The Plzeň Zoo will begin designing a pavilion for elephants

Plzeň - A pavilion for Indian elephants will be built in the Plzeň zoo within four years for 300 to 350 million crowns. The exhibition "Elephants on the Mže" has been in preparation for ten years. It will be constructed on 14 hectares of meadows towards Radčice against the current area. Construction is expected to start within two years, said Jiří Trávníček, the director of the city zoo, to ČTK.

"We are counting on a subsidy from the State Environmental Fund," he stated. According to Trávníček, the zoo has already completed essential steps. The land has been purchased, the city has changed the zoning plan, and the documentation for the zoning decision is ready.

The city has allocated six million crowns in this year's budget for the building permit project. The city’s investment department has already announced a public tender, and will select a designer in a month. "The project will be completed within 1.5 years; it is an incredibly complex construction," Trávníček mentioned. Immediately after that, the zoo will apply for a building permit.

According to Deputy Mayor Petr Náhlík (KDU-ČSL), there will be separate exhibits on 12 hectares. The elephants will have 3.5 hectares. Additionally, there will be orangutans, tapirs, birds, and many animals from the Oriental region.

"It is not a problem to get elephants for free, as they are reproducing across Europe - from Prague to Berlin and Ostrava, there are baby elephants everywhere. But there are few elephant enclosures," Trávníček noted. Building the area is not simple. The terrain must be adjusted, utility networks brought in, drainage established, and fencing put up. In the Czech Republic, elephant enclosures are located in Prague with a herd of ten, as well as in Ústí nad Labem, Ostrava, Zlín, and Liberec.