STARS OF THE BAKU ZOO

On holidays the zoo is filled with crowds of children of all ages, some of them only a year old and carried in their parents' arms. Our zoo is within the Baku city limits - a blessing that many European cities do not have. Even on non-holidays and school days the zoo is never empty - here you can see couples and mothers who want to show wildlife to their little children. Even without the visitors the zoo would not sleep, since things are always bustling - you can't stop feeding the animals as if they were an amusement park ride that can be unplugged. What are these "workdays" at the Baku zoo like? Baku Zoo Director Azar Huseynov gave R+ a detailed account of the zoo's history, the lives of its animals, and finally of its visitors - a welcome but not always well-behaved part of zoo life.

New accommodations

Several of the enclosures have been renovated and given concrete floors and drainage systems. Now wolves, bears, jungle cats, and other animals "strut around" in their new accommodations. As the director said, even though there were rumours that the zoo would be moving, life is a continuous process, and creating good living conditions for the animals needs to be done now. A series of waterfowl now wander about as a new lake is being built.

In total the zoo has more than a thousand "guests" belonging to over 150 species. That number increases on a regular basis. A couple of years ago kangaroos and a very large number of endangered animals and birds were brought into the zoo.

New residents usually come from other zoos - the Baku Zoo is a member of the Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Besides Azerbaijan, the Association includes Russia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and other post-Soviet countries, as well as a number of European zoos in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Association is in turn a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 

The "stars" of our park are the endangered animals. These are the majestic Siberian tiger, and the giant Caucasian brown bear, which stands more than two metres tall. There are also the elegant flamingos, whose long legs and exotic colouring remind one of urban fashionistas out on walks, and mute swans…

The zoo's ornithological component also has an amazing variety - pelicans, vultures, griffon vultures, and the bearded vulture - the last of these is a rare species in Europe, a member of the raptor family and the only representative of its genius. Pensive and lonely, the black raven also paces its enclosure - it is a trainable bird, and can be taught to pronounce sounds and even words, much like a parrot. As the director says, if they find a mate for it, they will bring it in right away, but in the meantime visitors to the zoo keep it from getting too bored. And then there are the countless ducks, guinea fowl, sultana birds, swan, peacocks... 

A meal fit for a king

The standards for the animals' maintenance are very high. Aside from the improved floor of hard concrete and the drainage systems for the predators, the enclosures of the heat-loving animals and reptiles are heated, and the crocodile enclosure has a heated floor. The feed is given special attention. At the "animal" kitchen there are enormous buckets with sunflower seeds, wheat, corn, and barley; the monkeys get an assortment of vitamins from kiwis, grapes, apples, and pears. Alfalfa is bought for the ruminant animals, and white rats and rabbits are bred especially to provide food for the reptiles. This food is fed to the reptiles while still alive - they will not eat dead animals. The predators are given a daily meat ration of 133 kg of red meat and 8 kg of chicken! The pelicans and some waterfowl are provided with fresh sprats. The animals' food is primarily bought from farmers or on the wholesale market. 

The zoo's collection is not only increased through exchanges with other zoos - sometimes wounded and ill-treated animals are also brought in. For example, in the mid-1990s a very large number of flamingos were brought in by the people of Baku. How some of the bears got here is a pitiful story that can provoke indignation: many of them were confiscated from restaurants, where they were a part of cruel fun - they were kept in cages to entertain diners. Officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources removed them from the restaurants and gave them to the zoo. 

Safety first

Of course, taking care of this menagerie takes a sizeable staff. How is it chosen? As Azar Huseynov told us, the first and most important criterion is love for animals. "After all, they have to do very hard work," says the director. "Feed animals, clean cages, remove their waste… without love for animals you can't work here."

Looking at Huseynov, it becomes clear that being the director of a zoo is not a job - it's a calling. Even while acting as guide and story-teller, he did not forget about his work for a minute - his watchful eye took in everything: the cleanliness of the walking paths and cages, the state of the animals, and the work of the staff. When asked if he has favourites, he answered: "Of course I have them, but I never tell anyone about them. Even parents sometimes love some children more than others, but they always keep that secret, because all of the children need their love the same."

As to the selection process for zookeepers, an essential condition for their work is finishing a safety course. Without it it's impossible to go in to any cage, no matter how calm and inoffensive the animal seems. True, our park has been fortunate enough to never have a serious accident. But small injuries are, of course, unavoidable.

Through the years

The story of our zoo is relatively short - less than a hundred years. In 1928 at Lunacharskiy Park (which later became Nizami Park and Luna Park) a zoological corner was opened, which in 1942, during the hard years of the war, became a full-fledged zoo, although the official opening only took place in 1945 after the end of the Great Patriotic War. In 1958 the zoo was transferred to the village of Bayil, but unfortunately that place turned out to be unsafe due to mudslides: in the mid-1970s a lion and a bear died when they were crushed by a falling cage. That is when it was decided to move the zoo. After wandering from location to location for a while, a site in Narimanov district was finally chosen, which is where we have the zoo today. Initially 45 hectares of land were to be allocated for the zoo, but to speed up the work only 2.25 were developed. Subsequently, in 2001, this area was increased to 4.25 hectares.

As the director (who has worked here for more than 20 years) says, in the mid-1990s the zoo had only 60 species of animals and 200 individual animals.

Problems

Naturally, the Baku Zoological Park has its problems, like any other institution. Even though its director tries to solve them as much as he can with his limited resources, bringing the zoo to a European level is something that cannot be done all in one year.

Take the water supply issue, for example: the animals have to receive the necessary amount of water, and there's no way to cut corners. However, the zoo's water bills, which cover its thousand specimens, are calculated using the rate for organizations - one manat per cubic meter of water, while the rate for private citizens is 30 qapik per cubic meter. When you look at the daily water consumption, it's easy to see that the monthly payments come to quite a tidy sum. 

Like any other living thing, the zoo's animals need modern medical examinations and treatment. The situation with veterinarians is fairly poor, as has been reported in previous issues of R+. That affects the zoo as well - there simply aren't enough qualified specialists. "Many clinics invite veterinarians from overseas," says Huseynov, "even when it is cheaper and more efficient to train and keep our own specialists." The director of the zoo invites veterinary school graduates and young veterinary physicians to undergo internships at the zoo: "There isn't a single private veterinary centre that will accept inexperienced veterinary physicians for a residency, but our zoo has everything set up for that," says the director. 

The Eurogames are just around the corner, and that means that a large number of tourists, which also suggests an increase in the number of visitors to the zoo. A number of small paths between the enclosures and the pavilions have not been paved, and in some places the pavement has cracks. In the terrarium, as the director says, the windows could stand changing. Mr. Huseynov believes that all of these cosmetic improvements do not require that big of an outlay - in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 manats. The help of a charitable donor or patron for whom that sum is not too burdensome would come in handy. In the meantime the zoo's administrative-cum-housekeeping apparatus will get by on its modest resources. 

"I know that sooner or later the zoo will move," says Huseynov, "but until then I have to continue my work. The zoo is a living organism and living things need to be looked after and fed. The employees need to be paid a salary." Incidentally, the staff are paid a salary of only 130-140 manats, but the director is looking for opportunities to pay them more through ticket sales. 

The zoo's move has been in the works for a long time. 

An order that the zoo be moved to a new location was signed in 2008. At first the planned location was to be near the villages of Guzdak and Qobu in the Baku region, but then it was decided to move the zoo to the Ceyranbatan reserve. When this will happen is still a big question, however. And meanwhile the zoo continues to live life as usual.

Visitor, do no harm

Special attention needs to be paid to those on this side of the cage's bars - the visitors. It is a celebration for the zoo if it is full of children, parents, and vacationers - but the uncivilized behaviour of some guests damages the zoo and harms the animals. I'm not talking about those who litter on the walkways and near the cages, even though there are waste receptacles every ten metres. "Some irresponsible people try to give the monkeys cigarettes," the director complains, "even though everyone knows that monkeys don't smoke!" Recently a few young men nearly injured a lion - they pried a stone from the curb and tried to throw it at the sleeping lion to force it to get up. What's more, all zoos have rules that forbid visitors from feeding the animals - frequent food poisoning and illnesses affect the animals often because they ate something offered to them by visitors; what's saddest of all is that they sometimes offer them things that aren't edible. 

In conclusion Mr. Huseynov addressed the zoo's visitors through us: "Come to our zoo - relax, have a good time, but please don't try to damage the zoo or harm the animals."