History
The Pilsen zoo in West-Bohemia was founded in 1926 in the district called Doudlevce, close to the town centre. It was a present the association of friends of nature (IRIS) gave themselves for their 25th anniversary. The first inmates of the zoo were monkeys, jackals and foxes. The number of livestock grew gradually through the next years with deer, ferrets, mice, raccoons, donkeys, and a bear, a capuchin monkey, a lion and a leopard. After ten years, in 1936, there were 70 animals.
The zoo experienced a major setback when on 8 September 1961 there was an outbreak of anthrax. This accelerated the dismantlement on the original location in Doudlevce. In 1963 the zoo was relocated to the Lochotín district, and in 1981 it merged with the botanical garden. After which the offical name became the zoological and botanical garden of the town Pilsen (Zoologická a botanická zahrada města Plzně). The zoo is to be found on a 21 ha premises and since 1996 it has been adjusted and changed into a zoological bio-park with focus on geographical regions.
Until 1996 the zoo was not very attractive, but nevertheless well-known for its large collection of reptiles, its captive ocelots and snowy owls, and its breeding of flamingos, spotted hyenas or Turkey vultures. Then, a master plan to improve and refurbish the zoo was developed. Thanks to this project, many of the old-fashioned exhibits were rebuilt and animals and plants started to be evenly spread around the premises.
Also an educational path called „The development of nature in the Quaternary Period“ was designed, with an enclosure of a hectare of forest for a large group of brown bears. Gradually, rare and attractive species were introduced. Most important was the introduction of a pair of Komodo Dragons, world's largest reptile, in September 1997. In total, the collection reached the number of 1,178 species, represented by about 4,970 animals (census of 2009). 23 of the species take part in the European endangered species programme (EEP). Furthermore, it is quite remarkable that 70% of the species kept in Plzeň zoo is not to be found in any of the other Czech or Slovak zoos.
Currently the zoo has some interesting features. The zoo has the second largest space for bears in Europe. Other novelties are evident. For example in the presentation of monkeys, where instead of the original 5 species in one pavilion, there are over 20 species spread over about seven places. None of them knows what a fence is. Since summer 2000, the chimpanzees have had a natural open enclosure with grass, bush and trees at their disposal. Similar „island“ enclosures were established for white-handed gibbons, colobus monkeys, lion-tailed macaques and ring-tailed lemurs. The large cats were gradually moved from a common pavilion to their own roomy new enclosures (jaguar, panther, tiger). Not to mention the 800 square meters exhibit of Barbary lions instead of the few small original cages. The rest of the original pavilion of these large predators was changed in a vast reconstruction to an African nocturarium „The Mysterious World of African Night“ in 2001.
Plzeň zoo is in 2010 only halfway to its final appearance. There are still lots of changes to be made, paths to be built, pavilions, stables and exhibits to be reconstructed, and remaining iron fences to be substituted with moats and palisades. All this in favour of the animals, to ensure their welfare and consequently their reproduction, and the visitors.
(Source: website Pilsen zoo)
Visit(s)
19.02.2010
To visit a zoo during winter when there is snow and after a substantial period of freezing weather, leads to disappointments most of the time. Therefore the disappointment during my visit in February is only partly due to Pilsen zoo itself. Because of on-going refurbishment and lack of natural green fences, the zoo consists of very bare and open terrain, although located on the outskirts of town natural forest is present in abundance. Simple metal mesh fences has been used quite a lot. This provides a lot of possibilities to see the animals and have eye-contact. But, as most enclosures have got these fences on all four sides, there are few hiding places for the animals. When standing on the uphill part of the zoo you have a good look on almost all the lower parts and enclosures, which is normally not what you expect. Having some comfortable shelters and confined spots is what I think is charming of most zoos. But this appearance will be different when all the trees are green again in summer of course.
The brown bear enclosure and the wolf enclosure are impressive in size. No bears to be seen, but the 5 wolves (Canis lupus signatus) seemed perfectly happy in the snow. In general most mammals do have outdoor enclosures of considerable size with trees, which resembles a natural environment and does not necessarily requires artificial enrichments. However, the single snow leopard I have seen, was housed in a pitiful outdoor enclosure. Especially compared to the huge enclosure nextdoor for the North-Chinese leopard. Both are fenced off on the frontside but have a natural rocky backside providing some opportunity for climbing. But the snowleopard has got about one eighth of the space its Chinese cousin has, and has no trees to climb.
Lions, lemurs, lion-tailed macaques and chimpanzees have got nice outdoor facilities, islands/peninsulas. Unfortunately this implies that the lemurs cannot be let outside, because the water-filled moats are frozen over. The chimps and lions enclosures are provided with an additional trick to prevent the animal from escaping, electrical wire. So, the chimps are outside and seem to enjoy the snow. The zoo has not been able to breed with the lions yet. The last born cubs did not survive, because the lioness apparently produced no milk. Hand raising the cubs was not an option, because this was against the zoo's philosopy of how to run a zoo and keep animals in captivity, according a zoo keeper. This philosophy should be respected of course. But, these lions could be from the rare lineage of Barbary lions, which are extinct in the wild. Extinction of the Barbary line in zoos will further erode the lion genetic diversity. According to the International Barbary Lion project of Wildlink International an urgent population assessment in zoos is needed. This would identify the genetic heritage of the lions in Pilsen Zoo, whether they are related to the Barbary lion lineage or not. For further information see www.barbarylion.com.
The new Madagascar house is built according an interesting concept. The Madagascar nocturnal fauna is separated from the creatures which prefer daylight. So, entering on the 'dark' side you encounter bat-eared foxes and Rodrigues flying foxes, and nextdoor in daylight you can see different lemurs and the Malagasy ringtailed mongoose. This mongoose is to be seen in five European zoos only. Though they brought together with this Madagascar house the animals of this island with its typical fauna, the ringtailed lemur is still housed somewhere else.The Komodo dragon is of course a must see. You cannot see the largest reptile in the world in many zoos. Pilsen zoo have had a breeding pair, but unfortunately they didn't succeed in breeding. According to one of the zoo keepers they had once fertilised eggs, but these never hatched. And the female dragon has died a few years ago. The building which houses the dragons is one of the oldest in the zoo and has a mix of species which does not reflect the mission of keeping animals according geographical regions. For example right next to each other there are De Brazza monkeys (middle Africa), collared lemurs (Madagascar) and Capuchin monkeys (South America). So, there is still some work to do to finalise the zoo's mission.The new African-Asian enclosures is under development and will, apart from the zebras, ostriches and different antilope species, house giraffes and rhinoceroses. The latter two were never kept in Pilsen zoo before. A decision I regret, because it seems more logical to use this area to give the existing ungulates more roaming grounds. But the desire to have a more diverse representation of the African fauna is probably the cause of this decision, I suppose. These new grounds will cover about one third of the total zoo area.Most striking about this zoo was that you do not get the feeling that they keep over 1,000 species in captivity. But probably this is due to the time of visit and most animals were hiding in their shelters. And for quite some animals, especially the large predators, it is not possible to view them in their inside enclosures. Which for me is not a bad thing, because this allows them some peace and quiet.
Gallery
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More info
Some additional information, such as contact details and involvement in breeding programmes.
Location
Directions
Directions to Pilsen Zoological and botanical garden, Zoo Plzeň
Address:
Pod Vinicemi 9
301 16 Plzeň
Czech Republic
public transport
by train
Pilsen main train station (Plzeň hl.n.) has domestic and direct international connections, a journey planner is available here.
by tram
From the main train station take:
tram no. 1, alight at stop Faculty of Medicine (Lékařská fakulta); from there walk about 1 km to the main entrance of the Zoo, or
- tram no. 4, alight at stop Zoological garden (Zoologická zahrada) and walk another 700 m to the main entrance of the Zoo
All access and incoming paths to ZOO Plzeň are well-signposted.
A map with an overview of public transport can be downloaded here.
by bicycle
The city lies on the major international cycleway No.3 Regensburg - Pilsen - Prague. A system of sports and recreational paths is being built along the river valleys, and a network of cycling paths that follow existing streets is being built. Three interregional cycleways also start in Pilsen: No. 31 from Pilsen to Nepomuk and Blatná; No. 35 from Pilsen to Manětín and Žlutice; and Friendship Cycleway No. 37 from Pilsen via Stříbro to Neustadt and on to Nuremberg and Paris. Numerous tips for bicycle trips, useful advice, links and news can be found here. So, bring your bicycle and enjoy Plzeň and its surroundings, and while doing so visit the Zoo in an environmental friendly way.
An interactive map of Plzeň with cycle routes is available here. A downloadable map here.
by car
Pilsen is well connected to the European road network due to its location on the D5 motorway linking the Czech capital of Prague to Germany, where the motorway joins the A6 Motorway at the Rozvadov/Waidhaus border crossing. The A6 leads from the Czech border through Germany and all the way to France.
From Prague via the D5 (E50)
take exit 67 to motorway D26 until next major junction. There you go straight on Pražská until Roosevelt street (Rooseveltova ulice) where you turn right and cross the river Mže via Roosevelt Bridge ( Rooseveltuv most). Go left at the first crossing after the bridge onto Lochotínská street ( Lochotínská ulice), follow Lochotínská until you can go left on Pod vineyards (Pod vinicemi). Follow this road for about 1 km to the Zoo's main entrance.
From Germany via the D5 (E50)
take exit 89 to motorway D26 in the direction of the city centre, on the roundabout stay on D26. After about 2 km and take a right turn at the main road crossing to Tylova street. Follow Tylova via Americká until the roundabout. At the roundabout left to Goethova, then left and right again on Františkánská. Follow Františkánská to Roosevelt street (Rooseveltova ulice) and cross the river Mže via Roosevelt Bridge ( Rooseveltuv most). Go left at the first crossing after the bridge onto Lochotínská street ( Lochotínská ulice), follow Lochotínská until you can go left on Pod vineyards (Pod vinicemi). Follow this road for about 1 km to the Zoo's main entrance.
When using SatNav please set the coordinates to: 49° 45´27.85´´ N; 13° 21´35.90´´ (for the main entrance).
Zoo map
Interactive zoo map is available here.
