Defining Movement: August 2016

While Prague is undoubtedly where the wild things are, the name of this post is not referring to the out of control stag parties that take place, the old local men on their 3rd pint of beer as I walk by the window at 7 a.m. on my way to class, or the small army of expats residing here and there raucous activities. It is referring to the Prague Zoo. Zoo Praha is the self-described second most-visited attraction in the city behind Prague Castle on it's website, as well as the 4th best zoo IN THE WORLD, according to a TripAdviser survey.

The zoo was called to be founded in 1881 and received it's first inhabitants in 1931 after successfully overcoming various obstacles standing in the way of its construction. You can see a comprehensive list of the zoo's development and accomplishments (more than once being the first zoo in the world to successfully rear or breed various animals) on this webpage. Easily one of the most impacting and tragic events in the park's history was during the great flood of 2002, the same flood that swept through and over many other areas of Prague. The zoo is built on and around the base of a hill, and almost the entirety of the lower part of the park was underwater when the waters of the Vltava were at their highest levels. Here is an archived BBC article that can clarify some of the numbers.

However, nowadays Zoo Praha has recovered, and magnificently at that! Business is booming and it now boasts countless species and animals, is undergoing many renovations (including the transferring of many of the larger animals from their current low ground pins to newly made enclosures higher and further from the river) and is one of the favorite attractions of the Czech capital. Here are some photos.

There's always one in the family...

These little guys live on on 'island' in the middle of a pond and it is an open
enclosure, meaning they could interact with zoo-goers if they wanted

Raptor

One had to bring in the reinforcements to lay claim to the food

I think a lot of animals feel this way in the zoo

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...

And, as a special 2 for 1 promotion, here are some photos from the fantastic Liberec zoo, certainly less well known, but very impressive in its collection.