A Day at the Zoo> Travels

Before I leave Prague I would like to see some of the sites a bit outside of the center. After a lazy morning I traveled by metro and bus to Troja Palace, a summer palace built at the end of the 17th century for a wealthy family. It had a great sculptured staircase. It happens that the palace is across the street from the Prague Zoo so I figured I’d check that out.
Well, lucky me, for it was a special day at the zoo, dare I say historic. I will explain why momentarily, but first of all, I really enjoyed this zoo. The enclosures are generally OK and they have a lot of rare animals that I can’t remember seeing before at other zoos. Either that or I didn’t recognize the Czech names.
Anyway, I happened to be witness to a zoological experiment. The Prague Zoo was opening it’s one of a kind, previously never attempted, Polar Bear, Alligator, Lion, Tiger, Gorilla, Great White Shark, Dung Beatle enclosure. I know, wow! The purpose of this exhibit was to show that if animals could get along so could we, with our different creeds, colors and nationalities. (Rumor was they were going to add an Arab and a Jew in there too.) With great fanfare they let all of the animals into the enclosure at once. The following ten minutes were the most thrilling/mentally scaring moments of my life. Who won in inevitable melee? Well, technically the dung beetle, but I think us, the audience were the big winners.

Update!: I just checked the interweb and “Zoo Manager Monthly,” the World’s most read magazine on zoo management has given the Prague Zoo their yearly, “worst idea” award.