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Kyiv Zoo
 
     
  History of the Zoo  
      The Kyiv Zoological Park is a unique wildlife heritage site, founded at the initiative of academics from the St. Volodymyr’s University, Polytechnic Institute and gymnasiums, doctors, civil society activists and simply nature enthusiasts of the Kyiv Society of Nature Enthusiasts.
    The official funding date and the launch of the Kyiv Zoo should be 21 March 1909 when it was granted territory for its premises in the Botanical Gardens of the St. Volodymyr’s University and a right to collect donations to keep its animals.
    In May 1909 following the request of the Society the Vice-Governor Mr. Chikhachev allowed for a collection box to be placed at the entrance to the menagerie «to collect donations for the Society to keep the menagerie animals». With these donations in late 1909 the collection already had 115 vertebrate species totaling 398 specimens. From the first days the Zoo existed on donations form citizens and patrons, whereas its collection grew predominantly on the account of wild animals pets abandoned by their owners. There were many prominent figures among the Zoo’s patrons, such as famous manufacturer and entrepreneur Mr. A. Tereshchenko, the owner of the wildlife sanctuary Askania-Nova Mr. F. Falz-Fein, architect Mr. V. Gorodetskyy, artist Mr. S.Svyatoslavskyy, Countess M. Brodskaya and Tsar Nicolay II.
    The territory of the zoological park grew almost twice its original size in 1910 thanks to the University, and from then on the Society had 1.5 hectares of land.
    Kyiv city authorities financially supported the Zoo from the very beginning subsidizing twice a year 1000 and 1500 rubles respectively.
    On 16 May 1912 the City Administration appropriated a more suitable plot of land (23.2 hectares) for the zoo in the vicinity of Shulyavka opposite the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. This land was no good for property development but more than simply suitable for a new zoo to be build. Difficult relief features were rationally and elegantly used to the best advantage, for example by transferring ravines into lakes for water birds and building enclosures, regular and open-air on higher grounds.
    The gates of the new zoo were flung open in 1913 but its further development was hindered by the 1st World War and then the Civil War. Though despite all the hardship of those troubled times, nature enthusiasts miraculously managed to save the animals and everything that was created in the Zoo before the war on the brink of the 20th century.
    1919 saw the zoo passing into the ownership of the newly created state and receiving a new status «The Kyiv Zoological Park». It was the initiator of the idea to create a Kyiv zoo, Mr. Venantiy Burdzinskyy who became its first official director. The 1920s were a real golden age of the Zoo, witnessing its collection refilled with rare and unique wildlife species and research work humming. In 1935 the zoo finally consolidates its territory in legal terms and fences it. They launch constriction of new enclosures for elephants and monkeys, expand old ones, develop existing water supply systems and allocate a large plot of haying land for the Zoo. The Zoo infrastructure now entails a veterinary clinic with several laboratories and wards, veterinary pharmacy, a pretreatment ward and a model smith shop.
    Those years before the 2WW were more than favorable for the Zoo. When Nazi left Kyiv after its occupation they left no stone unturned behind, with the Zoo completely wasted and almost all the animals taken away.
    In 1943 with Kyiv liberated from the Nazi occupation the Zoo was anyhow rebuilt by the remaining Zoo team and was re-launched as yearly as on 10 April 1944.
    A long-term Zoo reconstruction project was initiated in 1966 with a new entrance gates built along with ticket and tourist office, as well as a boiler-house for heating and hot water supply. A new modern 2400 sqm bird pavilion was opened in 1970, with the Aquarium, a 2700 sqm Monkey House and an Animal Island to follow in 1972, 1976 and May 1982 respectively.
    In 1983 following the orders of the USSR Council of Ministers the Zoo gained a new status of a State Zoological Park enlisted with the natural reserve fund. A lot was done to build up the Zoo collection of exotic and rare species continuing researches and practical studies of animals and different breeding techniques.
    The so called «transition period» 1992-1997 were disastrous in terms of personnel and the Zoo collection. It was a near end of the animal collection. It was the then Mayor of Kyiv Mr. Omelchenko who retrieved the situation.
    In a soldier-like manner the Mayor shortly reorganized existing resources to help the Zoo. It took only a month for 1500 people to button up and set to rights the Zoo territory. The City Administration allocated funds for the Zoo makeover: to reconstruct old facilities and build new enclosures. A new Kyiv Zoo Reconstruction and Development Plan was approved to create modern-age conditions for animals in captivity in line with respective international standards. The Plan provided for the exposition architecture to follow the landscape ecology principles with certain elements of zoogeography and systematic. It also envisaged for expanded recreation area of the Zoo.
    In 2003 our bears got their new long-awaited home — the Bear Continent. Two brown bear families switched from their old congested cages to new spacious enclosures with as close-to-natural environment as possible. Now they are the happy owners of a unique 2000 sqm enclosure with cliffs, live trees, pounding 4 meter high waterfalls and wide ponds (3m deep) to swim. This could not but improve their appetite in no time.
    For birds to stretch their wings and fly two aviaries were built. 2004 saw crowned cranes moving into their new spacious enclosure. The Animal Island got new ecological exhibit modules such as Rainforest, Mangroves, Africa, Amazonia, Indonesia, where animals of different species where exhibited together for the first time. These structuralized modules are to adequately exploit the existing zoological exposition. For example, The Mangroves were bioengineered to inform and show visitors biodiversity of mangrove wetlands with no geographical reference. The exposition is formed by animals of various systematic groups, such as land and water invertebrates (mangrove crabs and insects), freshwater and sea fish, reptiles (turtles). To create the landscape engineers used artificial elements like fake mangrove branches and roots, ground, water and land plants. There are systems in place specially engineered for these eco-modules to provide its animals and plants with necessary levels of humidity and light of their unique man-made environment.
    A new contact zoo «Ukrainian Farmyard» was created several years ago, where children can feed and play with different domestic animals, such as pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, geese and chicken.
    New housing was built for Humboldt penguins and scarlet ibises, whereas in 2007 bustards got their new open-air enclosure. The old Lion House built in 1924 was closed down on 24 May 2008 and all its dwellers were relocated to more comfortable premises. 2008 was a good year for raccoons, martens and skunks, as they got their new homes, whereas giraffes could try out their new summer residence while some zoo birds could enjoy their four netted enclosures.
    Another feature that you simply can not miss out is an interesting exposition Ant-hill just opposite the enclosure with grey cranes. The Breeding Centre for Carpathian lynxes was opened in 2009 with two enclosures and a specially equipped cabin with everything needed to breed these extraordinary cat family species of local fauna. The Kyiv Zoo has special recreational areas for its youngest visitors equipped with play grounds, for what is the real Zoo without it? The last decade (starting from 1998) saw both positive and negative changes in the Zoo, its structure, assets and managing team with their echo still heard and felt.
    The Kyiv Zoo turned 100 years old in 2009 with its centennial birthday marked by different festivals, media events, visits paid by numerous delegations of other zoos and wildlife organizations from many different countries.
A hallmark of an event for the Zoo was the Final Conference of the Euroasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums held at the Kyiv Zoo premises.
To mark the centennial anniversary the National Bank of Ukraine embossed 2 UAH coins with the Zoo symbolic plus postmarks with special present collection set were issued.
It was thanks to joint efforts of the Zoo team and Mr. V. Kovalinskyy a famous writer and historian, that the book «The Story of the Kyiv Zoo» made it to the bookshelves and got its audience.
    Finally, despite all the difficulties the Kyiv Zoo feels confident of its bright future and is looking forward to the new day that will see the Zoo getting closer to the international standards and prosper as a successful wildlife conservation and eco-educational establishment.

 Source: official site of Kyiv Zoo (2010)

 
   
WZD - Worldwide Zoo Database
2009 - 2019
Zdroje a autoři: WZD, oficiální stránky ZOO, oficiální tiskové a jiné materiály ZOO (není-li uvedeno jinak); Datum poslední aktualizace: 06. 09. 2019
Sources and authors: WZD, official websites of ZOO, official printed and other matters of ZOO (if it is not stated otherwise); Date of last actualization:06. 09. 2019
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