Zoo Ostrava The Annual Report 2009

Historical increase in the number of animals at Ostrava Zoo
Jiří Novák
Throughout its history, every zoo will experience better and harder times. Current visitors of the Moravian-
Silesian metropolis can, dare I say, enjoy the positive-toned years right now. The more and the longer Ostrava
Zoo lagged behind their companion zoos in the Czech and Slovak Republics as well as European and global
trends, the greater effort has been developed by Ostrava Zoo personnel very recently - of course this being
backed by the necessary support of the zoo's founder.
The development (with regard to animals) paradoxically began with rather unpopular measures in terms
of visitors. Throughout the long history, selection of only a small number of groups (orders) of birds and
mammals was kept and presented to the public, with felines, bears and anseriform birds being the most
famous taxa, and popularity among the audience being won through several large mammals kept and bred.
However, holding the latter is something that must meet many pre-requisites, including extraordinary
amounts of capital invested in breeding facilities and exhibits, to name a few. As no funding like that was
available, species like the polar bear (Ursus maritimus), Kodiak bear (Ursus arctos middendorffi) and Indian
elephant (Elephas maximus) were housed under conditions that will not survive as things stand. And as
finding enough money to remedy was not possible within a short time following the zoo's self-reflection,
the zoo management opted for the only sensible way - slight reduction of the large mammal stock held in
sub-standard situations. For these reasons, the bear species above were stopped, as well as jaguars (Panthera
onca) and cougars (Puma concolor). Nonetheless, most large mammals have remained, such as the Indian
elephant (Elephas maximus), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), Indian lion (Panthera leo persica),
Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), Rothschild giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildii), Grevy's zebra
(Equus grevyi), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and many others, and Ostrava Zoo is still amongst the
largest zoos in the Czech Republic even in this regard.
Such a short-term cut in the numbers of species, which generally was still a moderate one, allowed for
significant improvement of conditions for other creatures that remained on the list. Simply, the zoo team was
quickly able to provide a number of animals with larger enclosures by combining several smaller paddocks, as
well as light up the zoo grounds with plants and eliminate a lot of ugly iron barriers or cages. The structure of
stock was however generally maintained in the beginnings, and certainly, the number of breeding species or
individuals could not increase.
In 2008 and 2009, a break occurred. These two years would be difficult to separate because the zoo team's
work on the acquisition of a number of new species covered both periods. This involved not just a few new
large or "famous" animals, such as three Indian elephants, red pandas, white-naped cranes, etc.; indeed,
the tendency towards creating the best level of housing for animals and luxuriously spacious aviaries and
enclosures, whether real or still in the designs, as well as investments not only in exhibits, but also the much
needed facilities behind the scenes, allowed the zoo personnel to work hard on getting new species, often
recruiting from completely new taxa not held at the zoo so far. All of the above resulted in an annual increase
in the number of animals that is unprecedented in the modern history of Ostrava Zoo.
41