Museums, TOP 10

The Ostrava Zoo is a bit different. It’s not just about animals but about a huge green area near the city centre. You can spend hours here, walking and admiring over 400 species of animals, but you can also plan a peaceful wandering through the parts focused on exotic flora. Ostrava Zoo is the second largest in the Czech Republic and many claim that it is one of the most pleasant. Wonderful large enclosures as well as the constant flow of new additions show that even animals must feel very good here.

Zoo Ostrava is located on the 92 hectares area of the so-called Great Ostrava Forest. This provides the animals with spacious and beautiful enclosures and it also helps developing botanical parks with many adventure trails for visitors. In comparison, the Prague Zoo has only 58 hectares to work with.

What animals to look forward to?

Elephants are one of the most popular pavilions. The modern complex was built in 2004 to replace the older, no longer suitable pavilion, and it is now inhabited by a parade of Indian elephants. In the Tanganyika pavilion you can find the popular hippopotamus from the Zoo emblem, or his toothy colleagues – crocodiles. The Zoo trip would be incomplete without a visit to giraffes and zebras which can be found in the African Animals Pavilion. Bears and agile colobines inhabit the Chitwan exposition which covers almost a hectare of a forested land.

Lions also have a beautiful and extensive enclosure. Children love the pavilion of cheerful and active primates or the pink herd of flamingos, which welcomes visitors right next to the entrance of the Zoo. And that’s not all.

Interested in plants?

The Ostrava Zoo offers four botanical trails. The Path of shadows leads over ponds with reptiles and amphibians and is ideal for very hot days. The Path of water goes around streams with aquatic plants and children can feed colourful crucian carps in one of the ponds. If you are a tree lover, the Path of forest might be just for you, leading under the treetops of larches, alders and willows. Here you can find a gazebo to rest and to enjoy a beautiful view of the lemur, giraffe or antelope exhibits. The Wetlands trail was the last to be created, on the site where a pond was originally supposed to be built. In the end, the construction of the pond did not take place, instead a nature trail about life in this original habitat was created. The entire exhibition includes life-size models of amphibians and reptiles.

Prolong your trip

It is possible to spend an entire day in the Zoo but if you only have limited time in Ostrava, you can use the double-decker buses that connect the Zoo with Dolní Vítkovice area during the summer. These unique buses can make the travel itself a lot of fun not only for children.

Who to visit with?

Ostrava Zoo is suitable for visitors of all ages. Little adventures will appreciate the mini zoo, larger ones can enjoy all the pavilions and expositions. The botanical trails are nice calm areas for older visitors who want to relax in the greenery.

Concluding curiosities

• The heraldic animal of the Ostrava Zoo is a hippopotamus, which has been bred here since 1967 and even the European Studbook of the hippopotamus is kept here.
• The predecessor of today’s Zoo was a small park with animals in the city part Kunčičky, founded by a former miner Bohumil Vítek.
• There is a train for both children and adults running through the Zoo and there are plenty of relaxation zones and playgrounds.

There is a 20 % discount for holders of the OSTRAVACARD!!! (available at the cashdesk only)