Biodiversity is today’s motto

Ostrava’s zoo is one of the top three zoos in the country – along with its counterparts in Troja (Prague) and Lešná (Zlín).

But the zoo not only presents rare and exotic animals: in line with modern trends, it is a major education provider for all age groups, and it also plays a key role in rescue and conservation programmes both in the Czech Republic and abroad. One of the hottest topics in today’s world is biodiversity – and here too the zoo plays a major role. The current decline in biodiversity – the shrinking variety of life in all its forms – is one of the most pressing challenges facing our planet today. Bees, butterflies and other insect species are disappearing – which in turn is reducing populations of insect-eating birds. In the past 40 years, North America’s swallow population has shrunk to just 5% of its original level! In Germany, insect numbers have declined by 76% in the past 27 years, and bird numbers by 15% in just 10 years. The situation in the Czech Republic is likely to be similar.

In response to these alarming developments, and in an effort to preserve biodiversity, Ostrava’s zoo (working alongside the City of Ostrava) has decided to build special habitats as homes for sparrows, lizards, bees, beetles, butterflies and more. 2017 was a milestone year, as the zoo created a complete and systematic structure to coordinate all its biodiversity activities. The zoo now has over 260 special boxes which substitute for hollow tree trunks (for birds, bats, bees and other insects), three “insect hotels”, four egg-laying boxes for lizards, and three butterfly meadows. Almost 300 new habitats have been created as part of the programme – often very simple structures, but potentially with a profound positive impact on populations of various organisms. Many of the habitats are located next to the public pathways so visitors can see how easy it is to make a real, practical difference to nature conservation in their own environment. A visit to the zoo is not only a fun and memorable experience: it can also educate us and inspire us to play our own part. Yet another good reason to visit the zoo and enter the fascinating world of the animal kingdom.