Conference Venue
Safari Park Dvůr Králové nad Labem
At present, the safari park is the most important stronghold of African animals outside their original homeland. It has an unrivalled position in the world for the breeding of eastern black rhinos and northern white rhinos, African wild dogs, giraffes, lesser kudus, maneless zebras, pygmy hippos, various species of waterbucks, roan antelopes, cheetahs and many other species. It has gained an increasingly superior reputation in recent years, for breeding of secretary bird, three pelican species, radiated tortoise and many other endangered species.
The safari park concentrates on in-situ wildlife protection; over a hundred different animals have already left for Africa. Each visitor supports the rescue projects by purchasing a ticket to safari park.
Back to the very beginning
The park was opened for the public 75 years ago. At the beginning there were badgers, foxes and owls to be admired by all nature lovers in a few cages and aviaries of the brand new zoo in Dvůr Králové nad Labem. However, as soon as a house of exotic animals with monkeys or a lion named Rémus was built, the number of animals rocketed. The zoo quickly became a very popular destination and the second largest and most visited place of its kind in the former Czechoslovakia.
The main turning point came in 1965, when Josef Vágner became the director. He enforced the safari construction and it was his idea to focus on the African fauna. He managed to organize eight expeditions to Africa and to bring back thousands of animals. This was the stepping stone of the legendary breeds in Dvůr Králové, which to this day make the most important genetic bank of African animals outside their original homeland. The safari park continues to carry on the legacy of Josef Vágner, as it continues its unique breeding programs and keeps returning a number of species to their land of origin.
The rescue program of black rhinos, which have returned to Tanzania and Rwanda, is also worldwide known. Probably the best known are the safari park's efforts to save the northern white rhinos. Last two female rhinos of this species are known to be alive, and both of them were born in Dvůr Králové. No other zoo on the planet has ever managed to reproduce this species.
The famous past, the present and the future
Perhaps only Neumann's villa, which is still the center of the whole area, can recall the ancient history of the zoo. A lot has changed due to the rapid development of the view of animal husbandry and what a zoo should look like, many changes have taken place. So the quiet little zoo became the Safari Park Dvůr Králové, a place so culturally and zoologically extraordinary, that it is the only one of its kind in the country, registered as a cultural heritage.
If the safari park was a human being, it would be approaching its senior age and its strength would slowly begin to wane. Fortunately, this is not the case. Although it has a lot of life experience and has become an internationally recognized institution over the years, it is still thriving and growing even stronger.
Many exceptional events have taken place in the safari park, during those three-quarters of a century. Dvůr Králové became the Africa in the heart of Europe, full of huge herds of endangered and rare antelopes and many other species. Based on groups of animals imported from Africa by Josef Vágner, the world's largest groups of giraffes, zebras, lechwes and many others grew up in Dvůr Králové. The former zoo was the first in the world to import critically endangered hirolas from the black continent and to be the first to reproduce them.
The safari park retains its uniqueness even today. Nowhere else in the Czech Republic can people admire, among others, black-faced drills, forest buffaloes, Thomson's gazelles or Congo peafowls. Nowhere in the country will they see a larger pack of lions, which they can go to with their own car or special Africa truck.
Hundreds of thousands of Czechs and foreigners cannot even imagine the summer without a trip to the safari park. More than fifteen pavilions and larger or smaller indoor exhibitions, a unique bone exhibition or the world’s largest permanent collection of art work by the legendary painter Zdeněk Burian, attracts more and more visitors all year round. For example, The Ghost Week or Christmas Zoo offers a unique and unforgettable atmosphere.
