výroční zpráva 2009 ( 4,12 MB ) - Zoo Ostrava

Dear friends,Ostrava Zoo is coming with their new annual report. The year 2009, which is the period covered by the document,was a major milestone for the zoo in terms of breeding activities as well as upgrading the zoo grounds and buildingnew exhibits.Having dubbed 2008 a "year of project development", I dare to say that 2009 was a "year of construction" thanksto the largest volume of funding ever received from Ostrava Zoo founder - the Statutory City of Ostrava. This allowedthe zoo commencing several works for which the preparation process already started a long time ago.As soon as the spring came, the zoo formally opened the Little Amazonia exhibit, a result of alterations that hadbeen made to the entry area of the parrot house due to its unsatisfactory condition. This new display has addednew species on the list, one of which is featured under a separate chapter.For the major works, they namely included completion of extensive background facilities for the zoo's HorticultureDepartment - glasshouses and a biomass-fuelled heating plant, two eagle aviaries and the Papua exhibit, plus aprocess of complete reconstruction of outworn children's zoo could be successfully launched at the end of the year.The construction of the Chitwan exhibit - a complex designed for bears, langurs, otters and other animalsincluding two aquariums - can sure be called the most extensive work of the year.Besides the large constructions mentioned above, a number of minor repairs, alterations and reconstructionslisted elsewhere in this report were underway. In addition, plenty of learning and play elements for children wereinstalled throughout the grounds, like an above-lifesize model of a kangaroo or varied education spots featuringnative fauna species.The large-scale development process is something that has essentially reshaped this long uncared-for zoo ofthe Moravia-Silesia region, thus contributing to a common goal of the zoo personnel - creating a place where bothanimals and humans could feel good.The increased interest of visitors continues to be the most tangible evidence of the fact that this institution hassomething to offer: 358,892 people visited Ostrava Zoo in 2009, this being the second largest attendance withinthe recent 20 years. I am also pleased to see the rising numbers of schools coming to join our informal learningschemes as part of the zoo visit.Against all the economic troubles that the country has suffered, Ostrava Zoo still enjoys the favour of theirdonors and supporters, receiving a total of 3,143 thousand CZK from them in 2009.The passed year can also be titled "the year of rare offspring". Although you can learn more about these aswell as other breeding successes in the respective sections, at least the reared critically endangered Sclater's lemurshould be mentioned at this point, as it was the first offspring produced outside Madagascar, West Europe and theUSA.Another premiere Ostrava Zoo can boast are mother-raised birds of prey - a young cinereous vulture and beardedvulture; these kingly birds were successfully released into the wild in the French Alps as part of internationalcooperation, when the young bearded vulture was even released in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II ofMonaco, as his foundation became an umbrella to the project. This special occasion was however not only an5