Seal pup, lynx kittens and a rare aardvark: Czech zoos show off their summer babies

Czech zoos are experiencing a genuine baby boom this summer: according to the country's zoos, this season has brought rare newborns including a seal pup, cheetah cubs, a giraffe calf, a rhino calf and even an aardvark, all of which visitors can already see.

The star attraction at the Ústí nad Labem Zoo is a seal pup born in June that has yet to be named. The little one is already visible in its enclosure, though the morning feeding sessions are currently taking place without the usual keeper commentary — staff are fully focused on getting the pup to switch from its mother's milk to fish.

Prague Zoo welcomed a male sea lion pup in June, who will make his debut in the outdoor visitor pool around mid-August. Another highlight is on the way too: on 18 June, five cheetah cubs were born. According to zoo staff, the critical early period isn't over yet, but the first-time mother is caring for her litter admirably. If all goes well, the cheetah quintet should also be on show to visitors in the second half of August. Meanwhile, May-born caracal kittens are already romping around their Prague enclosure.

Olomouc Zoo is proud of its Amur leopard cubs, who have been exploring their large enclosure since June, while the biggest sensation there is an aardvark pup — according to the zoo, only four such animals were born in Europe this year, and one of them now lives in the "Kalahari" pavilion.

Other Czech zoos aren't lagging behind either. Three female lynx kittens are playing at Hluboká nad Vltavou, fishing cat kittens are expected soon in Děčín, where the zoo has also added a new species, the grey-cheeked hornbill. Hodonín Zoo will open a new aquarium pavilion in August. Dvůr Králové welcomed its first reticulated giraffe calf in ten years, while serval kittens are peeking out of their enclosures. Liberec is home to Elsa the lioness, rescued from illegal private keeping. Ostrava's Rothschild giraffe herd grew larger in July. In Plzeň, a rhino calf remains the star attraction, while Zlín has welcomed a new male Amur tiger since spring, and its thirteen Humboldt penguins are enjoying a brand-new enclosure.

Beyond the babies, many zoos have also opened spacious new enclosures for existing species or added adult animals to their collections. At Brno Zoo, this summer's biggest sensation is five female polar bears at once. As zoo spokesperson Jan Bedřich told reporters, this is a rarity in European conditions: three of the bears share one part of the enclosure, while two sisters brought from Denmark occupy another. Brno has also welcomed five Pallas's cat kittens, corsac fox pups, Virginian eagle owl and snowy owl chicks, and five baby capybaras.

Jihlava Zoo opened a new enclosure for caracals and sand cats this summer, brought the Eurasian lynx back into its collection, and now has a sloth baby on view — the first youngster born there this year — as well as a Bolivian owl monkey (douroucouli) born in mid-June.

Foreign zoos popular with Czech tourists aren't falling behind either. This spring, the Slovak zoo in Bojnice drew huge attention after taking in three orphaned bear cubs, Lady, Vesna and Zora, whose playful videos regularly rack up thousands of likes. Bratislava Zoo welcomed a female pygmy hippo in late May named Bawu, symbolising a long-awaited gift after years of waiting, and also opened a new gelada enclosure with a view over the Slovak capital. Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo is celebrating new zebra foals and, for the first time, Viennese blue rabbits at its Tyrolean farm. And in Dresden, a koala joey made its public debut in July, though for now it can only be spotted briefly, usually early in the morning.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by denik.cz