20 December, Vitebsk /Diana Kurilo – BELTA/. Residents of Vitebsk have made another gift to their zoo – they have purchased a European bison for it, the zoo's director Irina Orlova told a BELTA correspondent. The two-year-old male from the Mogilev Zoo will be moved to its new home in the near future. An enclosure of 400 sq. m. is ready for him. Such a large area has been allocated with the expectation that the bison will have a mate next year. The female bison is not the only animal the zoo plans to acquire. Along with her, a lioness, a kangaroo, and male antelopes and llamas are expected to become new residents. The zoo acquires new animals through exchange programs with other zoos, as well as through charitable or sponsorship funds. 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. In the current 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 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 where animals acquired through charitable or sponsorship funds will be housed will feature a plaque thanking the donors. -0-

BELTA