Innovations and green technologies: Moscow Zoo turns 158

The Moscow Zoo was founded on February 12, 1864 by professors of Moscow University Anatoly Bogdanov, Yakov Kalinovsky, Sergei Usov and other members of the Acclimatization Society. By the time the Zoo was opened, 300 species were listed as its inhabitants (mainly Russian wildlife species, domestic animals of different breeds, and a number of exotic species — two lions, a jaguar, a leopard, a hyena, an alligator, and river turtles). Today, it has a collection of 1,237 species and 15,754 specimens (with more than a thousand migrant birds inhabiting the Big Pond).

Preservation of rare species

From the very beginning, the Zoo's specialists had worked to improve the breeds of domestic animals (they even organized shows) and were deeply engaged in acclimatization of wild animals in Russia.

As the Zoo was evolving, the main functions of and approaches to the collection were changing, too. At the same time, the Zoo’s key mission was the organization of educational and scientific activities. Over time, the specialists of the institution had achieved encouraging results in keeping and obtaining offspring from rare and endangered animal species. This experience has been widely adopted by Russian and foreign zoological associations.

 

So, they developed methods for selecting couples of Pallas's cats and came up with special diets for every stage — from preparation for breeding to feeding offspring,  with proper vitamin and mineral supplements and medicines added. As for Steller's sea-eagles, there was the best possible nesting accommodation arranged, with a variety of nesting supplies, feed and much more.

Apart from that, the Moscow Zoo became the world's first breeder of a number of herpetofauna species (including the Caspian cobra and all types of vipers listed in the USSR and Russia Red Data Book, several species of African green bush vipers, all types of Indonesian lance head snakes, Javanese dragon snake, red-headed krait, banded water cobra, Kalimantan earless monitor lizard and others). Zoo specialists have written dozens of research papers and books, fundamental works about breeding reptiles in zoological associations.

"Our employees are engaged with venomous snakes, which is unusual for Zoo-related activities. As the outcome of the research, the book Poisonous Snakes of the World written by our specialist Sergei Kudryavtsev was published last year. The guidelines for keeping venomous snakes, applied both in Zoo-related practice, in commercial-scale maintenance and in addressing zootoxinology (poisons) issues, were included in teaching aids for medical students," Svetlana Akulova pointed out.

According to Svetlana, the experience in rehabilitation, and also participation in the predatory mammals reintroduction programs (that is, recreating the animal population in their natural habitat) are valuable as well:  "We are taking part in the polar bear rehabilitation and Persian leopard reintroduction programs. In each individual case, we look for the best solutions to preserve animals in their natural habitat, provide them with proper conditions in Zoos, and help their offspring return to the wild. In this regard, we are going to build a large open-air cage complex for the rehabilitation of polar bears in the Rare Animal Species Reproduction Center."

Green technologies and state-of-the-art equipment

In its activities, the Moscow Zoo is guided by the Environmental Sustainability Strategy of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). This document prescribes the key strategic goals and objectives of zoological associations, which are based on preservation of both individual animal species and nature as a whole.

In 2019, the so-called smart garbage bins — containers for proper sorting and further processing of various types of waste (paper, plastic, glass, metal and organic) — were set up on the Zoo's grounds. There were several recycled plastic benches placed for visitors.

Another innovation was the camera traps (automatic photo and video shooting devices) mounted in the open-air cages of some animals.

 

According to Vladimir, the open-air cages inhabited by lions and the Amur leopard will also have camera traps soon. Their footage will be available on the Zoo’s official social media pages.

Both food and plaything

In January, the Moscow Zoo traditionally summed up the results of the Christmas tree collection campaign. This time, about two thousand spruce firs, silver firs and pines were collected. Trees are used not as a cage decoration only: for some animals they serve as toys (for example, elephants enjoy rolling trunks about their cages) and as a shelter for others, with some animals using them as claw sharpeners or delicious food.

So, markhoors, bharals, alpacas and capybaras enjoy treating themselves to spruce branches. Since conifers contain a variety of vitamins and amino acids, this is a very good supplement to the animal diet.

Family Felidae members are among those who like sharpening their claws on trunks. Anthropoids are happy about fir trees as well.

 

Some coniferous trees are also supplied to Asian elephants: male elephant Pamir, female elephant Pipita and their babies — Filimon and his older sister Kapri. 

 

Birthday celebration

To celebrate its birthday, the Zoo has prepared a special program. It invites its guests to join sightseeing tours focusing on the historical context (with mandatory face masks and social distancing). Also, one may read some insightful content online — on the Moscow Zoo's social media pages.