The largest new pavilion of the Jihlava Zoo will be opened in December

Jihlava - The largest new pavilion of the Jihlava Zoo will be open to visitors from December 12. The building, which with its atypical shape and copper plating from the outside resembles a giant reptile, was completed in July. Around a hundred species of animals, especially reptiles, will live in it. Their relocation to this tropical pavilion is planned for the coming weeks, said zoo spokesperson Martin Maláč to ČTK today.

The first inhabitants of the pavilion are beautiful turtles. After filling the pools, more animal species will gradually be added. "They will come from us and other zoos," the spokesperson stated. New inhabitants in Jihlava will include Siamese crocodiles, anacondas, and armadillos. Animals from the old tropical pavilion, which were temporarily housed in other zoos during construction, will return, including a thirty-year-old pair of spectacled caimans.

The pavilion cost 32 million crowns excluding VAT. It is the last construction of the large project Zoo of Five Continents, which the city began four years ago. The construction work on the tropical pavilion was completed on July 20, said city spokesperson Radek Tulis.

The total budget for the project is 124 million CZK, of which 80 million is expected to be covered by subsidies from ROP Southeast. However, the disbursement of part of the subsidy is currently uncertain. A correction of 4.8 million crowns was imposed on the city because the documentation did not exactly describe how to measure the dimensions of the mesh in the enclosure. The city has appealed against this and is awaiting a decision from the Ministry of Finance, said Deputy Mayor Vratislav Výborný (ČSSD) at the Tuesday meeting of the Jihlava City Council.

Another problem concerned the recently completed tropical pavilion, where builders changed the roof insulation technology. The city was at risk of losing 25 million crowns in subsidies because of this. Výborný said on Tuesday that according to the information he has, the subsidy will ultimately be reduced by only 4.6 million. According to him, the city will seek this amount from the construction supplier. An audit by the Ministry of Finance also questioned the two million crown expenses for the foundation of the building, which Jihlava will likely lose.