the magazin for friends of the Brno Zoo No. 3 September 2017 MAJESTIC EAGLES s Content 04 Sea Eagles 12 Children’s suburban camp Kings of the Firmament Holidays at the Zoo the magazin for friends of the Brno Zoo September 2017 No. 3/17, volume XIX publisher four times per year MK ČR E 17723 Editor: 06 Eagles in South Moravia 14 Centre for Ecological Education Brno Zoo and Environmental Education Two Eagle Species in South Moravia Summer at Hlídka Centre, semi-budgetary organization U Zoologické zahrady 46, 635 00 Brno, Czech Republic IČ: 00101451 tel.: +420 546 432 311 fax: +420 546 210 000 e-mail: [email protected] Publisher: Moravian Museum Zelný trh 6, 659 37 Brno Czech Republic 08 Interview 15 Centre for Ecological Education IČO: 00094862 In Czechia, the area most suitable Water – the Foundation of Life for eagles Editor’s office addres Zoo Brno a stanice zájmových činností, p. o. redakce Zooreportu U Zoologické zahrady 46, 635 00 Brno, Czech Republic tel.: +420 546 432 370 fax: +420 546 210 000 e-mail: [email protected] Editorial board: Ing. et Mgr. Lenka Bochníčková, Mgr. Jana 09 Short messages 16 Little change, but significant Galová (children’s supplement), Bc. Jana Dinosaurs in Brno The Old Steel Barriers Disappear Hadová, MVDr. Martin Hovorka, Ph.D. (chairman from the Camel Exhibit of editorial board), doc. MVDr. Jiří Klimeš, CSc., RNDr. Bohumil Král, CSc. (specialist reader), Ing. Miroslava Piškulová, Bc. Eduard Stuchlík (editor manager), doc. Ing. Josef Suchomel, Ph.D., Mgr. Michal Vaňáč. Emendation: Rosalind Miranda Distribution: 10 Another new exposition 18 Traditional events for the public 400 pcs in the English version Lions Return to Brno! The Meeting of Adoptive Parents 1,600 pcs in the Czech version and Sponsors as an „African Day“ The author of non-attributed texts and photos is: Bc. Eduard Stuchlík First page: Steller’s sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) Photo by Eduard Stuchlík UNSALEABLE 2 www.facebook.com/ZooBrno Editorial s EDITORIAL Dear readers, The theme of this edition of Zoore- port is eagles, the majestic birds of prey with a wing span of about two metres. The aviaries for these birds should be not only wide but also very high. This is why few zoos can afford to hold many species or individual members of these birds. Our zoo is home to bald eagles and Steller’s sea eagles. Our bald eagles (a mother-daughter pair; the daughter was born in our zoo in April 2015) inhabit a specially desig- ned aviary that extends upwards to a height of 15 metres and covered by a circular ring with a diameter of 30 meters. The aviary of Steller’s sea eagles is inhabited by a couple who have given birth to seven fledglings. Their aviary is smaller, located in the former quarry above the polar bears’ enclosure. We want to extend it by crossing over to the adjacent area. Once extended, the flight path of Steller’s sea eagles will also offer visitors a view of the polar bears. The Brno Zoo has been involved in the Steller’s Sea Eagle Rescue Pro- gramme, which is part of the award- Steller’s sea eagle. winning EARAZA programme laun- ched in 2004 for genetic profiling of In addition to the reports on birds of done away with the old fencing in the approximately 200 Steller’s sea eagles. prey, this Zooreport carries updates on exposition of camels. This small step With the help of the Czech company recent events and our plans for the fu- has changed things for the better, and Genservis, our zoo has established a ge- ture. We are excited to tell you about brought the area into full view of the netic bank for this species. As a success- the opening of a new lion exposition zoo-train. We have also begun to re- ful breeder of Steller’s sea eagles, we also and how the big cats have adapted to construct the entire southwest slope of want to build a repatriation centre for the new environment. Another article the Mniší hora, which also had an old these birds in the Udyl Lake Reserve in talks about the children who spent fenced area. This neglected part of the the Russian Far East (near the mouth of a part of their summer holidays at the zoo will now turn into an attractive se- Amur to the Gulf of Sakhalin) – this is Zoo and at the Environmental Educa- tting for the Himalayan exposition. the area of of the original occurrence of tion Centre Hlídka. Again, we organi- You can read more about it on the last the species. Young offspring in human zed a Meeting of Adoptive Parents and page. care can be released from the station Sponsors. This is always held on the into the wild to strengthen the wildlife last Saturday of August to remind the Bc. Eduard Stuchlík, population there. Towards the end of last public about the opening of our zoo – Chief Editor of Zooreport year, the Brno Zoo launched a collection an event that goes as far back as 30th drive for the construction of this centre. August 1953. In other news, we have www.zoobrno.cz ZooReport 3 s Sea Eagles Kings of the Firmament They are among the largest birds of prey, and they have floated in the firmament for hundreds of thou- sands of years. These kings are con- nected to the history of Brno Zoo. We are talking about the so-called sea eagles, representatives of which are kept in our zoo. All eagles belong to the Accipitridae fa- mily, which currently has 248 confir- med species. These include vultures, kites, harriers, hawks and sparrow- hawks, buzzards, and several groups of eagles. We very roughly divide the ea- gles into so-called genuine eagles (be- longing to the genus Aquila, such as the golden eagle or the eastern imperial eagle), monkey-eating eagles (harpy eagles and their relatives), and fish ea- gles (genus Haliaeetus and Ichthyop- haga). Although it is the genuine eagles that are best known to the public, they A bald eagle in the aviary of the Brno Zoo. are not the largest. Four species compete for the title of In the genus Haliaeetus, we include here. Nevertheless, its population has the largest eagle in the world: the harpy seven species besides the Steller’s sea increased significantly in recent years, eagle (Harpia harpyja) from South eagle: the white-tailed eagle (H. albi- and today it is one of the most often ob- America; the crowned eagle (Stephano- cilla), the bald eagle (H. leucocephalus), served eagles in our country. aetus coronatus) and the martial eagle the African fish eagle H.( vocifer), the Fish eagles are unmistakable because, (Polemaetus bellicosus), both from white-bellied sea eagle (H. leucogaster), unlike genuine eagles, their tail is not Africa; and the Steller’s sea eagle (Hali- the Pallas’s fish eagle (H. leucoryphus), half-round, but wedge-shaped. Not sur- aeetus pelagicus) from the Far East. The the Madagascan fish eagle H.( vociferoi- prisingly, the main food for fish eagles is wingspan of these four species ranges des), and the Sanford’s fish eagle H.( fish. In the wild, these predators usually from about 180 to 220 cm. The most sanfordi). Except for the North Ameri- stay near large water reservoirs. Their robust are the harpy eagles and the can bald eagle, these are species of the claws must be, as with harpy eagles, ex- Steller’s sea eagles, the females of which old world. The white-tailed eagle, the tremely sharp: Grabbing a slippery fish can weigh up to 9 kg. In both cases, bald eagle, the Steller’s sea eagle, and the is as difficult as holding onto a convul- they are birds of prey armed with mas- Pallas´s fish eagle are found in a mode- sing ape. Fish eagles are used to fishing sive beaks and long, strong, curved rate belt. The first three of these have directly in the water, but they are also claws. Harpy eagles specialize in hun- very strong, large, bright yellow beaks. abundantly nourished by the carcasses ting monkeys and sloths, so they need The only species of this genus that na- of fish and other vertebrates near water. very strong claws. In the forest, they turally visits the territory of the Czech They usually swoop down on their prey, nest on the tallest trees, giving a person Republic is the white-tailed eagle. This but sometimes also hunt while walking only a very small chance of seeing them is our biggest bird of prey, and it has the in the shallows. It is common for them through the dense growth. status of a critically endangered species to steal prey from other animals, inclu- 4 www.facebook.com/ZooBrno Sea Eagles s more than a hundred eagles can be Zoo Schmiding are in Europe), and so seen in the wintering grounds. For are Pallas’s fish eagles (kept only by the example, on the Japanese island of Deutsche Greifenwarte at Guttenberg Hokkaido, taking photos of the winte- Castle near Stuttgart). ring Steller's sea eagles is a popular tou- Brno Zoo currently has two species rist attraction. In areas where the win- of sea eagles – the bald eagle and the tering grounds of Steller's sea eagles Steller’s sea eagle. Two bald eagle fe- overlap with those of the white-tailed males (one born in Frankfurt in 1988, eagle, both species can be seen at the and her daughter, born in Brno in same time.