Prague, Dec 31 (CTK) – The Prague Zoo was visited by 1,448,353 people this year, which is a record high in its 85-year history, its spokeswoman Jana Mysliveckova told CTK yesterday, adding that the previous record was at 1.38 million visitors in 2014.
The year 2016 was also successful due to a number of breeding achievements, including the birth of two elephants.
On the whole, the zoo welcomed the arrival of 1323 offspring of a total of 229 species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
The elephant young Maxmilian was the first elephant which was both conceived and born in Prague. Another male elephant, Rudolf, was born in October.
The gorilla family got an unexpected offspring. The 24-year-old Shinda, who had several miscarriages in the past, gave birth to a male in April. It was named Ajabu, which means miracle in Swahili.
“The unexpected birth was a big surprise not only for the public, but also for the zoo staff,” Mysliveckova said.
The garden is also proud of the already sixth transfer of Przewalski’s horses to Mongolia this year. A military plane took four mares from Prague to the strictly protected area of Gobi B.
In addition, zoologists relocated three mares and one stallion within Mongolia, from the Hustai National Park to Gobi B.
The Prague Zoo is one of the most successful in the world in breeding these rare animals. Since 1959, it has kept the world stud book of the species.
At the beginning of March, 18 rare northern bald ibises flew away from their aviary damaged by wet snow. Thousands of volunteers joined the search for them via social networks. It was also thanks to them that the birds were recovered.
The zoo plans to build a new pavilion for gorillas, an exposition of Australian fauna, a new space for polar bears and a pavilion for giant pandas.
The zoo, one of the best in the world, is a subsidised organisation of the City of Prague. The city councillors have approved a plan of development of the garden in the next five years, which provides for investments of up to 838.6 million crowns.
(ß1=25.639 crowns)
