Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The little African penguin hatched on October 30 this year looks like its fellow penguins at first glance but it has an extraordinary story behind it "The chick was raised by a pair of young males who traveled to us from Amsterdam we placed an egg from a couple that laid two fertilized eggs in their nest Our experience shows that one pair cannot raise two chicks so we gave two young males a chance,” says zoologist Michal Podhrázský but the chick has already moved from the nesting burrow to the park´s behind the scenes where it is learning to accept fish from the hands of the breeders This is a common procedure in penguin breeding “Crosby and Fleury are actually lucky that they are birds Because they would not be able to adopt and raise a chick here The most common argument against the adoption of children by same-sex couples is that it goes against nature there are many cases where babies are raised only by mothers and aunts proves that even two males can successfully take care of a baby So let's not be afraid and get inspired by nature," says SAFARI PARK director Přemysl Rabas as the breeders call the pair of male penguins we attributed the fact that they did not win a female in the flock to their very young age and little experience they stayed together ever since and unlike other pairs who sort of leave each other after every hatching season Crosby and Fleury have forever stayed very close to one another They spend a lot of time together all year round and even explore new things together which is rather ectraordinary in penguins," adds Michal Podhrázský Scientists have newly classified the African penguin as critically endangered It is therefore desirable that breeding flocks produce babies "Hacking does not automatically mean breeding This has been confirmed to us several times We have already placed another pair's egg under this pair of males in the past Now everything is on the right track," explains the zoologist the zoologists remove it after 15 days and examine it This way they can determine whether it is fertilized If two fertilized eggs are found in a single breeding pair The fertilized eggs are forwarded to pairs that do not have fertilized eggs the little penguin is not the only addition of the season four other chicks are growing up in a special nursery "It will be revealed only by DNA analysis of the outline feathers The young birds will moult at the end of January where visitors will also see them," reveals Michal Podhrázský People can go directly among the penguins: the exhibit which is the largest in the Czech Republic Its appearance is reminiscent of the port towns in Namibia where penguins live in close proximity to people They are also their greatest threat and enemy They have brought these amazing birds to the brink of extinction The African penguin is the only African penguin Science has recently classified it as critically endangered and its numbers have continued to decline – to less than half of their original numbers since the 1980s it is also relatively often found near human settlements due to the plundering of natural fish resources This means that there is not enough food left for penguins and other marine animals The indirect threat of getting caught in trawl nets or dumping waste into the seas and oceans is also becoming increasingly serious Microplastics also pose a fundamental problem African penguins are relatively monogamous with pairs remaining faithful to their nesting site and partner for at least several years Štefánikova 1029,544 01 Dvůr Králové nad Labem Czech Republic (AP) — Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos from wildlife parks in three European countries are ready to be transported back to their natural habitat in Rwanda where the entire rhino population was wiped out during the genocide in the 1990s Officials from the Czech Republic's Dvur Kralove zoo said Thursday that the three female and two male rhinos have been slowly trained to get used to custom-made transport boxes to take them Sunday to Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda Their journey will mark the biggest single transport of rhinos from Europe to Africa Transporting them won't be easy and the animals will have to be tranquilized several times during the trip The rhinos weigh between 850 and 1,150 kilograms (1,874 and 2,535 pounds) The rhinos first met in November when the three already at the Dvur Kralove zoo were joined by one from Flamingo Land in Britain and one from Ree Park Safari in Denmark So you have to keep your finger on the pulse and see what happens and respond accordingly," Morkel said the rhinos will undergo a lengthy process of adaption before they will be allowed to roam freely and join 18 eastern black rhinos that were transported to the park from South Africa in 2017 More than 500,000 people were killed in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 The conflict also devastated the entire population of lions there described the transport as "historic" and recognition for his country's efforts to restore its wildlife diversity African rhinos remain under intense pressure from poachers who kill them to meet demand for their horns in illegal markets There are only a few hundred of the eastern black subspecies remaining in the world Mar 17 (EFE).- A group of dedicated and affectionate caretakers is successfully breeding endangered black rhinos at a Czech zoo to save the animals from extinction Last year half of all the world’s newborn black rhinos were welcomed at the Dvur Kralove Czech Zoo The latest addition to the growing family was born on March 4 born a year ago and named in honor of Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion Since the rhino breeding program began at the Czech zoo in the 1970s some 60 of the large mammals have been born The number of black rhinos left in the wild has dwindled to around 800 after years of persecution and poaching “Having a group of young rhinos to start with and caretakers who don’t work within fixed schedules” is one of the keys to the success of this program who has been working at the zoo for four decades Keepers prepare each animal its own personalized menu which is placed in a box with its name and contains different foods depending on its age shrubs and fruit trees — they particularly enjoy cherry tree branches The daily cost to maintain one of these large mammals is around 16 euros half what would usually be spent on a white rhino menu The mammals have sharp hearing and a keen sense of smell and get used to being called by their name The keepers even train females who give birth to newborns to pump breast milk which is stored for moments of need which has a positive effect on the animals In addition to the 49 eastern black rhinos born on the premises which are now practically extinct in the wild Kenya is home to the world’s only two semi wild northern white rhinos Dvur Kralove is the only facility of its kind where this rare subspecies has been successfully bred although it now relies more on advanced assisted reproduction and stem-cell techniques experts are trying to obtain primordial germ cells so that Fatu The Czech zoo is also home to two southern whites a cross between southern and northern white rhinos nine eastern black rhinos have been returned to their natural habitat in Rwanda and Tanzania and mammals have also been transferred to other partners in a conservation network Chimpanzees show each other objects just for the sake of it revealing it isn’t only humans who like to draw attention to items that have captured their interest As anyone who has spent time with a child knows even very young humans like to point out objects to others it was previously thought this behavior only occurs in our species Now researchers say they have found an instance of a chimpanzee showing her mother a leaf She just wants them to look at it together nice!’” said Prof Katie Slocombe of the University of York Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Slocombe and colleagues noted that even close relatives of humans were thought only to gesture to objects for particular purposes “Sometimes when they’re grooming in this community of chimpanzees they’ll scratch a particular location on their body … and that indicates ‘I want you to groom me here,’” said Slocombe “If they have their hands out towards something It was while studying the Ngogo chimpanzee community in the Kibale national park that Slocombe and colleagues captured video of footage of an adult female grooming a leaf — a common behave in which chimpanzees pluck foliage But then Fiona did something unusual: she held the leaf out to her mother Fiona thrusted the leaf further forwards — possibly because she did not see her mother’s response.“She does kind of three separate movements each time kind of putting it closer and closer to her mother’s face,” Slocombe said Once Sutherland moved both her eyes and head towards the foliage the researchers examined 84 video clips of chimpanzees in the Ngogo and Kanyawara communities that were grooming leaves near at least one other individual While a leaf was often watched simultaneously by the chimpanzee grooming it and an onlooker Only five of 58 clips capturing a chimpanzee’s behavior both before and after leaf-grooming showed them subsequently grooming another chimp or playing with them is that Fiona was likely to have been neither offering food nor seeking another activity she probably just wanted to show her mother the leaf a primatologist at Emory University who was not involved in the work “It is not the first time that we have seen a suggestion that chimpanzees voluntarily point out information to others — I myself have described such incidents — or that they may teach others new information but this is now the best documented case,” he said grasp that other individuals gather information the way they do themselves and are willing to share information with others without any prompting or rewards or self-serving purposes.” While Slocombe acknowledges the team have recorded just one instance of the behavior she hopes experts may now look for similar examples or even find them in previously collected footage “Probably our last common ancestor with chimpanzees might have done this occasionally “So what we then need to understand is what was the selection pressure to increase our motivation to do this more Zoo deems danger to animals from poachers to be ‘really intense’ with black market rhino horn selling for more than gold or cocaine A Czech zoo has said it will use a chainsaw to remove the horns from its herd of rare rhinos after a brutal attack last week in a French zoo where poachers shot dead a white rhino and hacked off its horns. “It’s for the sake of rhino safety,” Andrea Jirousova, spokeswoman for the zoo in the central Czech town of Dvur Kralove nad Labem, said. Read more“The attack (in France) put us on alert but declined to reveal when the surgery would take place the zoo in Thoiry near Paris said unknown intruders had broken security barriers and killed a male rhino of the critically endangered southern white subspecies for its horns The Dvur Kralove zoo currently has a herd of 21 black and southern white rhinos including three calves who will not undergo surgery Black market rhino horn sells for up to $60,000 (€56,400) per kilo – more than gold or cocaine – with most demand from China and Vietnam where it is coveted as a traditional medicine and aphrodisiac Jirousova said vets would put the rhinos under anaesthesia before removing their horns with a chainsaw and filing the sharp edges “We have never done this because of poachers We did it for other reasons like transport or health concerns,” she added Dvur Kralove is the world’s only zoo to have succeeded in the captive breeding of the extremely rare northern white rhino it placed three northern white rhinos – one male and two females – in the Ol Pejeta reserve in Kenya They are the last survivors of this subspecies The zoo said Tuesday experts would try to remove eggs from the two females at Ol Pejeta this year to save the subspecies by means of in-vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer to surrogate mothers The northern white rhinoceros has been nearly wiped out by hunting and poaching for their horns according to the World Wildlife Foundation The icons of the safari park do not disappear for the winter "The safari park is attractive all year round And there are more and more species that can be seen even outside the main season," says the director of Safari Park Dvur Králové Přemysl Rabas a colony of African penguins steals the show Even more as their exhibit is walk-through Compared to the very popular summer season the park is much quieter from October to April The animals are curious and active and everyone can enjoy them almost to themselves The entire walk-through part of the park is in operation leopards or African wild dogs to a pack of Barbary lions Anybody can admire these big cats in the winter time in their indoor habitat or in the huge enclosure - for example from the view-point of the large wooden castle An attraction for true connoisseurs are the unique aardwolves A pair of these amazing beasts inhabits the exhibit in the Joy Adamson House of Carnivores The obvious attractions of winter are reticulated giraffes in the impressive indoor quarters pygmy hippos in the newly renovated mansion the only okapis in the country or elephants and aardwarks in the African Savannah House "People won't even miss any of our primates The Primate House is a winter oasis where everyone can warm up and observe chimpanzees or Angolan colobus monkeys," continues Přemysl Rabas Heated exhibits with windows also have both of our species of galagos A visit to the World of Birds with two different biotopes is extremely tempting even in winter The journey through the world of birds begins in a dry Madagascar hall The birds are complemented by the magnificent fossa which the safari park is the only Czech and one of the few zoos in the world to reproduce repeatedly The pavilion continues with a unique hall representing the rainforest basins of the Congo bird lovers will find real treasures – for example Water Worlds and Venomous Africa are also worth a stop “The collection of deadly venomous snakes is extraordinary and most species breed here people cannot see some of them anywhere else," the director of the safari park points out The tropical hall with two species of crocodiles pancake tortoises and dozens of fish is also open all year round The largest permanent exhibition of works of the world-famous artist Zdenek Burian with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures the extensive Museum of Skeletons full of unique bones showing how amazing the world of animals is the World of Insects or the small village of Tiébélé with its contrasting "spotted" houses And a number of paddocks live throughout the winter "The animals go outside as the weather permits Elephants and rhinos practically every day the popular red river hogs or meerkats are essentially hardy Persian leopards are perfectly suited to winter and are much more active than in summer," concludes Přemysl Rabas The outdoor enclosure is also used year-round by the only Czech Cape buffalo or the largest herd of maneless zebras outside of Africa The northern white rhino is perhaps the rarest mammal at present These magnificent creatures roamed freely in large parts of central Africa for hundreds of thousand years but due to demand for rhino horn were recently poached to extinction in the wild Confirmed signs of their presence in nature have not been seen since 2007 and there are only two specimens known to humans at present This fact makes us one of the main institutions involved in efforts to save the northern white rhino (NWR) Who are these two last remaining individuals Both females Najin and Fatu were born in our zoo in 1989 Both were transferred from our zoo to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya in 2009 Ol Pejeta was chosen by experts from IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group as the best place where to try to save the NWR by getting the last fertile animals from captivity together with the last animals from the wild the specimens from the wild have never arrived to Ol Pejeta The response of the politicians and local leaders of DR Congo was so limp that the NWR was poached to extinction in the wild before they were translocated Thanks to our advanced breeding programme that started in the 1970s Dvůr Králové Zoo is the only animal park in the world where the northern white rhino has been bred it was back in 2000 when the last calf was born So we turned to artificial techniques of reproduction We have tried inserting a hormonal implant we have even artificially inseminated NWR females but no pregnancy from these techniques occurred So in the hope that natural surroundings close to their original habitat may prompt their breeding we sent two NWR couples in 2009 to Ol Pejeta observed matings have not led to a pregnancy Following the death of the last fertile northern white male in Ol Pejeta in October 2014 experts from our zoo together with experts of IZW Berlin Ol Pejeta and Kenya Wildlife Service gathered in Kenya to carry out health checks on then remaining three rhinos Examinations of the two females showed that neither is currently capable of natural reproduction The only hope for the NWR thus lies in artificial techniques of reproduction such as in vitro fertilization embryo transfer or different forms of genetic engineering like a generation of stem cells that could be later used for generating reproductive cells but most of them have not been performed in rhinos an international consortium of scientists and conservationists coordinated by Dvůr Králové Zoo and led by IZW Berlin achieved in 2019 a milestone in assisted reproduction that may be a pivotal turning point in the fate of the NWR Using eggs collected from the two remaining females and frozen sperm from deceased males we successfully produced first northern white rhino embryos in vitro The embryos are now stored in liquid nitrogen to be transferred into a surrogate mother in hopefully near future For more information on northern white rhinos, please, contact Jan Stejskal, Director of International Projects, e-mail: jan.stejskal@zoodk.cz the statue of Sudan was revealed in the presence of the authors and the municipality and Safari Park Dvůr Králové representatives The godfathers were the authors of the sculpture A sandstone and metal sculpture was installed one day earlier on the central ring road islet 5 tons and its creation took over three months "Sudan is perhaps the most famous animal that has ever lived in the zoo so it is great that the municipality decided to recall him," says Jan Stejskal head of international projects of the Safari Park Dvůr Králové "Sudan's trip from Africa to the zoo in Dvůr Králové and after more than 30 years back to Africa is a symbol of zoo’s whole mission - animals were first acquired from Africa then we provided them with conditions under which they could reproduce and now we assist them with return to safe places in Africa,” adds Jan Stejskal he escaped destiny of his relatives who were hunted to extinction in the wild he significantly contributed to survival of his species as he sired two females Sudan was sent back to Africa and stole the heart of many with his dignity and strength The last two living females of this rhino subspecies live in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy where they were sent together with Sudan from Dvur Kralove The safari park is continuing in its efforts to rescue the Northern White Rhinos and to that end has teamed up with IZW Berlin to try and conduct the first-ever procedure to safely remove egg cells from remaining females fertilize these with semen previously collected from northern white rhino males and insert the resulting embryos into female southern white rhinos acting as surrogates.  "The birth of offspring from an animal that is extremely challenging to breed is a triumph for all the experts working in the safari park Aardwolves have only reproduced in a handful of global gardens and the current situation highlights the enormous professionalism of our keepers and nutrition specialists," notes Přemysl Rabas "Acquiring aardwolves from the specialized breeding center in South Africa was very challenging The possibility of establishing a conservation population in European zoos was discussed in South Africa 'I had the opportunity to participate in the preventive examination of the relatively newborn cubs which we desired to obtain for the safari park I personally vouched for the quality of the facilities we have for these extraordinary animals," he adds "If the successful rearing of the female goes well it will be one of the greatest successes in the history of not only the safari park," he points out the female has only given birth for the first time "We anticipated and ensured absolute quiet in the den and its surroundings during birth only a very narrow circle of people has access there The female is still very cautious around even those people she takes good care of the cubs and only rarely leaves them," describes zoologist Gabriela Linhart one of them left the den on the fourth day after birth But the mother soon moved it back inside," adds the zoologist Other cubs gradually emerged from the birthing den The safari park acquired the southern aardwolves in May 2023 from a specialized breeding center in South Africa and protection of spotted hyenas and other species only a handful of zoos worldwide currently house aardwolves Successful breeding has only occurred in three of them The safari park in the Czech Republic is the first spotted hyenas have always been extremely rare due to being significant dietary specialists "They probably feed on only two species of termites Our animal nutrition experts have developed a special tailored diet for each of our animals They based it on information from colleagues in South Africa and their own experiences with breeding other dietary specialists and predators in the safari park," reveals Přemysl Rabas the aardwolfs' diet includes various granules for insectivores and predators The safari park currently houses all representatives of the hyena family: spotted aardwolves Such a collection is unparalleled worldwide The acquisition of spotted hyenas follows the safari park's long-standing effort to provide the best conditions for the animals in captivity "The aardwolves have taken over the exhibit that was previously occupied by spotted hyenas the spotted hyenas recently moved to a huge enclosure in the West Cape area The current pavilion is ideal spatially for smaller predator species such as the aardwolvess," notes Přemysl Rabas Humans' understanding and related animal care requirements are changing Exhibits are expanding and becoming more natural as they are from Asia and have entirely different requirements The spotted hyenas then moved to their enclosure subsequently improving it and gaining more than double the space in the West Cape area This created a suitable space for breeding small and rare aardwolves The same philosophy guided the relocation of lions to the extensive Lion Safari in 2015 There is no larger lion exhibit in the Czech Republic huge ears and front legs significantly longer than the hind ones The appearance of the brown hyenas makes them one of striking of all carnivores A pair of these remarkable animals now inhabit the Joy Adamson Carnivore House "They are new here and are gradually getting used to the outdoor habitat," says zoologist Gabriela Linhart about the very rare addition this is a complete sensation; according to the ZIMS world database That's quite rare for adult brown hyenas in human care We hope that everything will continue to work similarly well," adds the zoologist or they can form groups of up to 10 individuals "The male is a nomad who roams the Kalahari desert looking for females to mate with is sometimes accompanied by older cubs who help her raise their younger siblings there may be other females with young," explains Gabriela Linhart The not fully explored sociality of brown hyenas may also be the reason why breeding in human care is not very successful The bonding of adult animals often ends in serious injuries females are extremely sensitive to disturbance during the breeding season Traditional inhabitants of the safari park are spotted hyenas which visitors can observe in the new large enclosure of the West Cape exhibit and striped hyenas in Josef Vágner African Safari "Hyenas are an extremely interesting group of animals Although they are a small family with only four species they are animals with very different requirements which in some cases are extremely demanding for breeders Individual species differ from each other in size mode of reproduction and geographical distribution What they have in common is their dwindling numbers in the wild the few unknowns still surrounding their way of life and somewhat introverted but mostly peaceful nature," explains Gabriela Linhart of the reasons why the safari park sought to acquire all representatives of the family the reputation of hyenas is somewhat tarnished due to their not-so-good image in pop culture There are many untruths and nonsensical myths about them Their image among many people is very inaccurate and hyenas and aardwolves are absolutely essential to ecosystems," she adds The family of Hyaenidae is represented by four species of carnivores in the world they are more closely related to cats and especially civets than to dogs where it eagerly feeds on the carcasses of sea lions or their young The male also often leads a clan of several adults Multiple females may breed in such a group nursing their own and each other's offspring six chimpanzees from Safari Park Dvůr Králové have had an unusual visit since last week The group of chimpanzees from Brno Zoo located about 150 km from Dvůr Králové is present in the Gorilla House every day from 8 AM to 4 PM CET via Zoom Call streamed on a big screen run by the two zoos and talented artist Pavel Cupák is supposed to help to keep the apes entertained as the zoo remains closed due to coronavirus pandemic The life stream is added to Dvůr Králové´s chimp group regular amount of enrichment contact between chimps and humans can´t be fully replaced To make up for the lack of interaction with visitors the chimpanzees at Safari Park Dvur Kralove and the troop at a zoo in Brno can now watch one another's daily lives on giant screens There are no mute-button disasters as the sound is off but there has already been plenty of interest in what the distant cousins are up to since the project got underway last week "At the beginning they approached the screen with defensive or threatening gestures there was interaction," says Gabriela Linhartova curator of primates and carnovires at Dvur Kralove "It has since moved into the mode of 'I am in the movies' or 'I am watching TV.' When they see some tense situations like us when we watch a live sport event." Many natural behavior patterns of chimps have been observed Sometimes the chimpanzees bring food to show to the other group they dominate to each other via zoom and even - as the keepers can confirm - they enjoy watching humans doing their routine "I often happen to see the group from Dvůr Králové watching me patiently as I clean the exhibit," says Mariana Hubíková when keepers will evaluate whether they should continue the safari park had to close it´s doors for public for over 170 days with almost no support from the Czech government The financial situation of every zoo in the country is getting more and more serious every day and the project is willing to show that despite being closed The animals need daily care and food no matter what „The decision to remove rhino horns was not made easily at all the risk that the rhinos currently face not only in the wild but even in zoos is too high and the safety of the animals is our first concern The dehorned rhino is definitely a better option than the dead rhino,“ explained Přemysl Rabas „Any other measures are not so deterring as the fact that in our zoo there are no rhinos with horns left,“ added Přemysl Rabas The first rhino that went through the cutting off his horn was Pamir The whole procedure was led by our experienced veterinarian with the team of experts of Dvůr Králové Zoo The intervention took less than one hour and it was performed without any complications,“ said Jiří Hrubý Dvůr Králové Zoo holds 21 rhinos at present „We will cut the horns of all rhinos that need it so in his case it is not necessary,“ added Přemysl Rabas There are examples in the wild when rhinos break their horns off or rub them as well It is not the first time when the Dvůr Králové Zoo undertook a such step „The horns are sometimes trimmed for rhinos‘ safety during transports or for other health reasons The procedure is painless as the horn is made mostly of keratin (which our fingernails or hair are made of) the horn gradually grows back,“ explained Přemysl Rabas Dvůr Králové Zoo is not the only institution which has already conducted the cutting of the rhino horns to keep animals safe the Senegal Bandia Reserve also decided to remove the horns off their rhinos last week The experts from the Dvůr Králové Zoo were assisting with the intervention there has announced that they are going to proceed to the same step whereas other institutions are considering it at the moment the illegal trade in rhino horn for its fictious medical properties is the main reason why the rhinos are still poached and why they were wiped out of many places more than 1300 rhinos have been poached annualy in Africa The rhino horn is demanded and bought mostly by consumers of Vietnam and China the experts proved that rhino horn has no properties that people believe in,“ said Jan Stejskal Director of International Projects of Dvůr Králové Zoo „Furthermore in countries of East Asia the horn is regarded as a status symbol But the demand reduction would considerably help to make rhino’s lives happier Only the small change in the lifestyle  of East Asian population could help to save rhinos from the extinction we would not have to make this radical decision to cut off their horns then,“ added Jan Stejskal The Dvůr Králové Zoo has been trying to protect not only its rhinos in captivity but it also spends a large amount of money and make strong efforts to the campaigns for the rescue of the wild rhinos More information you can find in the Frequently Asked Questions below Isn‘t cutting horns off rhinos overreaction to one lone incident in the French zoo The shooting of rhino in the French Zoo Thoiry is unfortunately not a lone incident in fact it is another evidence of still increasing threat to rhinos from criminals that are involved in poaching and illegal trade in rhino horn the British police warned their local zoos that their rhinos may be under threat from organized poachers various criminal gangs have been operating since at least 2010 They have targeted rhino trophies in museums and castles the Dvůr Králové Zoo lent out its rhino horns for an African exhibition at the Napajedla Castle These horns were stolen – whereas the criminals were tracked out Thanks to the activites of The Czech Environmental Inspectorate The Customs Administration of the Czech Republic and the Police of the Czech Republic it is proved that there are several criminal groups in the Czech Republic that are involved in rhino horn smuggling through the Czech Republic to the Vietnam This means that rhinos in other zoos face the same threats as in France including the Czech ones Why did you decided to cut off the rhino horns instead of taking any other safety measures Dvůr Králové Zoo has been aware of the risk of the attacks for a while mechanical and personal measures that have been already running The horn cutting is just one of another measures how we try to reduce the risk of any potential attack No safety measures will provide one hundred per cent security to our rhinos So it is necessary to show that anybody who would set out to Dvůr Králové Zoo to poach our rhinos would find no horn here Dvůr Králové Zoo is also supporting efforts to reduce demand for rhino horn especially in countries of East Asia The cutting is absolutely painless for the animal because the horn is made mostly of keratin (which our fingernails or hair are made of) In fact it is something like cutting of hair or nails most of rhinos are not so calm or patient to stand their horns cutting while being fully conscious But it is a standard veterinarian intervention for example for animals‘ safety during transports or for medical reasons Is it not limitting for them to live without their horns for example to defend territory or in fights for the dominance If the horns are cut off all rhinos who live together in one group The horns removing is just temporary solution then there will not be a problem to let the horns grow back The horn will be stored at a safe place out of zoo How many rhinos are currently in the Dvůr Králové Zoo Dvůr Králové Zoo holds currently 21  rhinos – 17 black ones and 4 southern white ones Has the Dvůr Králové Zoo taken any action to help with the protection of rhinos in the wild The Dvůr Králové makes strong efforts and spends a large amount of money for the campaigns for the rescue of the wild rhinos As the only zoo in the world it succeeded to breed the northern white rhino there are only three animals of this species left on the planet now no individual from the group is capable of the natural breeding at the moment The zoo with its colleagues from top scientific institutions tries to develop techniques of artificial reproduction which could give the northern white rhino a chance to survive the Dvůr Králové Zoo has already returned eight rhinos from captivity to Africa was transported in June last year to Mkomazi 44 calves of black rhinos have been born so far the zoo struggles to approach even consumers in East Asia It organised the burning of more than 50 kg of rhino horn in Dvůr Králové in 2014 the zoo got the invtitation to participate in demonstrative destruction of the historically largest amount of horns and tusks in Kenya and several months later in Hanoi in the centre of the consumer country itself The aim of these actions is to bring attention to the plight of rhinos and make clear that neither horns nor tusks has any real value How high is the value of horns on the black market Rhino horn has no real value and its price on the black market is artifically created for the purpose of the profit of traffickers It is very difficult to estimate if the reported price on the black market corresponds with the reality How often do poachers kill the rhinos in the wild more than 1300 rhinos were killed annualy in Africa In 2007 there were „only“ 13 rhinos poached whereas one year later it was 80 dead individuals and the numbers were increasing rapidly year by year How many rhinos live in the wild presently there live about 20 000 southern white rhinos and about 5000 black ones several tens of Sumatran and Javanese rhinos are found in Asia Could the problem with increased demand for the horns be solved with legalization of horns trade or stricter punishment for poachers The trade in rhinoceros horns was legal in the past and that period can only be called a period of slaughter during which thousands and tens of thousands of rhinoceroses were killed It wasn’t until after the ban on the international rhino horn trade and especially after domestic bans in important consumer countries that the numbers of certain rhinoceros species could be stabilized Permitting the trade in rhinoceros horns would not reduce demand but would increase demand and thus lead to the even greater killing of rhinoceroses Merchants and traffickers would try to sell as much as possible meaning that they would advertise their goods and try to get as many customers as possible to buy them in recent years they came up with the entirely unfounded claim that rhinoceros horns are an effective treatment for cancer legalization would cause some people to believe that there is nothing wrong in consuming rhinoceros horns The domestic ivory trade in China is a clear example that legal sellers are merely a front for the sale of an enormous amount of ivory illegally acquired through poaching and that legal sales do not reduce demand but increase it the legalization of the rhino horn trade would have the same effect – the demand for rhinoceros horns would increase and might result in the eventual extinction of rhinoceroses customs officers and other government agencies would find it very difficult to differentiate between legal and illegal rhinoceros horns and traffickers would find it relatively easy to pass off horns acquired through poaching as legal In such a situation it would be difficult for the responsible institutions to identify and punish poachers and traffickers we need to limit demand in countries where people buy rhinoceros horns – today this means China and Vietnam in particular we must put pressure on the countries with the highest consumption of rhino horns to enforce existing laws and to take effective measures to halt the trade in rhinoceros horns Another important measure is to reduce corruption in the source countries and transit countries and in the countries where rhino horns are illegally sold “Many people cannot understand why destroying is the best thing to do with the rhino horns When we burned ivory in Kenya at the end of the 1980's its price dropped rapidly in about half a year as the demand for it was dramatically reduced people have already begun to realize that the cost for purchasing ivory items is animal lives," said Richard Leakey during the ceremony.   The Burn Horns Save Rhinos campaign was organised by the Dvur Kralove Zoo in collaboration with the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic for the second time more than 50 kilograms were destroyed here "If we do not fight the trade in rhino horn the time will come soon when rhino completely disappears from our planet By burning rhino horn we want to send the world a clear message that horns belong to rhinos and not to people" said the director of the Dvůr Králové Zoo Přemysl Rabas at the beginning of the ceremony The Dvůr Králové Zoo conducts long-term efforts to save rhinos in the wild and wants to bring attention to the plight of rhinos worldwide The zoo´s attempts were supported by presence of renowned conservationists on Tuesday a Czech model as well as a Member of the African Wildlife Foundation board of trustees "We meet today for one simple reason - to show that the Czech Republic can be an important player in the field of nature conservation the first legal auctions of horns are taking place we are destroying the rhino horn to symbolically point out that the trade in rhino horn is totally meaningless I thank the Dvůr Králové Zoo for what it does,“ said Veronica Varekova during her speech The killing of rhinoceroses is a direct consequence of high demand for and trade in horns Although it has been scientifically proven that the use of rhino horn has no curative effects attributed to it it is still highly valued in the East Asian markets the situation is complicated by the fact that the ban on domestic trade in rhino horns has been lifted in South Africa “We have already seen the damage a legal market can do with the elephant ivory trade over the past 25 years,” said Veronica Varekova on behalf of the African Wildlife Foundation “The legal trade has muddied the waters for law enforcement combating illegal ivory trafficking while removing the stigma once attached to owning This strategy has ultimately proven ineffective in stopping elephant poaching and there is no reason to expect a different outcome for Africa’s rhino.” "Share your photos and videos on social networks to pass on the report of today's event We will be sending this message together to the world,” pronounced her wish Paula Kahumbu one of the most influential conservationist in Kenya Monika Leova and others supported the rhino horn burning in the Dvůr Králové Zoo as well The little leopards have been using the outdoor enclosure regularly since October 24 They spend the day in the exhibit depending on the weather and their will They also have permanent access to the inner box The best chance is to catch them shortly after nine in the morning or around lunchtime She watches over the cubs and reacts to the slightest disturbance with a threatening growl," describes zoologist Gabriela Linhart the first check on both cubs took place only now although the birth took place on August 22 "The keepers found out that they were two males Then they quickly let the mother back into the box," she adds The cubs are starting to move away from the crate to which Banu transferred them shortly after birth after which they will be able to go to the paddock so they will be visible throughout the winter," adds Gabriela Linhart The mother of the cubs is a three-year-old female Banu who arrived to Dvůr Králové last June from Cologne The father is a seven-year-old male Arkhyz The Safari Park acquired him in 2017 from Sochi He is not related to other Persian leopards in Europe so his cubs are a great promise for breeding in the future It is precisely the large degree of kinship between individual animals that is a major problem for the conservation population in human care Although previously Persian leopards were relatively widespread in zoos they gradually disappeared and remained almost only in European ones Arkhyz is a significant recovery for this population The joy is also enhanced by the fact that in the last 12 months Persian leopards have not been born in any other world zoo included in the prestigious ZIMS database Persian leopards can be seen in 45 of them Sudan will be remembered for his unusually memorable life he escaped extinction of his kind in the wild when he was moved to Dvůr Králové Zoo his genetic material was collected yesterday and provides a hope for future attempts at reproduction of northern white rhinos through advanced cellular technologies Sudan came back to Africa and stole the heart of many with his dignity and strength “We on Ol Pejeta are all saddened by Sudan’s death He was a great ambassador for his species and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness globally of the plight facing not only rhinos but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity his demise will hopefully be seen as a seminal moment for conservationists world wide,” said Richard Vigne Sudan’s death leaves just two female northern white rhinos on the planet; his daughter Najin and her daughter Fatu The only hope for the preservation of this subspecies now lies in developing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) techniques using eggs from the two remaining females stored northern white rhino semen from males and surrogate southern white rhino females fueled by demand for rhino horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine in Asia and dagger handles in Yemen wiped out the northern white rhino populations in Uganda The last remaining wild population made up of 20-30 rhinos in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo succumbed to fighting in the region during the 1990s and early 2000s the northern white rhino was considered by most experts to be extinct in the wild the last four fertile northern white rhinos – two males and two females – were moved to Ol Pejeta from Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic with support from Fauna & Flora International and the Kenya Wildlife Service It was hoped that the climate and rich grasslands of the Conservancy similar to the native habitat of this subspecies would provide them with more favourable breeding conditions the four were placed under 24 hour armed surveillance despite the fact that they were seen mating plans to introduce a male southern white rhino to the two female northern whites got underway in the hopes that if breeding were successful the hybrid offspring would at least conserve some of the northern white genes Tests later revealed that neither of the females was capable of natural reproduction and that only one was fertile enough to conceive artificially The death of the other northern white male further emphasised the need to urgently come up with alternative solutions scientists are attempting to develop “artificial reproductive techniques” (or ARTs) Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Dvůr Králové Zoo are now partnering with IZW Berlin Avantea Cremona and the Kenya Wildlife Service to try and conduct the first-ever procedure to safely remove egg cells from remaining females fertilize these with semen previously collected from northern white males and insert the resulting embryos into female southern white rhinos acting as surrogates This has never been done before in rhinos and does not come without risks “Sudan was the last northern white rhino that was born in the wild His death is a cruel symbol of human disregard for nature and it saddened everyone who knew him We must take advantage of the unique situation in which cellular technologies are utilized for conservation of critically endangered species but thanks to the newly developed techniques even Sudan could still have an offspring,” said Jan Stejskal Director of International Projects at Dvůr Králové Zoo “We will be happy for everyone who will help us in our joint effort.” first discussed the possibility of a large-scale reintroduction of Black rhino into Africa “I have witnessed increasing pressure put on the rhino population in Africa over the past 8 years so when I was presented with the idea of European zoos donating Black rhinos to Akagera National Park In my view The Republic of Rwanda is one of the safest countries on the continent today a country I have visited often in the last 10 years I knew right away I would be dedicated to this project from the beginning to the end,” says Varekova Stejskal and Varekova needed to get the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) to agree to support this monumental project for it to become practical This would never have been possible without the leadership and efforts of Mark Pilgrim CEO of Chester Zoo in the UK and Coordinator of the EAZA Ex-situ Programme (EEP) for Black rhino “Large scale cooperation between EAZA zoos has meant a healthy sustainable population of Eastern black rhino which means we can now take this major step towards protecting the future of the species in the wild.” The primary threat against the rhinoceros is poaching by criminal syndicates to supply the traditional Asian medicine market The reintroduction therefore represents a strong response from all involved institutions to the devastation being inflicted on rhino populations across Africa  EAZA Chair Thomas Kauffels of Opel-Zoo in Germany explains: “There could be no better demonstration of the commitment of conservationists across two continents to the survival of rhinos than an action like this  We cannot stand idly by and allow this magnificent creature to be wiped off the face of the earth especially as the reason for the threat is so pointless  EAZA and its Members are grateful for the opportunity to work with RDB and Akagera Management Company to place these animals in a secure environment where they will help found a strong and vigorous population that will long outlast our society’s shortsightedness.”  A Memorandum of Understanding between EAZA and RDB is due to be signed shortly High levels of security provided by the park authorities and the Rwandan government make Akagera National Park an excellent location for the reintroduction of these endangered animals said: “We are confident that the new animals from the EAZA Zoos will make a strong contribution to the overall sustainability of the existing rhino population at Akagera NP – and we will defend that population for future generations come what may.” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39320/10198874 Five endangered Eastern Black Rhinoceroses born and bred in Europe were successfully translocated from Safari Park Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic to the Akagera National Park in Rwanda expanding the genetic diversity of a founder population introduced in 2017 So far this was the largest ever translocation of rhinos from Europe to Africa Their historic journey long 6,000 km began at Safari Park Dvůr Králové (Czech Republic), where all five animals had been gathered It was for the first time in 2017 when Jan Stejskal of Safari Park Dvůr Králové first discussed the possibility of a large-scale reintroduction of Black rhinos into Africa.  “We have been preparing for this moment for years and are excited to build on our efforts to revitalize the Park with the RDB and the successful introduction of the first round of rhinos in 2017,“ said Jes Gruner “This transport of five  rhinos from Europe is historic and symbolic and shows what is possible when dedicated partners collaborate to help protect and restore a truly endangered species.” Jasmina and Manny were born in Safari Park Dvůr Králové (Czech Republic); Olmoti comes from Flamingo Land (United Kingdom) and Mandela is from Ree Park Safari (Denmark) Watch news from Rwanda on: https://safaripark.cz/en/conservation/rhinos-to-rwanda/news-from-rwanda There used to be plentiful amount of maneless zebras in northern East Africa But they have almost completely disappeared from that area with scientists only aware of about 150 animals in Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park Currently there could be as many as 500 animals in Kidepo according to the latest estimates Thanks to the Czech experts an additional population has been confirmed in the Pian Upe Nature Reserve as of 2019 The population of maneless zebras in human care was only established thanks to their early import to Dvůr Králové that is why Safari Park Dvůr Králové has also been involved in their conservation in the wild since 2019 Safari Park Dvůr Králové representatives have been involved in expeditions to visit the sites of the last occurrences of the maneless zebra in Africa in 2019 to help with their identification and population estimates Safari Park DK works closely with Liberec Zoo on these expeditions and both zoos are planning further financial Both zoos have even signed a memorandum of cooperation on the joint rescue of maneless zebra In addition to all the efforts to protect the maneless zebra in its African homeland the two gardens are also intensively focusing on stabilising the population in human care there are approximately 40 animals living in zoos The first maneless zebras were brought to the world's zoos by Josef Vágner the former director of the Safari Park Dvůr Králové from his three legendary expeditions in the late 1960s and early 1970s some of which have established breeding facilities in other zoos Therefore the population in human care is based on the offspring of the Safari Park DK breeding over the years without an active coordination breeding in other gardens has declined and fragmented Only the joint activities of Czech and Slovak zoologists brought the well needed change The Safari Park and Zoo Liberec have been working on the systematic rescue of the maneless zebra together with other specialists for several years it has been possible to gather breeding animals scattered around Europe into promising herds and to establish new breeding groups Thanks to the patient efforts and diplomacy of Czech and Slovak zoologists 11 zebras have been moved to potential partners in recent years and breeding groups have been established at Pilsen Zoo „Etosha and her calf are now having a rest in the inside enclosure Although the birth passed off without any complication we assume that if everything goes well and the weather is favourable they will together set out for their first walk outside soon,“ described Jiri Hruby „The birth of another calf is a great news for us who was transported from our zoo to Africa last summer we are working on similar projects with aim to get more rhinos from our herd back to Africa,“ said Premysl Rabas The Dvur Kralove Zoo has been breeding rhinos since 1970s and belongs among the world’s top rhino breeders two rhino species are to be found here - black rhino and white rhino eight rhinos were transported from the zoo back to Africa specifically to the reserves in Kenya and Tanzania In September 2017 the Dvur Kralove Zoo organised the second „Burn Horns Save Rhinos“ event and burned its rhino horn stockpiles as a symbolic protest against the illegal trade in rhino horn The best chance to observe the hippos is in the late afternoon That's when these animals traditionally leave the comfort and safety of the water and head out to graze Therefore the twilight and nocturnal life of hippos Visitors can enter SAFARI PARK until the end of the summer season (end of September-beginning of October depending on the weather this year the season is scheduled to end on 6 October) until 6 pm This opens up an ideal opportunity for evening hippo watching The hippos will not stay in the lake until the very end of the summer season They will move to their wintering grounds in few weeks the most beautiful hippo exhibitions in Europe SAFARI PARK is the only Czech zoo that has been breeding hippos for the last few years hippo breeding is becoming increasingly rare due to its difficulty the situation of hippos in nature is not improving Eliska’s journey was launched on Sunday morning and lasted about 31 hours A final part of the transport from the Kilimanjaro airport to the Mkomazi a police convoy escorted the Eliska to ensure a trouble-free journey Eliska’s state of health has been under the vet’s control for all her journey and she perfectly handled it After the arrival she has explored her new enclosure and has begun to eat her favourite carrots and hay shortly Thu Minh took over the patronage of the transport of rhino female Eliska from ZOO Dvur Kralove to Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania ZOO Dvur Kralove is world-wide known for their breeding successes of rhinos and conservation activities Eliska is the fourth black rhino to be transported from the zoo back home to Africa to support a local rhino population Previously transported rhinos to Tanzania have successfully bred already the campaign Wild for Life aims to mobilize millions of people to participate in the process of making commitments and taking action to end the illegal trade in wildlife Helmeted Hornbill and Tiger and they are represented by UN Goodwill Ambassadors and celebrities WEDOS Global Protection - cyber security Move your mouse and check the box to proceed.