In November, “The Zambezi River” will meet the first inhabitants

Heated enclosures have been prepared in the new part of the Kazan Zoo.

The first African animals in the new part of the Kazan zoo "Zambezi River" will be delivered in November. Animals will live in spacious comfortable heated enclosures. Visitors will be able to see the inhabitants till the end of 2019-the zoo will operate in a test mode. In what conditions will live animals in the new Zoo and how they are prepared for the move was presented today to the representatives of the local media during the press tour.

The formation of the animals and birds’ collection for “The Zambezi River” continues. In the enclosures of the old part of the Kazan Zoo there are 22 species of animals and birds-a Nile crocodile, a lion, the leopard and spurred tortoises, a monkey Brazza, a lemur, the meerkats, the hamadryads and others. The new inhabitants of the Zoo now live with the old inhabitants. All animals were switched to autumn-winter conditions- with the increased amount of protein products in their diet. According to the veterinarian of the Zoo, Anastasia Balmakova, one of the most sensitive to winter animals are the primates. They are susceptible to the same virus diseases as humans, so they have viral respiratory breakouts. In order to avoid diseases, fresh onions, garlic, dried fruits, honey and rose-hip syrup are added to the diet of primates.

The animals moving to “The Zambezi River” will be time-phased, the veterinarians say. The first in the new enclosures will move monkeys, then predators and then large animals. “The animals will be immobilized, they will be anesthetized and later will be cleared with a special medical drug. So, they will wake up in new cages and will not be stressed", - A.Balmakova explained. By the way, not all animals will be anesthetized- a hippo called Zacharia will be transported awake. “A special transport cage has already been ordered for her”, - A.Balmakova said.

African animals will live in spacious heated enclosures with a certain temperature regime. According to the Director of the Kazan Zoo - Fanis Nurmukhametov, the entire heating system and climate control system have been successfully tested. “We are ready to move, this process was delayed due to the fact that the heating system was rechecked, as well as the sewerage system. On the recommendation of the international coordinators, the layout of the rhino enclosure was changed, and a multi-level playground was installed for gorillas and chimpanzees. At the moment, some of the issues are still in the process of improvement", - F.Nurmukhametov said.

In addition, the Zoo continues planting of vegetation - 300 trees, 4 thousand 800 bushes and 14 thousand perennial plants will be planted.

F.Nurmukhametov added that the collection of animals will continue further. In November, 8 more species of animals and birds will come to “The Zambezi River”- pink flamingos, cheetahs, zebras, chimpanzees, sitatunga and others.

The construction of the first stage of the renewal project of the Kazan Zoo has been underway since 2015. The second stage of the Zoo renovation includes the reconstruction of the old part of the Zoo. It is also planned to build a third part of the Zoo for the animals of South America. It is planned that all three parts will be connected by bridges and a tunnel.