The Yalta zoological park called Skazka (Russian for "fairy tale"; the Zoo, for short) was founded in 1995 by the businessman Oleg Zubkov; it was the first private zoological park in the Commonwealth of Independent States (a loose union of most former member states of the USSR). Since the Zoo was opened, it has been visited by over 1 million people.
Currently, the Zoo is home for over 120 species of animals brought from all the continents of the world. Many animals arrived injured and were nursed back to health by employees of the Zoo. During the last years, the Zoo has been buying animals in accordance with international contracts signed with the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.
The Zoo contains representatives of rare species put on the international Red List of Threatened Species: the chimpanzee, the Asian black bear, the European otter, the Siberian tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the leopard, the black panther, and the cheetah.
The bird collection of the Zoo contains such protected species as the Dalmatian pelican, the great white pelican, the white-tailed eagle, the griffon vulture, and the black vulture.
Lions, bears, and hamadryas baboons regularly reproduce in the Zoo. Tigers, chimpanzees, camels, and almost all other formed couples bring their young.
In the Zoo, visitors may see pelicans, squirrels, monkeys, Siberian tigers, rabbits, Asian black bears, peafowls, ostriches, and many other beasts and birds. In this Zoo, every animal has its own name written on a plate. Visitors may take photographs together with the animals. Inside the Zoo, one may always hear music that contains sounds of nature. There are also many gift shops, cafes, and funny distorting mirrors at the Zoo.
The Zoo differs from other zoological parks in that here visitors are allowed to feed and pat all the animals except for the predators. At the entrance to the Zoo, there is a special small table with animal food that may be bought and fed to a favourite animal. The most "extreme" animals (for example, the monkeys) drink beer and smoke cigarettes.
At the Zoo, one may visit The Grandma's Farmyard, an area where domestic animals such as dwarf pigs, ponies, sheep, and goats are situated.
By the entrance to the Zoo, there is a hut of Baba-Yaga, a witch-like character in Slavic folklore; the hut bears two plaques, with the words "Ask before meddling, or you will loose your nose" and "Attention all visitors! Please report all incidents of indecent behaviour by Baba-Yaga towards visitors by leaving notes in the guestbook or by verbally informing the ticket office. Measures of administrative influence will be taken against the mean old woman. The Management of the Zoological Park."
The Zoo is situated on an amazingly beautiful location that offers a wonderful view of Yalta and the Crimean Mountains. The Zoo gives children and adults alike a whole lot of impressions and positive emotions. The private Skazka Zoological Park is situated at a distance of 2 kilometres (1.25 miles) from the Yuzhnoberezhnoye Highway (watch for the large writing "Zoological Park" on a mountain).
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