Javorina Deer Park of Hohenlohe

1879, Count Christian Kraft Hohenlohe - Öhringen bought Javorina estate, where he moved and where he established the administrative center of all its large European estates and districts. He soon built there a hunting lodge (1885), church (1902) and other buildings... Among other things also a huge deer (or game) park (around 1885), where he kept not only local, but also many exotic animals. The Deer Park was fenced in 1987 (1200 ha) and of course, it served mainly for hunt (Hohenlohe hunted there for example more than 1,000 chamois). The hunting began after ten years of the deer park existence, but some animals were exclusively for breeding and was hunted only very rarely (eg. only 5 wisents and bisons). From the available sources, it is clear that in the deer park there were: roe deer, red deer, Asiatic red deer (marals), wapiti, hybrids of several deer species, chamois, wild goats, hybrids od wild and domestic goats, more species of ibexes, wisents, bisons, zubrobisons (hybrids of wisents and bisons), bears, lynxes, grouses... however it is likely that the list is not complete - Hohenlohe still got to bring animals nearly from all over the world (most species apparently from the Alps and the Caucasus).

Although some animals were only for breeding, in the case of some species is not very successful. E.g. only 18 specimens of wisents and bisons were born here during 46 years of breeding (first around 1899 and the last probably 1924). Available data are slightly different, but at least we can mention for orientation the known imports of these animals: 1885 - 44 wisents and bisons (of which only about 2 wisents - from Hagenbeck or von Pless); 1888 - 2 wisen females and 1 young (from von Pless), 1898 - 2 bisons (from Hagenbeck), 1899 - 1 wisent cow (from the Dresden Zoo), and later 17 adult and 4 young bisons more. A very similar situation was with ibexes - Hohenlohe brought the first 10 ibexes in 1898 from Altai, but neither one survived the first winter. Other known ibex imports are from 1901, 1902 and 1912 - these were imports from the Alps, the Caucasus, Siberia and even from Abyssinia. To better acclimatization of ibexes, also wild goats and its hybrids with domestic goats were brought together. Greater success has been in breeding of deer, of which Hohenlohe had several species, including hybrids. From the known data in 1898 - 1915, there were imported 11 wapiti (from America) and 46 hybrids (from Germany). Another deer came from the Caucasus, from Transylvania, and certainly also from other places.

It is interesting that Hohenlohe also built in Javorina a bakery that baked a special "bread" for animals - from many imported ingredients. The deer park reached the largest number of animals in 1912, when there were for example 600 chamois, 1,200 deer, 150 ibexes, 21 wisents and bisons (in total, so apparently including also hybrids), 30 bears etc.

In 1926, Count Hohenlohe died, and because he was childless, the deer park was inherited by his nephew August Hohenlohe - Öhringen. He lived permanently in Hungary and not interested in the deer park, so that he gradually liquidated it. Ten years later (1936) he sold the entire Javorina to the countr (it became the base of Tatra NP). The Game Park probably ceased to exist a few years earlier - last zubrobisons (hybrisds wisent / bison) fled, wandered for some time and then joined the herd of cows - the male was poached (1932) and the female was transported to the Prague Zoo (1932 or 1933).