Nature and Biodiversity
“Ochrana přírody v Zoo Ostrava” (Environmental Protection at Zoo Ostrava) – The Zoo’s New, Educational Facebook Page
Zoo Ostrava’s new Facebook page is the first endeavour of its kind at the zoological gardens. It was created to educate people about the status of the most threatened species of the zoo’s animals and provide updates on the rescue projects that Zoo Ostrava participates in. Visitors to the page will also find information on how Zoo Ostrava is increasing animal biodiversity in the zoo area as well as tips for how they can do the same at home. This type of educational social network project is unique among Czech zoological gardens.
The Ochrana přírody v Zoo Ostrava (Environmental Protection at Zoo Ostrava) Facebook page was created at the end of 2017. It was built on the foundations of the popular but inactive page “České slůně v Ostravě” (Czech Baby Elephant in Ostrava), which had more than 8000 followers. The purpose of the new page is to educate the public about threats to plants and animals. It also keeps visitors up to date on Zoo Ostrava’s independent and cooperative rescue projects, as well as the initiatives funded by the program “Koruna ze vstupu” (One Koruna from the Entrance Fee). These initiatives include repatriation projects that help return animals raised in captivity into the wild and rescue projects that aim to reduce threats to animals in their natural habitats, i.e in situ.
The new page reflects Zoo Ostrava’s new philosophy, direction and mission. Zoo Ostrava is a modern zoological garden whose main purpose is the preservation of species biodiversity. František Příbrský, the coordinator of Zoo Ostrava in situ projects, explains,
“In addition to breeding endangered species and maintaining genetically varied and viable reserve populations in captivity, it is also very important to educate the public and highlight possible solutions to the threats endangering the species and their environment in order to protect nature in its entirety, and not to focus attention only on the animals kept in the zoo.”
Along with breeding endangered species and cooperating in environmental protection projects in many places around the world, Zoo Ostrava also strives to increase the biodiversity of our own natural environment.
“For a long time we have also supported populations of wild and often endangered species of Czech flora and fauna inside the zoo grounds. We strive to provide these species with suitable conditions, for example we have installed various bird and bumble bee nesting boxes, insect hotels, lizard habitats, and have also built pools and applied other protection measures. Another goal of these activities is to inspire our visitors, as the majority of the measures are very simple,” explains Zoo Ostrava Director Petr Čolas.
Information about the measures used in the zoo as well as tips and tutorials on how everybody can contribute to the protection of our plant and animal species, even at home, can be found on the “Ochrana přírody v Zoo Ostrava” page.
We firmly believe that the new content of this page will enrich the public and will help to increase our joint contribution to the protection of our natural environment. Information on interesting Zoo Ostrava events and its animals, including photographs, will still be regularly available on the zoo’s main official Facebook page – “Zoo Ostrava – oficiální stránky” (Zoo Ostrava – Official Pages).
Photo: Zoo Ostrava, Pavel Vlček