Take Your Children to the Best Known Czech Zoos

Prague: The world’s fifth best zoo

Prague Zoo is situated in the lower part of Troja in Prague and you should definitely visit it – the prestigious magazine Forbes Traveler ranked it among the top eight zoos in the world in 2007! Last year, it reached the top five based on ratings of the global travel portal TripAdvisor. You can see 4,770 animals of 690 species in conditions which are the closest to their natural environment. Recently, they added the Indonesian Jungle pavilion where they breed Komodo dragons, sea lion exhibit, monkey islands, as well as vastly popular gorillas. The Prague Zoo is also famous for its successful breeding of Przewalski’s horses. In 2008, the Prague Zoo introduced gharials – one of the rarest animals on the planet, thus becoming the only European zoo breeding them.

Dvůr Králové nad Labem: The only lion safari in Central Europe

With its 72 hectares, Dvůr Králové Zoo is the second biggest zoo in the Czech Republic. It is located in East Bohemia near Hradec Králové. The zoo specializes in African animals – so you will find not only the biggest breeding programme focused on African mammals in the Czech Republic there, but also the only lion safari in the Czech Republic and Central Europe! Besides the typical strolling through the traditional zoo exhibits, you can drive among the animals either in special tourist buses or in your own car. There are 326 species and 2,339 animals living there.

Chomutov: The largest one in the Czech Republic

Chomutov Zoo is one of the youngest Czech zoos, but the largest one – its size is 112 hectares. They currently breed 161 animal species in the quantity of 1,016 individuals, including acutely endangered species listed in the Red Book and animals popular with the visitors, such as the snow leopard, Bactarian camel or European bison.

Plzeň: Animals that can be found nowhere else

Plzeň Zoo is also a botanical garden in Plzeň and the second oldest zoo in the Czech Republic. In an area of 21 hectares, you will find 1,210 species and 6,991 animals, whereas 70 per cent of the kept animal species can be found in no other Czech zoo. In addition, the tropical pavilion currently houses the Kingdom of Poison exhibit where the most poisonous snakes and frogs in the world are kept.

Ostrava: The first baby elephants in the Czech Republic

With the size of 100 hectares, Ostrava Zoo is the second largest zoo in the Czech Republic. The zoo has been extensively modernized in recent times; the biggest construction so far in the zoo’s history is reconstruction of the former water fowl pavilion to the Evolution Pavilion where you can currently see 200 animals of about 25 species. They breed 3,717 animals of 396 species here. In 2011, they witnessed the birth of two baby elephants, which were the first baby elephants born alive in Czech or Slovak zoos.

Liberec: The oldest zoo in the country

Liberec Zoo is the oldest zoo in the Czech Republic – it was founded in 1919. There are about 1,000 animals of 170 species kept in the area of 13 hectares. The most attractive animals include Bengal tigers and sea lions and the Liberec Zoo is the only one where you can see the four biggest species of European owls, a unique collection of birds of prey and a number of unique representatives of the Asian avifauna.

Olomouc: Zoo with an outlook tower

In the area of 42.5 hectares, Olomouc Zoo offers 1,861 animals of 354 species. You will find it at Svatý Kopeček near Olomouc. Here, you should definitely see six pavilions (giraffes, monkeys, carnivores, bats, Amur leopards and the South American pavilion), passing through the kangaroos or sea aquariums. The biggest tank designated for sharks has the volume of 42,000 litres! In the bat pavilion, very rare Rodrigues fruit bats will literally fly over your heads. The Olomouc Zoo also offers a 32-metre outlook tower, from which you can view not only at animals in the zoo, but also the City of Olomouc and its surroundings. There is a playground and a rope track centre for children on the zoo grounds.

Ústí nad Labem: You can tour it at night too

Ústí nad Labem Zoo breeds more than 1,000 animals of 228 species. A number of them are very rare. They succeeded in raising a lot of species, such as Amur leopards, snow leopards or rhinoceros. The zoo has several playgrounds and you can avail of the special holiday offer in the holiday period – a guided night tour of the silent zoo.