Prague Zoo

The zoo covers a slope at Troja north of the centre, split between a flat lower section by the river and an upper plateau reached by steps, a winding path or a chairlift. It keeps the international studbook for the Przewalski's horse and has flown horses back to Mongolia to rebuild wild herds, which is the work it is best known for and the reason it is taken seriously among European zoos. The pavilions worth the walk include an Indonesian jungle house kept hot and humid, the gorillas, the elephants and the long aviaries strung along the hill. Old trees and stone walls make much of it feel like a park.

History

A zoo for Prague was first proposed in 1881 in a newspaper article by Count Sweerts-Spork, a committee began preparations in 1919, and the zoo opened at Troja on 28 September 1931 under its founding director Jiří Janda. The first Andean condor bred in captivity in the world hatched here in 1938, a polar bear named Ilun followed in 1942, and under Zdeněk Veselovský, director from 1959, the zoo achieved world-class results in breeding and research. A pavilion for elephants, hippos and rhinos opened in 1971 and one for big cats in 1991, and the zoo became the leading breeder of Przewalski's horse, sending horses to the Mongolian steppes. The floods of 2002, the worst in Prague's history, killed 134 animals, and a fur seal named Gaston swam down the Vltava and the Elbe to Dresden, where he died; he is remembered with a statue. The Indonesian Jungle pavilion opened in 2004, the zoo recorded 1,557 births in 2012, the Elephant Valley opened in 2013 with the zoo's first elephant birth, and in June 2013 a second flood was handled by evacuating most of the animals in time (Wikipedia, Prague Zoo).

What's there

• Przewalski's horses - the wild horse the zoo breeds and returns to Mongolia.
• The Indonesian jungle house - a hot, humid pavilion of canopy species and free-flying birds.
• The chairlift - the ride up the slope between the lower and upper halves.
• The hilltop view - the plateau edge looking across the Vltava valley.

When to go

Spring and early autumn are best: animals are active, the hill is walkable and queues are shorter. Sunny weekends and Czech school holidays fill the paths and back the entrance queue up, so arrive at opening. Winter hours are short and the tropical houses become most of the visit. The chairlift stops in high wind.

Things to know

It is big and genuinely steep, and half a day is the minimum rather than a comfortable pace; families with prams work hard on the upper level. Ticket, food and chairlift add up quickly. Some older enclosures have not been rebuilt yet and look it. On a hot afternoon much of the collection is asleep out of sight, and busy days feel like a queue with animals attached.

Nearby

Troja chateau and its formal garden are next door, and the botanical garden is up the hill.

Key facts