Today, August 14, the Regional Landscape Park Feldman Ecopark was visited by the Minister of Environmental Protection of Israel Ze’ev Elkin. The guest had a time to attend the whole expositional part of the zoo, as well as its renovated locations and enclosures.
“I visited Ecopark a year ago, during my previous official visit to Ukraine, and I was amazed by this wonderful project even then. But it should be noted that during this year, Ecopark changed significantly – new enclosures were constructed. I’ve never seen the similar growth rates even in Israeli zoos,” Mr. Elkin noted. “Ecopark is interesting not only as a zoo that functions and develops according to the European standards. The use of the park as an educational complex surprises as well. I see the scope of the work carried out with children, the appearance of numerous diverse projects – it is very interesting and great. It is some kind of a new spin in comparison with what we’ve used to see here, in Ukraine, in zoos.”
During the meeting, the parties determined the plans for future cooperation – it is expected that a monkey farm will be constructed in Feldman Ecopark for it to become a home for the rescued Israeli primates.
“We are currently solving the problem of relocation of 1,200 monkeys all over the world. They were raised in Israel for experiments, but the law has changed and we don’t allow animal selling for medical studies now. Trying to decide what to do with the animals, we came to the idea of distributing them among the international zoos,” Ze’ev Elkin said.
Feldman Ecopark showed initiative to accommodate one of the groups of primates and to coordinate the cooperation with the other zoos in Ukraine.
It should be reminded that Feldman Ecopark and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo exchange the animals actively since 2015. The first animals, which moved abroad, were the Eurasian otters. The head veterinarian and zoological director of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo Nili Avni-Magen noted then that the cooperation with Ecopark gave big chances for the efficient reproduction of the Eurasian otters and the increase of their population, which is the issue of state concern
