A huge spider at Ostrava’s Zoo

Ostrava’s Zoo has a new inhabitant – a huge spider! Actually it’s a larger-than-life wooden model, which forms part of a new interactive display giving information about the fascinating world of spiders.

These creatures are certainly not the most popular animals in the world – many people are intensely afraid of them (a condition known as arachnophobia). But spiders play a crucial role in our ecosystem and in the food chain; they are among the most important predators of insects, helping to maintain a natural equilibrium in insect populations. The new interactive info point is located in the central part of the Zoo, near the Papua pavilion. It consists of the wooden model spider plus an information panel in the shape of a spider’s web, which gives details of various aspects of the arachnid family.

The Zoo’s press officer Šárka Nováková gave more details:

We’re sure that our new spider info point will show everybody (not just arachnophobes) that spiders are truly fascinating animals, and that there’s absolutely no reason to be afraid of them, or to harm them in any way. Many species are truly beautiful, and their lives are very interesting indeed. To take just one example: some species of spider can jump high into the air – up to 50 times their own height. What human could possibly do that? And did you know that the threads spun by spiders are incredibly strong? They actually have greater tensile strength than steel of the same weight. And there are many more fascinating facts that you can learn about these wonderful creatures – just visit our new info point!

The spider info point was built with the financial support of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Photographers: Vladimír Adámek and Pavel Vlček.