The enclosure and pond farm of the Braslav Lakes National Park plans to diversify the species composition of the animals and birds living here, Anton Panteleenko, head of the enclosure and pond farm, told a BELTA correspondent.
The farm includes demonstration enclosures, a safari park, and a fish nursery. The enclosures house a bear, wolves, foxes, raccoons, fallow deer, wild boar, and pheasants. The latter have been bred since last year. The safari park covers an area of 1.3 thousand hectares, inhabited by red deer, fallow deer, elk, European bison, and roe deer. Cycling along the enclosure farm route, you can observe animals in their natural habitat. Along the routes, there are signs with useful information and pointers to prevent getting lost.
Anton Panteleenko said that it is better to choose the day of the visit based on the weather. If it is hot, it is advisable to come in the morning or evening. When the weather is overcast and it is raining, the animals can be seen in the safari park all day long. "We plan to diversify the species composition of animals and birds – to buy or find injured animals and rehabilitate them. We would like to introduce lynx and elk into the enclosures, as well as other types of pheasants, such as the royal pheasant. We are currently processing information and considering which animals overwinter better and will be easier to keep in our conditions," Anton Panteleenko noted. "Also, the construction of a quad bike track is currently underway in the safari park. We may also introduce a new cycling route."
In the spring, the farm had additions – wolf cubs, red deer calves, and a bison calf were born. But the main crowd-pleaser is the bear, who is already 25 years old. Potapych eats about 15 kg of barley porridge a day. In hot weather, he spends 80% of his time in the pool installed in his enclosure.
Guests mainly come to the farm from Russia, and recently there has been an increase in tourists from the Baltic countries and Ukraine. In season (from May to mid-August), the farm is visited by 1-2 thousand people per month.
On the day of our visit, two teachers from China were fishing in one of the farm's ponds. Shi Yunyu and Li Mengna came to Braslav as part of an international cooperation program and teach local schoolchildren Chinese. "The people in Belarus are very kind and welcoming. In the Braslav district, it is pleasing that we can connect with nature in such a large space. In modern China, such corners are becoming fewer and fewer," said Li Mengna.