On 14 May famous Bulgarian pop singers and musicians, children’s choirs, bands and dance groups, performed to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Sofia Zoo, the oldest in the Balkans. Officially the Zoo opened doors in 1888 with a decree issued by Prince Ferdinand and was accommodated on the grounds of the Royal Gardens. Its first inmates included a vulture, several pheasants, a deer and a couple of brown bears. Later in time, the location of the Zoo changed on several occasions and during World War II it was reduced to rubble following the massive shelling of the capital city. Today the Sofia Zoo lies 10 km away from the city center. Gradually, the animal collection grew, and now it has 1000 inhabitants from 240 species, a record for the Balkans. The oldest Zoo member is the female elephant, aged 55. One of the youngest inmates is Sunny, a kangaroo. The other babies around are the two lion cubs Slavi and Stefan.
The Zoo is in very good shape, the director of the Sofia Zoo Dr. Ivan Ivanov says, and adds that the ambition now is to add a whole new look to it. The objective is to make visitors feel much closer to wild nature. Creating waterfalls, rocks and new plantation is part of the initiative, which Dr. Ivanov hopes will complete a few years from now. All this is being done with the joint efforts of the Zoo and of animal adopters. The latter are companies, schools, opinion leaders and citizens. One of the adopters is Sofia Mayor Boiko Borissov, custodian of imperial eagle Kalin.
Apart from conscientious visitors however, there are some that tease the animals and give them harmful food ignoring information boards. Despite the problems with aggressive visitors, the management of the Sofia Zoo is convinced that it will gradually change the mentality of people, or at least of children. With this purpose, the Noah Zoo Club opened in the territory of the Zoo several years ago.
It operates fully in the summer. Every year an increasing number of children are attracted to its lectures, outings and exercises. On the occasion of its anniversary the Zoo reports news of new inmates. For the first time visitors can see hyenas. Other newcomers include species of squirrels and apes that have not been shown so far. A special tropical hall will open soon where guests to the Zoo will marvel at the sight of exotic butterflies. The idea to arrange the hall came as the chairperson of the Russian Business Club Olga Usskova donated to the Zoo a collection of 250 butterflies from 20 species. The most exotic ones come from Indonesia, South Africa and South America. In the tropical hall now under construction butterflies will fly freely amid rich greenery to the delight of visitors. Written by Diana Hristakieva
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
There is a place in Sofia where the day dawns free of the urban traffic rattle and human hubbub. Here the uproar comes from animals, because as the sun rises, the inhabitants of the Sofia Zoo wake up to claim their place in the heart of the urban jungle.