Respect in the face of elephant giants and a mouthpiece from Mammoth. Behind the scenes of the zoo<

Half past seven? I wasn't standing in front of the cash registers so soon. The idea that it would be desolate and empty proved to be wrong when parking. And when we go through the turnstiles, we are the only ones who go through the walking pace. The washers are sprayed, every now and then one of the staff rides a bicycle and the blonde hippopotamus is occupied by an outdoor pool of hippos. A little further away, a sleepy dog ​​peeks out of its burrow, an elephant tortoise basks in the morning sun, flamingos bathe and debate loudly.

"They have working hours since seven in the morning, but they also stay here from six," press spokeswoman Alena Šteffelová easily dispels my romantic idea of ​​the breeder's work. We'll stop in front of the elephants. "Now we will clean the paddocks, then shower, bathe and you can also look at the pedicure, if you want," informs the head breeder Jiří Javůrek. "Come in."

Other breeders move at the same brisk pace, each with a pocket tied to the waist. Not going beyond the yellow line, I'll read at that speed overhead. Why, it's going to happen to me fairly quickly when we go down the hall around the elephant stables and a trunk passes through the bars. It's safe behind the yellow line.

"Then wait here," Jiří Javůrek parks at the wall. Behind the yellow line. And he runs to the weighing, which takes place once a month. Elephants Gulab and Shanti stand on a metal pedestal. 3,464 to 3,290 kilos. Just swimsuit. Ladies get a healthy balanced diet and you know that. "We pay more attention to pregnant females and also to older elephants, who benefit greatly from a sober balanced diet," explains Jiří Javůrek.

The base is always the same, hay, straw and branches, and when you need to reduce the pounds a little, hay will replace more straw. Vegetables, pastries and sweet fruits are served only as a treat.

And the cleaning of the inner enclosures begins. Here my romantic ideas get another blow. Breeders collect elephant droppings, load them on a wheel and export them. And then the paddock is carefully showered with a hose. We stand in seclusion while the pavilion is misted with water and also the smell of manure that stands in wheels next to us.

Today, the temperature is also being measured. Elder Gulab, in turn, can be measured calmly with a laser thermometer. Shanti is a little more playful. “Czech! Shanti! ”The breeder tames her. And then the girls want to say something, they blow their trumpets, and whether it's a sign of joy or dissatisfaction, the sound almost pushes me against the wall.

The strange feeling that any of those giant bodies can crush me like ants doesn't leave me all the time. Breeders are equipped only with verbal commands and also a hook on a long handle, which, on the other hand, is desperately small for a giant body. When the enclosure bars remain open for a moment, I face the giant head with a trunk. They are barely a few meters apart. If that giant body slammed against me, I'd probably be standing still in fascination. But Gulab doesn't intend this and just scratches the door frame prudently.

The magnificent dimensions of elephant bodies stand out especially when showering. Hose breeders go around elephants like big rocks. Gulab patiently endures this again. Obediently, he raises his leg, sits down and finally lies down so that the breeder reaches his back. And even though it is all so big and unreal, there is tenderness in it when a small human hand washes it carefully even behind the ear canals.

See how Prague elephants swim (more in the article here):

Shanti responds to the shower a little more accommodatingly and willingly adjusts her back and ears. "They aren't thrilled about it, they just like it dirty," laughs Jiří Javůrek, while Gulab skin shines like a dark gray gemstone under a stream of water. Still behind those ears. And it is done. "Then let's go bathing, come with me." The lattice opens slowly.

"Shall we go to see you?" "Yes." For the first time in my life, I feel small and insignificant. We walk freely to the pool. Gulab and Shanti dive into the water with the breeders. Breeders in fishing pants give orders and the girls use their bodies to change the calm surface into waves. Gulab takes it stoically again, while Shanti likes to slap herself in the water until her giant head disappears below the surface and then reappears like a ghost from the depths. The water is splashing and roaring, and the pavilion is bleeding with joy until it's time to pedicure.

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ESTER, ANA, LELA and how their mother sees them

"Here we have it," Jiří Javůrek, a toolmaker on a two-wheeler. Chairs, hoof knife, grinder, goggles ... Let's go. Gulab patiently raises his hind leg and places him on a stool. A nail the size of a very large human hand is treated, the cuticle around it is sharpened and trimmed, and it is also checked for mold. And possibly sand the hoof from below.

Gulab waits patiently again. She wouldn't have to do a pedicure today, but she'll beat herself for journalists. I'm a little shy. "Gulab is a seasoned matador. She experienced the third pavilion, I don't know how many directors, hundreds of breeders, two political regimes ... "Jiří Javůrek assures me that one pedicure will not decide this lady.

For example, Janita has to keep two when adjusting her nails. And Tamara, it's a complete disaster. But she managed to surprise everyone here by what a calm and patient mother she is from this savage. (More about her baby elephant born in the fall here.)

"How does one become an elephant breeder?" I ask, even though I already know that this is a job for other characters. "Ideally, you study exotic animal husbandry, but it's not a condition." "And is the job dangerous?" "The risk is considerable." Concise answer. If something happens exceptionally, in most cases the inattention or mistake of the breeder is to blame. But then it's about life.

"Has something happened to you yet?" I saw only elephant legs around me. "" How did you survive? "" I was very lucky to be beaten with one huge hematoma on one leg, where the elephant stomped on me. But a targeted attack is much worse. ”That's why males are now contactless, I find out.

"If this was not the case, the male started after a colleague who was saved by one of the elephants when she stepped between him and the male. A colleague eventually left the elephants. Such an experience is simply not forgotten. "

Antelopes have to get into the enclosure, they can only see their buttocks from giraffes

When the elephants finish their morning clearing and head for the outdoor enclosures, we move on to the giraffes. The sun is now resting nicely on the wooden footbridge above their paddock. The first visitors are already coming after the warmed-up bridge. It's Monday when discounted admission attracts mainly schools and kindergartens. The footbridge will be filled with children in reflective vests and backpacks. "So where are they?" They search for the residents of the paddock in disappointment.

Abok, an antelope species, appears at the bottom of the path under the bridge that leads to the paddock. I'd expect them to run happily toward their generous paddock, but somehow they don't want to. They barely take a few steps and stop. The breeder who walks after them tries to push them with a stick, but it obviously doesn't work, so they just push them. Push, the water lily walks a few meters and stops again. Push ...

But in the end, the breeder manages to reach them behind the bridge, where they stand at the beginning of the paddock and lazily look around the landscape. Only when the breeder disappears, they look back to see if they are secretly watching them and take a few steps forward.

"Yeah, giraffes!" The children shout. I turn back to the beginning of the path, which now has long spotted necks. Even these beauties are definitely in no hurry and the breeder has to push them to move.

We slip through a gate I've never noticed before and walk to the service entrance. After a while, the breeder Kateřina Pechrová will come out. The one I saw down the road. "That's perfectly normal," he explains the hesitant path of the giraffes to the enclosure. "They just don't want to miss the bit under the footbridge."

Like other breeders, it has been here since seven in the morning. Meanwhile, she checked to see if anything unusual had happened at night, then the giraffes ate granules and flake mash and then pushed themselves to the outdoor enclosure. Everyone came there today, which, as I will find out later, is a successful start to the day. "Something unexpected happens here sometimes at night?" Maybe the door broke today. "

As we walk down the gallery into the inner pavilion, Johan looks me straight in the eye. Breeding male. The body and legs are anchored deep down there. As with elephants, the close-up view is stunning. If anyone thinks fear has big eyes, let them look at those giraffes. But Johan looks satisfied. The ladies are gone and he has his peace.

There will be a lot of cleaning here too. Everything has to be cleaned, scraped, scraped, brought new bedding, new branches, washed glass ... "I always say I only see buttocks. When I drive them to the paddock in the morning and out of the paddock here in the evening. "" Do you weigh them too? "" Yes. The weight is here. But getting them here is always a struggle. "

It's always a fight with giraffes, I learn more. Giraffes are canned. Whatever is new, they hate change, they get used to everything for a long time. "But on the contrary, they know me very well again and they know where my ceiling is," Kateřina explains.

When they get stuck, which happens several times a day, they know exactly what will follow. That when Kateřina tries everything that goes and doesn't go, her nerves break, she swings for a while and then ... she leaves. Because no one moves with a jammed giraffe. Which, when I look at Johan, I quite understand. It also has a pretty bad debate with someone who is five meters tall and weighs 1,350 kg. "But when someone else comes, they get scared because they hate change, and maybe it's even worse."

The worst is when the giraffes split up and half decide to work together and half don't. The giraffes act as a group, and when they all come home from the paddock and one gets stuck and is left alone, they start to panic. And that's dangerous.

Cleopatra, the oldest female, belongs to the non-cooperating part, she should already be sensible at the age of twenty-four. Andula and Diana, who simply have her own world, are holding the party with her. The only savior is Eliška. She is annoyed when she wants something, but she lets herself be persuaded. Gradually, my other romantic ideas fall. The giraffe breeder must be constantly alert and watch the clouds in the sky. Once the first drop falls, the giraffes will no longer move and would rather stand in the rain than take a step. And if he wanted to go persuade them in the rain, then by no means in a raincoat. Because it's something new again and they really can't stand it.

In addition, there is, of course, danger here. When a giraffe decides to jump or kick, he can lose his life. But it's enough for Johan to just nod more sharply. "I've got my head like this twice, and I'm very careful."

Today it looks promising. The girls came to the paddock and it doesn't look like rain. Kateřina takes over the utensils and goes to clean up. The main job of the breeder. "A lot of people will be surprised at how physically strenuous the work is." For dreamers like me, the zoo offers the Breeder's Day event, where visitors can try everything. Most of it is enough around ten in the morning.

Mammoth to make love, despite the smell of fish

In the background of the sea lion pavilion, we are greeted by the mighty smell of fish. Breakfast is coming. The Cuba breeder sits over buckets and scissors cuts mackerel, herring and capelin. Click Click Click. Exactly measured dose for each penguin and sea lion. "Would you like some coffee?" He offers breakfast to me. I drink hot coffee from a penguin mug and listen to what sea lions are.

They are outrageous. And fish like to be cut into pieces. Everyone has different tastes. Julinka would practice spartakiad for squid, Melon eats everything, but she doesn't like squid at the moment. I'm ticking off another romantic idea. Yes, sea lions are very handy, smart and can do great tricks, but honestly, they would like them if the breeder poured cut fish into a bucket in the morning and gave them peace. But because they would be fat and bored too, they would learn anything for a piece of fish.

Like other animals, everyone here has their own nature. "Watermelon used to be a nice dude," Jakub recalls among the fish cuts, "but now he has a fourth cub and he's a dad from his family. Bara is a little more timid, she must approach her slowly and carefully, and Abeba's daughter inherited it from her. Julinka is good as a dog and she likes to show off, even though she is actually a sea lion retiree. Two-year-old Mammoth and Ronja are just children who still try what they can afford and sometimes bite. "

"How many fish do you cut a day?" "Twenty pounds ... Yes, I can still smell fish. Even after a week on vacation, I still feel it. It can't be washed. But you get used to it. "

Sea lions not only learn the hilarious tricks they perform in the outdoor enclosure, but they also have to prepare for a veterinary inspection. Although it sometimes doesn't look like it, they are beasts. And to open your mouth on command he wants a little practice. When a two-year-old Mammoth rolls against me, it resembles something between a dog, a teddy bear and a dolphin. You can easily forget that this is a beast. He runs out, jumps on the pedestal, waves his flipper, greets.

"And now you get a mouthpiece. Mammoth, mouth! ”I close my eyes. And then I feel the touch of a gentle wet snout on my face, it's really like a dog, just cold and wet. And it smells like fish. "You can stroke him." I stroke Mammoth's chest, which is cool and gentle, and he blissfully closes his eyes. And then I fall in love with the creature. And I haven't seen a cub born a few days ago.

"Five days off and two days off," Cuba describes the normal working regime of breeders. He arrives at seven o'clock, checks the penguins and sea lions, prepares the fish for the whole day. The following is an exercise at the performance. Today still interrupted by a veterinary inspection. Here I will see the practical benefits of exercise. The watermelon first moves with the breeder to get the blood flowing, and then obediently places its hind fin in a bowl of warm water. This is so that the blood vessels expand nicely.

Veterinarian Roman Vodička will take blood (how Melon holds when taking it, read here). And he'll check his eyes and teeth. Then Jakub brings a cub that was born on May 26. It looks like a plush toy, two huge eyes set in a bushy fur coat. Jakub carefully puts it in a large bag, hangs it at a weight of 8.55 kilos. "It rounds up nicely!" The vet praises the result, and the cub, who does not yet have a name, moves to the sea lion's children's corner, where he plays with a stuffed horse for a while, but is eventually captivated by a green hose.

Under fire for penguins three times a day

It's around half past nine, which is time to clean the penguin pavilion. Pretty handmade, yard. Every day is different to clean everything during the week. Nests, glasses, indoor pool ... Today is the rock.

"Would you like to try it?" "Then why not," I say with a smile to the new romantic notion of the cute feathers running around me. "Are you still going to work?" Why? ”“ Well ... you might stink a little. ”“ Ah. ”

We are here. For penguins. Twenty-nine Humboldt penguins and two Patagonian ducks - Pepa and Alena. Penguins vary according to the patterns of the dots on their bellies and are given names according to appearance or nature. Angry man, he will take the job to climb out of the nest during cleaning and be able to peck, on the contrary, the Lover will sometimes be petted. (More about individual Prague penguins here.)

"Are we going?" Jakub sits down in his boots and with a rake on a rock with holes in which penguins nest, and sets to work. Shh, I can do it too. Come on! A dose of liquid droppings flies out of one nest, narrowly passing Jakub. "What was that?" Sometimes I think they do it on purpose and wait until we're within range. Do you know how many times I got in my face? ”

And here somewhere my romantic ideas definitely fade. I'll put down the rake and the bucket and return to my job as a journalist.

"How often does it have to be cleaned?" Summer, winter, Christmas, New Year's Eve. ”“ Three times a day under fire. ”“ Sure! ”Instead of actively participating, I actively watch one of its inhabitants climb out of one nest. At the exit, he collides with a photographer. The penguin waits impatiently for the photographer to realize that he is the one to dodge, and then disappears into the outdoor enclosure.

And his breeders will pray all day to meet as few visitors as he can, throwing coins, a bun or an apple into the water. Or the baby hat they caught yesterday.

It's around eleven. The children in reflective vests are waving at the penguins, at the ice cream stand another group of children is debating with the teacher, who will have a mix and who will have vanilla. I walk to the exit around the pool with clear water, in which Julinka, Ronja, Bára, Mamut and Melon run. I'm still waving at Mamuta. I'll keep his kiss until the next day. I feel a little dovetail, but that's just love.