This week has been so busy that we haven’t had time to stop. We’ve been working extremely hard in the office with paperwork but did manage a relaxing morning making enrichment for our elderly lioness and also for our group of chimpanzees. We worked with the Head Keeper of Cats – Masha to wrap a tree in thick natural fibre rope so our lioness can sharpen her claw without damaging the tree and upsetting our Horticulture Department. We used about 300 metres of rope which Masha wrapped around and around the tree until she got too dizzy! For the chimpanzees, we worked with all the primate keepers to get some fire-hose ropes up for the chimps to swing on.
The main event this week was our inspection from EAZA (The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria). We want to become members of this organisation, but they have very high standards in terms of animal welfare and zoo management. As Kyiv Zoo is in Eastern Europe, we can’t immediately become full members but instead can be “Candidate for Membership”, which means that we have reached a certain standard but will be mentored by EAZA representatives from other zoos to ensure the standards are maintained and developed. After this period we can then apply for full membership.
The Inspection started on Wednesday with the EAZA inspectors (both important zoo directors from other countries, one of whom will be our mentor if we succeed). We spent most of the day walking in the zoo and visiting the departments, looking at the animals and their enclosures, from the visitor perspective and behind the scenes. We managed to get round about half the zoo and had some meetings in the conference room also. They wanted to speak with the zoo keepers and the department heads, asked a lot of questions and gave advice.
In the evening we took them for a meal at a nice hotel and continued the discussions.
Thursday we continued the tour of the departments in the morning, spent some time looking at paperwork and then our Director took the Inspectors to meet the Mayor of Kyiv to discuss the future of the zoo. Steve and I were unable to join them for this meeting, which we would have liked to do as we would like to meet the Mayor. He’s a bit of a character, very fond of wildlife and a great supporter of the zoo – he is the sponsor of our elephant.
Steve went for a meal with the inspectors on Thursday; I was just too tired and went back to the apartment to sleep.
On Friday morning we got up at 4am as we were setting off on a trip to Kharkiv, a large city in the Northeast of Ukraine, to spend some time at the zoo. We were accompanying the EAZA Inspectors. As they had travelled to Ukraine to visit Kyiv Zoo it was a good opportunity for them to visit Kharkiv Zoo, who already have EAZA Candidate for Membership status.
We were driven to the train station and shown where our train was as we were slightly concerned that we would get on the wrong one, but it was actually quite easy and I could read the departures board, which was quite pleasing. One of the inspectors had travelled by Ukrainian trains some years ago and had told us to expect grotty run down packed hot trains, but what we found was quite different. We were booked into first class carriages, which had small 6 seater air-conditioned compartments. The Inspectors wanted to sit in a different compartment to us as they had not had time to discuss our zoo in private, so Steve and I stretched ourselves out in the compartment and waited for the train to leave. Shortly after the train departed, the conductor came round checking tickets. A few minutes later the Inspectors were ushered into our compartment. Apparently on trains in Ukraine, you must sit in your allocated seat even when there are spaces available elsewhere. As the train clunked through the beautiful countryside we all chatted about zoos and sipped our coffee which was brought round to us by the train conductor. The journey took about six hours and as it was the express train, it only stopped twice.
We reached Kharkiv just after midday and were met by Kharkiv Zoo’s translator and the elephant manager. Steve and I had met the elephant manager Oleg at Kyiv earlier in the year.
We were driven to check-in at our hotel and then onto the zoo to meet the Director. We had a pleasant lunch in the zoo’s cafe and then separated so the Inspectors could inspect and Steve and I could look at the zoo.
The zoo has a huge range of animals; lions, tigers, brown bears, polar bear, llama, lots of deer and antelopes, birds, lynx, coati, chimpanzees, lots of monkeys, bison, elephants, hippo and lots more. We spent the whole afternoon wandering round and taking photos. We haven’t been to another zoo since we got here, so it was quite nice to be somewhere different.
In the zoo we found a small amusement area full of really old (still working) arcade slot games. They were pre-computer arcade games, just pop-up figures and cars that raced round tracks.
At about 8pm the inspectors had finished for the day so the zoo director took us all to a restaurant for a meal of Ukrainian foods. Steve was happy as there was a lot of meat! We drank, talked and laughed until late. The restaurant had unusual decor, I think it was all folk/fairy tales – there was a strange cat, monsters, a three headed dragon (Hydra?) and a house on chicken legs that you could eat in, I think it is Baba Yaga’s cottage.
The Zoo Director told us the story of a statue of monkeys we saw in the zoo. During the Great Patriotic War there was not enough food for the animals, so some citizens of Kharkiv took the monkeys into their homes and looked after them and fed them. The statue is a tribute to these people who cared so much during great hardships.
Kharkiv is very different to Kyiv. It looks similar, but feels different. Kharkiv is much more Russian/Soviet than Kyiv. In Kharkiv we saw many statues of Lenin as we drove between the hotel and zoo, but in Kyiv there are only a few and they are being vandalized. We spoke with the translator and elephant keeper and they said that people there mainly speak Russian and only a very few can speak Ukrainian whereas in Kyiv, Ukrainian is the main language and everyone is bilingual.
We were back in the zoo early the next day, desperately wishing we had packed jumpers. The weather in Kyiv was scorching when we left, but in Kharkiv there was a chill in the air – much cooler.
It’s nice (as a zoo geek) to spend two days at a zoo as on the second day you can see things that you missed the first time round and also revisit particular animals. One of the highlights of the day was watching an Asian Leopard Cat stalking a sparrow in its enclosure. The sparrow got away. We also were able to spend some time talking about elephants with Oleg the elephant manager, a new useful contact.
In the evening we were invited as guests to the new dolphinarium next to the zoo for a tour of the facility and to watch the show. There were sea-lions balancing balls on their noses, dancing and jumping around, some amazing acrobats and fire-spinners (not kittens this time) and dolphins jumping through hoops, carrying the trainer around the pool and balancing balls on their noses, all accompanied by very loud music and laser shows. The dolphinarium was open air and as the show started at 9pm we were absolutely freezing.
We eventually got back to our hotel, laden with bags of books given as gifts from the zoo director – all written and published by staff at the zoo, a very generous present.
It was another very early start as we all had to get the train back to Kyiv. We had already learnt that we must all sit in our allocated seats for the journey, but this time we had company. The other two seats in our compartment had passengers allocated to them, even though there were empty compartments in the carriage. We all squeezed in and tried to sleep.
Back in Kyiv we were met by our zoo director who whisked the inspectors off for a sightseeing tour of Kyiv. Steve and I bartered with a taxi driver and eventually got him to knock 80% of the original fare off to get back to the zoo. It was an interesting journey back in a battered Lada with no seat-belts and the driver naming all the English football players that he could remember as he swerved round the corners!
Monday was the last day of our zoo inspection, as tired as we were, Steve, I and other members of zoo management were out in the zoo all day with the inspectors. We finished the day with another traditional Ukrainian meal at a restaurant near the zoo.
Today, we finally had a day off, relaxing and walking in our zoo and only doing a small amount of work!
The main event this week was our inspection from EAZA (The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria). We want to become members of this organisation, but they have very high standards in terms of animal welfare and zoo management. As Kyiv Zoo is in Eastern Europe, we can’t immediately become full members but instead can be “Candidate for Membership”, which means that we have reached a certain standard but will be mentored by EAZA representatives from other zoos to ensure the standards are maintained and developed. After this period we can then apply for full membership.
The Inspection started on Wednesday with the EAZA inspectors (both important zoo directors from other countries, one of whom will be our mentor if we succeed). We spent most of the day walking in the zoo and visiting the departments, looking at the animals and their enclosures, from the visitor perspective and behind the scenes. We managed to get round about half the zoo and had some meetings in the conference room also. They wanted to speak with the zoo keepers and the department heads, asked a lot of questions and gave advice.
In the evening we took them for a meal at a nice hotel and continued the discussions.
Thursday we continued the tour of the departments in the morning, spent some time looking at paperwork and then our Director took the Inspectors to meet the Mayor of Kyiv to discuss the future of the zoo. Steve and I were unable to join them for this meeting, which we would have liked to do as we would like to meet the Mayor. He’s a bit of a character, very fond of wildlife and a great supporter of the zoo – he is the sponsor of our elephant.
Steve went for a meal with the inspectors on Thursday; I was just too tired and went back to the apartment to sleep.
On Friday morning we got up at 4am as we were setting off on a trip to Kharkiv, a large city in the Northeast of Ukraine, to spend some time at the zoo. We were accompanying the EAZA Inspectors. As they had travelled to Ukraine to visit Kyiv Zoo it was a good opportunity for them to visit Kharkiv Zoo, who already have EAZA Candidate for Membership status.
We were driven to the train station and shown where our train was as we were slightly concerned that we would get on the wrong one, but it was actually quite easy and I could read the departures board, which was quite pleasing. One of the inspectors had travelled by Ukrainian trains some years ago and had told us to expect grotty run down packed hot trains, but what we found was quite different. We were booked into first class carriages, which had small 6 seater air-conditioned compartments. The Inspectors wanted to sit in a different compartment to us as they had not had time to discuss our zoo in private, so Steve and I stretched ourselves out in the compartment and waited for the train to leave. Shortly after the train departed, the conductor came round checking tickets. A few minutes later the Inspectors were ushered into our compartment. Apparently on trains in Ukraine, you must sit in your allocated seat even when there are spaces available elsewhere. As the train clunked through the beautiful countryside we all chatted about zoos and sipped our coffee which was brought round to us by the train conductor. The journey took about six hours and as it was the express train, it only stopped twice.
We reached Kharkiv just after midday and were met by Kharkiv Zoo’s translator and the elephant manager. Steve and I had met the elephant manager Oleg at Kyiv earlier in the year.
We were driven to check-in at our hotel and then onto the zoo to meet the Director. We had a pleasant lunch in the zoo’s cafe and then separated so the Inspectors could inspect and Steve and I could look at the zoo.
The zoo has a huge range of animals; lions, tigers, brown bears, polar bear, llama, lots of deer and antelopes, birds, lynx, coati, chimpanzees, lots of monkeys, bison, elephants, hippo and lots more. We spent the whole afternoon wandering round and taking photos. We haven’t been to another zoo since we got here, so it was quite nice to be somewhere different.
In the zoo we found a small amusement area full of really old (still working) arcade slot games. They were pre-computer arcade games, just pop-up figures and cars that raced round tracks.
At about 8pm the inspectors had finished for the day so the zoo director took us all to a restaurant for a meal of Ukrainian foods. Steve was happy as there was a lot of meat! We drank, talked and laughed until late. The restaurant had unusual decor, I think it was all folk/fairy tales – there was a strange cat, monsters, a three headed dragon (Hydra?) and a house on chicken legs that you could eat in, I think it is Baba Yaga’s cottage.
The Zoo Director told us the story of a statue of monkeys we saw in the zoo. During the Great Patriotic War there was not enough food for the animals, so some citizens of Kharkiv took the monkeys into their homes and looked after them and fed them. The statue is a tribute to these people who cared so much during great hardships.
Kharkiv is very different to Kyiv. It looks similar, but feels different. Kharkiv is much more Russian/Soviet than Kyiv. In Kharkiv we saw many statues of Lenin as we drove between the hotel and zoo, but in Kyiv there are only a few and they are being vandalized. We spoke with the translator and elephant keeper and they said that people there mainly speak Russian and only a very few can speak Ukrainian whereas in Kyiv, Ukrainian is the main language and everyone is bilingual.
We were back in the zoo early the next day, desperately wishing we had packed jumpers. The weather in Kyiv was scorching when we left, but in Kharkiv there was a chill in the air – much cooler.
It’s nice (as a zoo geek) to spend two days at a zoo as on the second day you can see things that you missed the first time round and also revisit particular animals. One of the highlights of the day was watching an Asian Leopard Cat stalking a sparrow in its enclosure. The sparrow got away. We also were able to spend some time talking about elephants with Oleg the elephant manager, a new useful contact.
In the evening we were invited as guests to the new dolphinarium next to the zoo for a tour of the facility and to watch the show. There were sea-lions balancing balls on their noses, dancing and jumping around, some amazing acrobats and fire-spinners (not kittens this time) and dolphins jumping through hoops, carrying the trainer around the pool and balancing balls on their noses, all accompanied by very loud music and laser shows. The dolphinarium was open air and as the show started at 9pm we were absolutely freezing.
We eventually got back to our hotel, laden with bags of books given as gifts from the zoo director – all written and published by staff at the zoo, a very generous present.
It was another very early start as we all had to get the train back to Kyiv. We had already learnt that we must all sit in our allocated seats for the journey, but this time we had company. The other two seats in our compartment had passengers allocated to them, even though there were empty compartments in the carriage. We all squeezed in and tried to sleep.
Back in Kyiv we were met by our zoo director who whisked the inspectors off for a sightseeing tour of Kyiv. Steve and I bartered with a taxi driver and eventually got him to knock 80% of the original fare off to get back to the zoo. It was an interesting journey back in a battered Lada with no seat-belts and the driver naming all the English football players that he could remember as he swerved round the corners!
Monday was the last day of our zoo inspection, as tired as we were, Steve, I and other members of zoo management were out in the zoo all day with the inspectors. We finished the day with another traditional Ukrainian meal at a restaurant near the zoo.
Today, we finally had a day off, relaxing and walking in our zoo and only doing a small amount of work!
Lions having a cuddle
Leopards
Asiatic Black Bear (Moon Bear)
Polar Bear
Mongoose in a tree
Hippo House
Female Elephant Playing
Statue of Monkeys
Old Arcade Ride
Old Arcade Games
Zoo Map
Bird Lake
Strange Cat at Restaurant
Baba Yaga's house
Coypu
Steve being attacked by a 6 legged spider
Markhor
Main Entrance
Beautiful Carpathian Lynx
Siberian Ibex
Bactrian Camel
Sleepy Black Jaguar
Scary Dolphin outside Dolphinarium
Dolphins
Sea-lion
Fire-spinners
If you look very carefully there are flying dolphins
Dolphins
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