"DVUR KRALOVE NAD LABEM" Dvur Kralove nad Labem by NightStar

AFRICA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EUROPE

www.zoodk.cz

The Zoo’s were founded as animal menageries, where wild and exotic animals were exhibited to amuse the public.

The Zoo’s specialization is African fauna. Our rarest animal is the nothern white rhino, the last 24 specimen of these subspecies survive today in only one place, the National Park Garamba in the Republic of Congo. Only 10 individuals are in cacptivity. 9 of them are owned by Dvùr Králové Zoo, where also the only 4 captive born youngs were succesfully reared.

Dramatic changes in the enviroment and of natural conditions for wild animals put new, so far unsolved questions to the scientists and researchers in ecology, genetics, reproductive biology, veterinary medicine and other fields. Today, rhinos are the most intensively investigated animals-no wonder, our group of nothern white rhinos belongs to the rarest animals in the world. The research of their genetics and reproduction is being realized in co-operation with the Veterinary University in Vienna and the Centre for Research of endagered Animal Species in San Diego.

Our Zoo is situated not far from the largest Czech mountains-the Giant Mountains (Krkonoše). This is why we offer clean enviroment and a beautiful natural scenery.
In the last decade, old objects were renewed and both the visitor’s service and their safety improved. For this reason, all carnivores and large primates are separated from the visitors by glass. The facilities and enclosures are designed to imitate the natural enviroment and, at the same time, to allow the animals to live nad to behave naturally. There are natural barriers between the visitors and the animals, which are safe but do not spoil the views.

The Zoological Garden was founded on the site of an original private park with beautiful copy of a rennaisance castle (the original is located near Vienna), which had been built by the factory owner Richard Neumann at the beginning of the 20th century. After the textille industry had been nationalized in 1945, there was a municipal Nature History Muzeum in the „villa“ and also cages with European animals around it- a basis to the future Zoo. The Zoo was officially opened to the public on May 9th, 1946 on the territory of just 6,5 ha.

The next turning point was the in the seventies, when the Zoo organised 8 expeditiones into various African countries and imported around 2 thousands animals. The Zoo’s specialization in African fauna was through Josef Vágner, MSc. (1965-1983). The imported animals (primarily hoof-stock, but also carnivores, monkeys and reptiles) were the basis today’s unique breeding, which represents a gene-bank for many African hoofed animal species in Europe. Today, the Zoo is proud of the worldwide unique breeding of rhinos, giraffese, buffaloes, zebras and many antelope species. In terms of numbers of animals it is the largest Zoo of our country and it is the best known Czech Zoo. It is also the largest institution breding African animals in Europe and it belongs among the most beautiful Zoo’s in Europe and in the World. It presents the Safari in summer (from the middle of May until the end of September), where visitors take a ride among free living animals in special Safaribusses.

The latest important activities in the Zoological Garden’s history were the construction of the new Carnivore House, reconstruction and enlarging of the facility for forest Bongo Antelopes, opening of the tropical house „World of Birds“ with a free flying hall, unique for Central Europe and the general reconstruction of the Fish and Reptile House- „The World of Water“, the opening of the Lemur’s Island, the construction of the House for our elephant male „Mooti“, the Exhibit for Grey Hornbills and Cap Squirrels, the Freeflying Aviary and general reconstruction of the House for Pygmy Hippos.