On December 29, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The European bison, Europe's heaviest and largest mammal and the last representative of wild bulls, has settled in the Vitebsk Zoo on the eve of the New Year. It was delivered by car from the Mogilev Zoo this evening, Irina Orlova, Director of the Vitebsk Zoo, told a BELTA correspondent. The seven-month-old calf successfully completed the multi-kilometer journey and immediately moved into its new home – a 400 sq.m enclosure. Despite being less than a year old, the animal is already ready for independent life and does not require any special care. The bison calf has not yet been named. The Zoo Director hopes that visitors will help name the new resident. The European bison is a gift from the residents of Vitebsk to their zoo. They raised funds for its purchase, but this is not the only acquisition made through charitable or sponsorship funds, Irina Orlova added. For example, the lion Mark was donated to the zoo by Vitebsk enterprises, and funds for the Cameroon sheep were raised by the city's residents. This year alone, the collection has been replenished with seven species of mammals, including a coati, a llama, a nilgai antelope, and a bear. The Vitebsk Zoological Park was founded on March 30, 1992, on the basis of a former animal theatre in the city. Currently, 76 species of animals – over 1,000 individuals – are kept here on an area of 1.3 hectares. In 2010, the city authorities began implementing a project to build new enclosures and buildings for the zoo in a park zone covering an area of 100 hectares. City enterprises and organizations are being involved in the project implementation. As Irina Orlova noted, in the new zoo, each enclosure housing animals acquired through charitable or sponsorship funds will feature a plaque with a thank-you inscription to the donors.-0-

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