Kharkiv Zoo

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Photos taken by Vadim Naboikin

Kharkiv Zoo is one of the biggest and most famous in Ukraine. It was founded in the late 19th Century by famous scientists of those times.  Recently we celebrated its 110th Anniversary.

If you are planning a trip to Kharkiv, don’t miss our zoo.  It’s located in the very centre of the city in Shevchenko Park.  This zoo occupies a large area of 22 hectares. You can spend the whole day here, and I promise you’ll forget about time and just enjoy communicating with nature.  The zoo is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day, so you can enjoy it as long as you want.

The number of birds and animals in Kharkiv Zoo is approximately 7,100.  By the end of 2006 there were 7,133 animals, but they increase every year.  There are 380 different species on the whole.  Of these, 103 species are very rare.  Many of them are red-listed, which means that they are close to extinction, and the records of them are kept in the Red Book.
Kharkiv Zoo is a place where animals feel at home.  Unfortunately our zoo is not well-financed by the government, and the profit from the visitors is not enough to repair cages and build new enclosures for animals.  Administration of the zoo has many building projects; they want to expand the territory of the zoo and enrich the zoo with new, rare species.  Also it’s planned to open new sections of the zoo - a Section of Africa and a Section of South America - where many specious of African and South American animals will reside.  This is very difficult task because climate conditions in Ukraine differ a lot from Africa and South America.  It will take a lot of money to provide animals that used to live in hot climates with appropriate conditions.

It’s impossible to express the emotions of people who visited our zoo.  The world today is changing, and in the place of forests and vast valleys now appear cities with huge buildings, dusty air, and lots of traffic.  People are losing their identity with nature, and animals are in danger.

Whenever you come to the zoo, you see that the animal world is open to communication: bears are smiling, monkeys are teasing, deer are showing their horns and respect to the visitors, and parrots are trying to have a discussion with you.  Only the hippopotamus doesn’t care about the visitors; he is having a cold bath, because the weather today is quite hot.  Watching all this little world you begin to realize that most animals display so many humanlike traits and emotions that it's easy to forget they're not gifted with spoken language and then you feel snubbed when you talk to them and they don't say anything back.

Keep in mind that if you are in Kharkiv there is one more place on your list to visit.  Animals are always in good moods, and they are waiting for you. Article written by Katya Shtamburg.