Travel to Australia without leaving Prague: the zoo's latest exhibit is devoted to Tasmania

The Saturday opening of a new exhibit devoted to Australian fauna marked the first major post-lockdown event for the zoo, quickly drawing large crowds excited to see the exhibit’s star attraction: four Tasmanian devils.

The inaguration of the Darwin’s Crater exhibition, featuring over 20 species of Australian fauna, reached its capacity of 8,500 people (the current limit on daily visitors due to hygiene safety measures put in place by the government) forcing the closure of the zoo by 1 pm.

The grand opening of the exhibit with Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) took place without the public present.

“I am glad that the project of Darwin’s crater was completed,” said Hřib. “Prague will now have to compensate for the loss of income of the zoo from the time when it was closed due to government regulations. Unfortunately, in Prague, as well as in other municipalities, the government has now taken the money we need to deal with these consequences of the coronavirus crisis.”

The newly built exhibition is located at the bottom of a slope that is crowned by an artistic rendition of a meteorite that was inspired by Darwin’s Crater in Tasmania, which was reportedly formed by the impact of a cosmic body some 700,000 years ago.

According to zoo director Mirsolav Bobek, there’s a similar story behind the Bohemian Basin as well as other similarities between the two landscapes:

“In addition, in the vicinity of Darwin Crater there is an equivalent of our moldavites, the so-called Darwin glass. And so, Darwin Crater became the centre of our Tasmanian-Australian exhibition and the home of its most prominent inhabitants – Tasmanian devils.”

In addition to four Tasmanian devils, three of the five Tasmanian species of kangaroos, oviparous egrets, two species of Australian snakes, and more than a dozen bird species have also found a home in the Darwin crater comprising an area of 4,600 square metres. It was built for 18 months and the project cost 78 million crowns.

The Prague Zoo is the second zoo in Europe to acquire Tasmanian devils directly from Tasmania. One of the devils, a female named Nutmeg posed for cameras during the grand opening.

The zoo management has put the financial loss during the closure at 37 million crowns, while it is expected to further rise to 50 million in May due to the lower attendance as no foreign tourists will come, Bobek previously told the press.

These are the most visited zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums in the Czech Republic last year:

Source: Tourism Institute, CzechTourism 2020