Legendary Kaunas Zoo prepares to close gate: fate awaits animals clear

Preparing to sign a contract with the winning company

The reconstruction of the Lithuanian Zoo, which has been constantly stalled since 2014, appears to be starting soon.

Zoo director Gintarė Stankevičė informed the Delfi portal that the public procurement tender has been completed, the winner has been announced, with whom a contract will be signed in the near future, and the zoo will close and will not accept visitors.

Reconstruction, which will cost 14.6 million. The project is scheduled for completion on April 30, 2023. Funding will come from the Structural Funds of the European Union.

“As soon as a contract is signed with the contractor, we will organize a party and close,” said G. Stankevičė, director of the country’s only state zoo.

The zoo may close its doors to visitors starting in July.

Almost all buildings will be demolished

The director of the zoo mentioned that during the reconstruction the old buildings and aviaries will be demolished, and new ones will be built in their place, which will comply with international requirements.

“All the aviaries will be maximized, a new building will be built, it will have both jungle and savannah, educational spaces, an information center, which we do not have now.

Basically everything will change. All buildings will be demolished and new ones will be built. The old interwar lion aviaries will remain and will be restored. We will install an elevator and a cognitive path on the slope, ”said the zoo director.

The building where the white bear lived will also survive. After reconstruction, it is planned to house the anubius monkey.

The project should build new aviaries for bison, bears and wolves, lynxes, otters, monkeys, cheetahs and other animals.

Mixed exhibition aviaries will also be built: kangaroos will coexist with black swans and ostrich emus, brown bears with gray wolves, etc.

There will be a space for children “Mažylių zoo”, where rabbits, goats and poultry will live.

Due to a deplorable condition, he lost his membership in an international organization.

“This is the last chance, because this whole project had to start in 2014. People were intimidated by the desire to close the zoo. There are definitely no such languages, we haven’t really moved anywhere, a contract will be signed soon, “said G. Stankevičė.

The start of works was still hampered by the inability of the zoo to organize a public procurement tender, and eventually the Ministry of the Environment took over this role in the hands of Kaunas residents. Aurimas Didžiokas, the director of the zoo, was fired in 2019 due to a poorly organized reconstruction project.

The Kaunas Zoo was opened in 1938, currently around 250 different animal species and around 2,000 animals live on the 16 hectare territory. animals.

The interwar zoo has been repeatedly criticized for its poor housing conditions. In 2013, due to poor status, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums revoked the Lithuanian Zoo’s status as a full member and changed it to a candidate.

G. Stankevičė, director of the zoo, mentioned that after the reconstruction, a commission of experts will be invited and the garden will once again become a full member of the international organization.

Some animals are transferred to foreign countries, others remain in Kaunas.

In preparation for the so-called ‘age project’ to rebuild the zoo, several animals are already being moved to zoos in other countries.

“The snow leopards went to Hungary, we got pictures, they feel great there. Two antelope wildebeest have already left, the other two are leaving next week. The dwarf hippo will soon be flying to the Republic of South Africa, we have all the documents, we book the trips.

The birds, the giraffes will stay with us, a temporary building will be built for them, which will meet all the requirements. It will be equipped with ventilation, lighting and heating.

The animals will not return to Kaunas.

Temporary aviaries for camels and antelopes are set up, and our lion also remains in Kaunas. At the end of June, we are organizing a festival for the seal, he is going to Kaliningrad, ”said G. Stankevičė.

The director of the Lithuanian Zoo clarified that the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, whose coordinators evaluate the conditions and possibilities of the zoos, is in charge of the relocation of the animals.

“All zoos send us photos so that we know what conditions our animals will live in,” said G. Stankevičė.

She mentioned that pets that travel to foreign zoos will not return to Kaunas. After the reconstruction work is completed, a new collection of Lithuanian zoo animals will be formed and a plan for its creation will be prepared.