(Iran's Environment News Agency) -Batumi is the beach side city in southwest of the Georgia.
With its unique situation which lies between Green mountains and Black sea it has a humid subtropical climate.
The city's climate is heavily influenced by the onshore flow from the Black Sea and is subject to the orographic effect of the nearby hills and mountains, resulting in significant rainfall throughout most of the year, making Batumi the wettest city in both Georgia and the entire Caucasus Region.
This good climate gives an especial opportunity for Batumi environment to grow green and have fertile lands in the region.
Batumi also is the first touristic city in the country and every year many tourists come here from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Europe and some from America.
In these series of articles I am going to introduce you some places in Batumi, Adjara which has an important role in environment and attracting tourists.
1- Batumi Zoo Corner:
Many tourists who comes to Batumi knows a lot about Botanical Garden, Mtirala Park, Batumi boulevard and even beautiful Waterfalls outside of the city but almost most of them do not notice the Batumi zoo corner in the heart of the city!
Batumi Zoo corner is one of the most fascinating and interesting parts which is located in eastern corner of 6 May park. The history of it goes back in 1989, when Batumi animal defense society funded enclosures for animals instead of zoo corner, where variety of animals inhabited: Monkeys, Bears, Dogs, etc.
When Town Park was remade into the children’s park in 1933, the subject to build the zoo was highlighted again.
In 1937, 0.6 hectares of land was marked out to put the cages in it. Gradually the zoo corner underwent some changes.
In 1971 wooden enclosures were changed into capital constructions, the number of the inhabitant species was gained. The indwellers in zoo corners that time represented Georgian endemics: Caucasian brown bear, wolf, jackal, badger, fox, deer, rabbit, additionally different exotic animals and birds, such as – monkeys, highland pony, eagle, parrot, peacock, guinea-fowl, decorative ducks and others.
In the years of 2006-2007 zoo corner was fundamentally reconstructed, nowadays it covers more than 2 hectares of land. The enclosures for animals both for summer and winter were thoroughly well organized. Their diet and daily ratio is determined by the qualified specialists.
There are laboratory room and intensive care in the administrative building of zoo corner.
The departments are introduced with:
A sector – primates and birds,
B sector – marsupial
C sector – hoofed animals.
By now the marsupial represents: red kangaroo; The primates: baboon, Hamadryas baboon, Japanese macaque, mandrill, ring-tailed lemur, ruffed lemur, green monkey, wooly monkey, De brazza’s monkey and three-striped night monkey. Hoofed animals department is introduced with: Blackbuck, spotted deer, axis dee, Caucasian roe deer and zebra.
The birds are representing with parrots: grey parrot, yellow-naped Amazon, 2 species of cockatoos and 3 species of Macaws.
Children contact corner will be activated here in close future, where children will have a chance not only to see the animals but to contact with them by feeding, give them names, entertain with them etc. Certainly for the contact zoo corner was selected safe animals: horses, rabbits and guinea pig.
Hopefully this zoo corner in the heart of the city could be a favorite place for tourists and children to love, care and feel responsibility towards any kind of living creature along with their parents.
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by: Farzin Valipour
Batumi, Georgia
Photo: Farzin Valipour