Living Zoology
Living Zoology film studio was founded by Matej Dolinay and Zuzana Dolinay – zoologists, wildlife filmmakers, and photographers. They are authors of documentary films about the life of wild animals, scientific research or ecological projects. They present the photography of animals in their natural habitat. Their work is focused mostly on snakes and other reptiles and they travel around the world to find them.
Who are we?
We are Zuzana and Matej, zoologists, filmmakers and photographers.
Our life-long passion is travelling and studying amazing life of wild animals. The moments when we observe an animal in its natural habitat are one of the most beautiful in our lifes. We wanted to share these precious moments with others so in 2014 we started a project called Living Zoology. We wanted to make zoology more popular with usage of our wildlife photography and videos. Living Zoology slowly became a wildlife film studio with documentary films as our main activity. We focus mainly on venomous snakes which people often fear or even hate. We want to show that these animals are incredible and they deserve respect and protection. We visited all continents except Antarctica during our search for reptiles and other animals.
We met during our studies of Zoology at Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic) and we are a couple from 2013. We complement each other greatly and in 2017 we got married.
Zuzana Dolinay
Zoologist, photographer and teacher
From a very early childhood I was fascinated by nature. My adventures took place in the forests around Brno at the beginning, but thanks to my great parents I had a chance to visit places on the other continents already during primary school. The hobby started to be my main interest in life and I studied Zoology at the Masaryk University. I was always interested in work with children and I started with many years of teaching environmental programs for Lipka (educational institution for environmental training). Later I finished Upper Secondary School Teacher Training in Biology at Masaryk University. I combine my love for nature and children in my current job as a teacher in the forest kindergarten Medlánka in Brno.
MatEj Dolinay
Herpetologist and wildlife filmmaker specialized in snakes
Since I was a child I was reading the zoological encyclopedia and dreaming about expeditions to the African wilderness. I studied at the Masaryk University in Brno and I became a Doctor of Zoology in 2022. Wildlife filmmaking is my full-time job since 2020 thanks to our Living Zoology YouTube channel. I see a big potential in projects focused on less popular animals, such as snakes, lizards, or frogs. Snakes are my biggest passion and I specialize in producing documentaries and educational videos about them. Venomous snakes are often feared by many people, but they have an important role in many ecosystems and they are fabulous!
