern caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis)- Zoo Jihlava
3rd place - Arabian carpetshark (Chiloscyllium arabicum) - Zoo Olomouc

Two reptile species are really like, and Olomouc showing their experience with marine fauna, what a great year in this category!

Best new exhibit - "TropicalHouse" - Zoo Liberec
Best reconstruction - "Water World" reconstruction - Zoo Dvůr Králové


2002

Mammals:
1st place - Desert warthog (Phacochoerus aethiopicus)
2nd place - Gayal (Bos frontalis) - Zoo Vyškov
3rd place - Bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) - Zoo Dvůr Králové AND White tiger (Panthera tigiris) - Zoo Liberec

Vyškov manages an impressive achievement - reaching top 3 with a domestic animal (but who else to do it than them )

Birds:
1st place - Blue-winged kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) - Zoo Liberec
3rd place - White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) - Zoo Liberec

After short streak of 2nd places, Prague returns to the top.

Others:
1st place - Mastacembelus circumcinctus - Zoo Ostrava
2nd place - Cuvier's dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus palpebrosus) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
3rd place - Jackson's chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii) - Zoo Brno

Ostrava's impressive breeding results with herp and fish species I never heard about before always show me that there is still much for me to learn...

Exhibit awards weren't given.

 

Back after a summer pause! Let's look at the years 2003 - 2006, shall we?

2003

Mammals:
1st place - Addra gazelle (Nanger dama ruficollis) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
2nd place - Bharal (Pseudois nayaur) - Zoo Liberec
3rd place - Mishmi takin (Budorcas taxicolor taxicolor) - Zoo Brno

Back in the good times when Addras weren't on the brink of disappearing from Europe, and yet another reminder of how great Dvůr's collection used to be...in the other two places very traditional species for their respective zoos.

Birds:
1st place - Vernal hanging parrot (Loriculus vernalis) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) - Zoo Olomouc
3rd place - Edwards's fig parrot (Psittaculirostris edwardsii) - Zoo Prague

Parrot double for Prague, kind of foreshadowing how great their parrot future will be...

Other:
1st place - Red-footed tortoise (Geochelone carbonara) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
2nd place - Madagascar tomato frog (Dycophus antongilii) - Zoo Ústí
No other species nominated

Low interest again in the "other" category...also Dvůr isn't running their Africa-only policy yet.

Best new exhibit: Japanese macaque - Zoo Olomouc
Best reconstruction: Primate house - Zoo Bojnice

2004

Mammals:
1st place - Honey badger (Mellivora capensis) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Golden takin (Budorcas t. bedfordi) - Zoo Liberec
3rd place - Thorold's deer (Cervus albirostris) - Zoo Ústí

First honey badger breeding in Czechia! Yay! (Few years later, Prague's badger dynasty came to an end after their female escaped from the exhibit, never to be seen again and the new one never bred). Also, this year give us the start of the Golden takin spread through Europe. (With their family tree having the same amount of incest as Egyptian pharaohs had...)

Birds:
1st place - Abdim's stork (Ciconia abdimii) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) - Zoo Olomouc
3rd place - Barred buttonquail (Turnix suscitator) - Zoo Prague

Another double for Prague...aren't they bored of winning by now?

Other:
1st place - Mertens' water monitor (Varanus mertensi) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
2nd place/3rd place tie - Mangrove monitor (Varanus indicus) - Zoo Prague AND Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) - Zoo Jihlava

This year, Varanus was the hot stuff (and they still continue to be in Czechia)

Best new exhibit: Gorilla house - Zoo Prague
Best reconstruction: Aquariums in Carnivore house - Zoo Olomouc

2005

Mammals:
1st place - Large hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus villosus) - Zoo Olomouc
2nd place - Black rhino (Diceros bicornis) - Zoo Dvůr Králové
3rd place - Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) - Zoo Prague

Possibly the most famous animal to be ever born in a Czech zoo getting only 3rd place?! Losing to an armadillo?!?! How preposterous!

Birds:
1st place - Greater yellownape (Chrysophlegma flavinucha) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Red-fan parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus) - Bojnice
3rd place - Great curassow (Crax rubra) - Zoo Ústí

Slovakian zoos don't have much success in this competition due to many factors, but every now and then they pop up in the top 3 with a very nice species.

Other:
1st place - Saissan toad-headed agama (Phrynocephalus guttatus melanurus) - Zoo Prague
2nd place - Rainbow agama (Agama agama) - Zoo Prague
No other species were nominated.

Looks like everyone heard in advance what Prague is nominating and decided to call it a day...otherwise, I can't explain the low interest AGAIN...

Best new exhibit: Elephant house - Zoo Ostrava
Best reconstruction: Lion exhibit - Zoo Dvůr Králové

 

If this award is still going on I do wonder if Prague will already be on first place in the mammal category with the pango pup.

 

I meant (and still mean) to actually finish this I swear...

Well, if they raise it successfuly it's pretty much given that they'll win 2023 edition, unless the competition's internal politics have other idea.

 

I will hopefully manage to finish the historical records eventually...

But for now, let's take leap to present day, as today, the results for year 2022 were announced, so here they are:

Mammals:
1st: Giant otter - Zoo Zlín
2nd: Wolverine - Zoopark Chomutov
3rd: Moloch gibbon - Zoo Prague

4th: Ganzhorn's mouse lemur - Zoo Pilsen

I mean...I am slightly biased but the mouse lemur should be higher

Birds:
1st: Lesser yellow-headed vulture - Zoo Prague
2nd: von der Decken's hornbill - Zoo Hodonín
3rd: Egyptian vulture - Zoo Liberec

4th/5th: Salvadori's fig parrot/Horned parakeet - Zoo Prague/Zoo Pilsen

Quite controversial result this year IMO, with two National first-time breedings (fig parrot possibly even Europe's as far as zoos are concerned) not even reaching medal places and Zlín's lesser adjutant chicks not even being considered for top spots...

The rest:
1st: Uromastyx princeps - Zoo Prague
2nd: Chersobius signatus - Zoo Pilsen
3rd: Cnemaspis psychedelica - Zoo Jihlava

All in all, an extremely successful year for Prague, who probably didn't even expect it themselves

Oh and I almost forgot...Best new exhibit: Zoo Chleby - Lion House

I...I have no words for that...how could something like that win...beating elephant House from Bojnice and "La Pampa" and "Tsavo" exhibits from Ostrava...very very sus