The construction of the gorilla pavilion for 201 million CZK could start in the spring

Prague - The construction of a new gorilla pavilion at the Prague zoo could begin in the spring of next year. Jiří Kotek, head of the zoo's construction department, told ČTK today. The estimated costs for the construction are 201 million crowns, according to a published preliminary announcement regarding the upcoming tender for the construction contractor. The reason for moving the gorillas was the experiences with floods in 2002 and 2013.

"We would be pleased if construction started at the turn of the first and second quarters of next year," said Kotek. The construction of the new gorilla pavilion is expected to last two to two and a half years. However, the current gorilla pavilion, located at the lower part of the zoo area, will not remain empty. "There will be some other species of primates whose evacuation is not so problematic," added Kotek.

The new gorilla pavilion was supposed to begin construction two years ago, but the project was delayed due to objections from the Troja town hall and two local interest groups that disagreed with the planned construction. In recent months, the designers completed the documentation for the construction of the pavilion.

The existing pavilion from the 1990s was built in the lowest area of the zoo, and a flood protection tower was supposed to provide asylum for the animals. However, during the floods in 2002, it was completely submerged, and the gorillas had to be evacuated. Evacuating the largest living primates is problematic if there are infants in the group. The animals become nervous when a family member is anesthetized. The zoo director, Miroslav Bobek, previously stated that putting all of them to sleep is risky for both the animals and people.

In July, the zoo started construction of an exhibition on Australian fauna for 69 million crowns. In a set of smaller buildings and exhibits, expected to take a year to construct, there will be Tasmanian devils, the largest living marsupials of Tasmania, as well as the bear-like wombat, the Australian echidna, three species of kangaroos, tabon birds, and several species of water birds, with critically endangered giant stick insect included.

Prague Zoo is also planning to build new facilities for polar bears, with an underwater tunnel as the main attraction, allowing visitors to observe the bears swimming and diving. The Arctic exhibition is planned to be established in the climatically more favorable northwestern part of the zoo, for which a request for a zoning decision has already been submitted. The total costs are estimated to be around 150 million crowns. A project is prepared for the exhibition of giant pandas and Chinese langurs for 200 million crowns, which will be created on the site of the current polar bear exhibit.

Prague Zoo is among the most visited places in Prague. Since 2005, annual attendance has exceeded one million. Last year, it was visited by 1,445,126 people, which was the second-best result in its history. More people visited the Prague zoo only in 2016.