FEATURE
n September Rosemary visited the Czech Republic to speak at a symposium and to sign copies of her latest book to be translated into the Czech language. While there she had the opportunity to visit one of the best zoos in the world -- indeed, TripAdvisor list it as number four after San Diego, Loro Parque and Singapore Zoo. Many people look after birds but very few do so with a passion that makes my heart dance with joy. When I met Antonin Vaidl I knew instantly I was in the presence of a man whose knowledge of and intense love for birds was extraordinary. As curator of birds at Prague Zoo he has built up, almost with a free hand, a bird collection which is of outstanding interest for the range of unusual species and for the high rate of breeding successes. After spending four hours with him,
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viewing the birds, I began to tell myself to stop saying “Amazing!” But there was no other word for it! The young birds that I was seeing indicated breeding achievements far in excess of other collections I know. And I am not talking about common species but rare and difficult ones. The methods he has used to provide a good diet,
persuade pairs to produce chicks, then to ensure their survival, impressed me deeply. Sustained successes with many difficult species would be impossible without the numerous off-exhibit breeding aviaries. These total one hundred and thirty -- more than double the aviaries on show. The first one Antonin took me to was
very special for him. He opened the door of the enclosed area to reveal two young Palm Cockatoos. They eagerly jumped on to his hand. There were several months between these two, both of whom displayed the white-tipped upper mandible typical of young birds. Antonin had reared them in his own home. It had been necessary to move the eggs to an incubator. The Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus) is one of the most charismatic of all parrots. Rearing from the egg is extremely difficult. Then comes the stage at about three weeks when many hand- reared Palm chicks succumb. No wonder
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