The Ostrava Zoological Garden and Botanical Park was founded in 1951. It is the second largest zoological garden in the Czech Republic and has developed massively in recent years. On some 100 hectares, it currently keeps more than 4,000 animals of 435 different species. Besides keeping and breeding rare and endangered animal species, the Ostrava Zoo also grows plants. There is no question that its siting in the natural locality of the Great Ostrava Forest predestined the Ostrava Zoo to a botanical direction too. The premises offer three botanical paths, The Path of Water, The Path of Shade, and The Path of Forest with a total length of almost 6 km, and a Rhododendron Park featuring one of Europe’s largest collections of rhododendrons and azaleas.
