The twelve-meter-long Greentec BHT Technology germination laboratory looks a bit like a spaceship. Along one wall runs a wall of tubs full of wheat and barley in various stages of germination. Throughout the winter, there is a pleasant 19-22 degrees Celsius and the air humidity is about 70 percent. Conditions ideal for the development of grain sprouts. "We currently harvest around 120 kilos of green mass per day, which immediately goes to hippos, pygmy hippos, impalas, primates, red river hogs and other animals," explains Monika Ptáčková, head of animal nutrition at the safari park. Micro sprouts, which are literally loaded with all beneficial nutrients, replace and supplement the diet of animals, especially vegetables.

Around 1,600 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of grain (and about 950 liters for fruit or around 230 liters for vegetables), while only about 5 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of sprouts.

"The quality and nutritional values ​​of practically all types of available vegetables vary considerably not only during the year. In comparison, our sprouts are perfectly stable. We thus have perfect control over what our demanding animals eat," adds Monika Ptáčková. But sprouts also have other benefits in terms of the well-being of farmed animals: it supports proper digestion and the animals have fun. For example, hippos or pygmy hippos immediately liked the sprouts very much. Even carnivores will benefit from this completely "clean" food without added nutrients in solution or substrate, hormones or traces of fertilizers or pesticides. Among the species that receive green sprouts are broiler chickens raised in the safari park, which end up in the stomachs of our leopards or cheetahs.

Thanks to modern technologies, the operation is less financially demanding and brings extraordinary savings in the management of resources. So, for example, around 1,600 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of grain (and about 950 liters for fruit or around 230 liters for vegetables), while only about 5 liters of water are needed to produce 1 kg of sprouts. Another relief for the environment will be the fact that any fuel consumption necessary to transport animal food to the safari park is completely eliminated. The laboratory is located right in the grounds of the park.

We currently harvest around 120 kilos of green mass per day, which immediately goes to hippos, pygmy hippos, impalas, primates, red river hogs and other animals.

Germination is not a groundbreaking innovation, it is a practice known to many breeders. But the Safari Park is the first zoo in Central Europe to approach it on a similar scale. After a run-in, the safari park's foragers are now in full swing. They will produce green feed until about the end of April, when most of the animals head out of the warm stables back into the open paddocks. Cultivation will begin again in autumn.