Safari Park Dvůr Králové, formerly Zoo Dvůr Králové, is a zoo in Dvůr Králové nad Labem in the Hradec Králové Region. It was established in 1946 and focuses on African animals. According to its operator, it is the only zoo in the country protected as a cultural monument.[1]
Origins and first years
The small zoo opened to the public in 1946. In a few cages and aviaries one could see badgers, foxes and owls. The number of animals grew quickly, and a pavilion of exotic animals with monkeys and a lion named Rém soon appeared. According to the operator, the zoo soon became a popular destination and the second largest and second most visited zoo in the country.[1] A reminder of the area's distant history is the Neumann Villa, which stands at its centre.[1]
Josef Vágner and the safari
A turning point came in 1965, when Josef Vágner became director. He pushed through a focus on African fauna and the building of a safari. According to the operator, Vágner tried to enlarge the enclosures, replaced cages with moats and had new pavilions built.[2]
Between 1967 and 1975 he organised nine expeditions to Africa and Asia, from which he brought back almost two thousand animals. The operator states that his transports had a high share of surviving animals.[2] The animals from the expeditions laid the foundation of the breeding programmes thanks to which, according to the operator, Dvůr Králové is the most important genetic bank of African animals outside their homeland.[1]
The safari first opened to visitors in 1989. A quarter of a century later it was named the African Safari of Josef Vágner in his honour, and in 2016 it became a cultural monument.[2]
Breeding and return to the wild
According to the operator, the world's largest herds of giraffes, zebras and lechwes arose from animals imported from Africa. According to the operator, the zoo was the first in the world to bring hirolas from Africa and also the first to breed them. It also reports the first offspring of okapis, pygmy hippos and other species.[1]
According to the operator, Dvůr Králové became famous for its rescue breeding of rhinos. Black rhinos returned to Tanzania and Rwanda. According to the zoo, only two female northern white rhinos remain in the world, and both were born in Dvůr.[1]
More than a hundred animals of several species were transported from the breeding programme to Africa to support endangered populations. In 2009 seven rhinos returned, and an eighth in 2016. In the Burn Horns Save Rhinos campaign, the zoo held demonstrative burnings of rhino horn in 2014 and 2017 to draw attention to the threat rhinos face from poaching.[2]
Current offer
According to the operator, Dvůr Králové has the largest pride of lions in the country, which visitors can see in their own car or by Africa Truck. The zoo also states that it keeps the largest group of giraffes outside Africa and offers a lion safari which, it says, is the only one in Central Europe.[1][2]