Again, I apologise, I’ve been so busy that it’s been impossible to update until now. But, as compensation for my lateness, lots of exciting things have happened.
Firstly, last Thursday, we found out that the porcupines have had babies. I was so sure that one of the females looked pregnant when we moved them to their new enclosure. Anyway, there are two new babies in the group. I tried to take photos, but they were staying so close to Mum that you just can’t see them in the pictures. The porcupines are most active in the evenings and we usually pop out for a walk around the zoo in the evenings after the visitors have left (it’s the best time to see most of the animals, and one of the perks of living in a zoo). Baby porcupines are much less helpless than some other baby animals, they need mum to look after them, but will happily have a wander around her. As for the rest of the porcupines – they are enjoying their new enclosure; they have dug their way through all the mounds of soil. Some of the staff are a bit disappointed that the enclosure doesn’t look as good as it did, but everyone is happy that the porcupines are able to behave naturally.
Friday was another day for working in the lynx enclosure. Steve and some keepers built a shelter for the lynx out of scavenged logs, and we all spent the afternoon covering it in a huge mound of soil. There is enough time before the lynx moves in for grass to grow over the mound. It will look lovely.
On Friday night we went for a drink after work with Larissa. She wanted to go to the bar above the cafe we usually eat at. We haven’t been there before, and discovered a rather nice bar and restaurant. They brew their own beer, so we had a taste of a few – the honey one is highly recommended by me. We also discovered they make a tasty margarita, so we drank a few of those. But the absolute highlight of the evening for me was a large plate of cheese and fruit. As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of cheese and I am thus far slightly disappointed by the variety of cheese available in Ukraine. The cheese here is very nice, if a bit bland, but they do some nice cottage cheese and a cheddar style one with bits of pepper in it or just a plain very mild cheese. So, I was truly delighted to get a plate of blue cheese and brie. Expensive but delicious!
We are currently experiencing a wave of the most excruciatingly hot and muggy weather, it’s reaching 32 - 34°C most days. Sleep is almost impossible between the heat and the thunderstorms. Midnight on Saturday was the most spectacular one I have seen in a long time, continuous sheet lightening and overhead thunder making the windows shake. The only thing that makes it bearable is the knowledge that it is about 12°C and raining in the UK!
Sunday morning was still pouring with rain when we got up. We were desperate for the rain to stop as we had arranged a VIP zoo tour for staff of the US Embassy based in Kyiv. The rain stopped just before the tour was due to start so we ran to the zoo entrance to see if anyone had turned up. We were expecting 30 people, and were pleasantly surprised to welcome about 25 people to the zoo. The group was mixed between families with children of all ages and adults. We had a nice walk around the zoo, explaining about our conservation and education programmes and answering all the random questions from the kids! We met some lovely people and enjoyed talking with English speakers. We took the group “behind the scenes” to meet our beautiful Carpathian Lynx, and I think it is fair to say, many people fell in love with her! We also showed them the enclosure we are building for her. The group agreed to sponsor the lynx, which will pay for some of the building costs. Well done Mrs. Lynx!
Firstly, last Thursday, we found out that the porcupines have had babies. I was so sure that one of the females looked pregnant when we moved them to their new enclosure. Anyway, there are two new babies in the group. I tried to take photos, but they were staying so close to Mum that you just can’t see them in the pictures. The porcupines are most active in the evenings and we usually pop out for a walk around the zoo in the evenings after the visitors have left (it’s the best time to see most of the animals, and one of the perks of living in a zoo). Baby porcupines are much less helpless than some other baby animals, they need mum to look after them, but will happily have a wander around her. As for the rest of the porcupines – they are enjoying their new enclosure; they have dug their way through all the mounds of soil. Some of the staff are a bit disappointed that the enclosure doesn’t look as good as it did, but everyone is happy that the porcupines are able to behave naturally.
Friday was another day for working in the lynx enclosure. Steve and some keepers built a shelter for the lynx out of scavenged logs, and we all spent the afternoon covering it in a huge mound of soil. There is enough time before the lynx moves in for grass to grow over the mound. It will look lovely.
On Friday night we went for a drink after work with Larissa. She wanted to go to the bar above the cafe we usually eat at. We haven’t been there before, and discovered a rather nice bar and restaurant. They brew their own beer, so we had a taste of a few – the honey one is highly recommended by me. We also discovered they make a tasty margarita, so we drank a few of those. But the absolute highlight of the evening for me was a large plate of cheese and fruit. As you may or may not know, I am a huge fan of cheese and I am thus far slightly disappointed by the variety of cheese available in Ukraine. The cheese here is very nice, if a bit bland, but they do some nice cottage cheese and a cheddar style one with bits of pepper in it or just a plain very mild cheese. So, I was truly delighted to get a plate of blue cheese and brie. Expensive but delicious!
We are currently experiencing a wave of the most excruciatingly hot and muggy weather, it’s reaching 32 - 34°C most days. Sleep is almost impossible between the heat and the thunderstorms. Midnight on Saturday was the most spectacular one I have seen in a long time, continuous sheet lightening and overhead thunder making the windows shake. The only thing that makes it bearable is the knowledge that it is about 12°C and raining in the UK!
Sunday morning was still pouring with rain when we got up. We were desperate for the rain to stop as we had arranged a VIP zoo tour for staff of the US Embassy based in Kyiv. The rain stopped just before the tour was due to start so we ran to the zoo entrance to see if anyone had turned up. We were expecting 30 people, and were pleasantly surprised to welcome about 25 people to the zoo. The group was mixed between families with children of all ages and adults. We had a nice walk around the zoo, explaining about our conservation and education programmes and answering all the random questions from the kids! We met some lovely people and enjoyed talking with English speakers. We took the group “behind the scenes” to meet our beautiful Carpathian Lynx, and I think it is fair to say, many people fell in love with her! We also showed them the enclosure we are building for her. The group agreed to sponsor the lynx, which will pay for some of the building costs. Well done Mrs. Lynx!
Monday was yet another bank holiday, so we just had a day or resting and watching films.
Today Steve wanted to do some more work to the lynx enclosure – he is nearly finished, but needed to shovel some more soil onto the hide and clear away a lot of the branches that aren’t needed anymore. He was assigned a group of university students who must complete 40 days volunteer work at the zoo as part of their degrees. Larissa went with Steve to meet the group and to explain their duties to them. The students were mostly female and very pleased when they found out they would be working with Steve. Larissa saw this and promptly informed them that they were not allowed to ask Steve to marry them and take them to England, and that Steve was already married and his wife was working in the zoo and would be watching! Poor Steve, he went bright red, it was hilarious!
Steve and I were given some zoo passes to give to people we meet. At the moment, we really only know people we work with and didn’t know what to do with the passes. We’d have given them to some of the expats we have met, but most are booked for tours to the zoo already, my cousin Oleg will visit the zoo with us one day so we were at a loss, and the expiry dates on the passes were getting close. At one of the little kiosks near the zoo where we buy sunflower seeds and cold drinks is an old lady who is very kind to us. She speaks a few words of English and always undercharges us for our purchases. Yesterday as we bought our seeds we presented her with a pass to the zoo for her and a friend. She was so happy she was almost crying. Today we went past her kiosk and she wasn’t there. We got back into the zoo and bumped into her and her best friend in their smartest dresses just finishing their visit. It was lovely; they both said they thoroughly enjoyed their day out.
Today Steve wanted to do some more work to the lynx enclosure – he is nearly finished, but needed to shovel some more soil onto the hide and clear away a lot of the branches that aren’t needed anymore. He was assigned a group of university students who must complete 40 days volunteer work at the zoo as part of their degrees. Larissa went with Steve to meet the group and to explain their duties to them. The students were mostly female and very pleased when they found out they would be working with Steve. Larissa saw this and promptly informed them that they were not allowed to ask Steve to marry them and take them to England, and that Steve was already married and his wife was working in the zoo and would be watching! Poor Steve, he went bright red, it was hilarious!
Steve and I were given some zoo passes to give to people we meet. At the moment, we really only know people we work with and didn’t know what to do with the passes. We’d have given them to some of the expats we have met, but most are booked for tours to the zoo already, my cousin Oleg will visit the zoo with us one day so we were at a loss, and the expiry dates on the passes were getting close. At one of the little kiosks near the zoo where we buy sunflower seeds and cold drinks is an old lady who is very kind to us. She speaks a few words of English and always undercharges us for our purchases. Yesterday as we bought our seeds we presented her with a pass to the zoo for her and a friend. She was so happy she was almost crying. Today we went past her kiosk and she wasn’t there. We got back into the zoo and bumped into her and her best friend in their smartest dresses just finishing their visit. It was lovely; they both said they thoroughly enjoyed their day out.
Baby porcupine just infront of the white tail quills (apologies for poor quality photos)
Baby porcupine just to the left of the porcupine bottom!
Lynx Shelter
Covering the shelter in soil
Finished 
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