Park-safari "Taigan" in the Crimea (photo)

Surely many dreamed of being in a real safari park. However, not everyone can afford to go to Africa in our difficult times. But do not despair - dreams come true. Today we will go on a short trip. You do not need to go far away. Park-safari "Taigan" is in the Crimea. And when you get to know this miracle on the Crimean land, you will definitely want to visit it. We are sure that you will not regret the trip.

Safari Park "Taigan" in the Crimea: how it all began

This unique park is a branch of the famous on the peninsula of the Yalta zoo. In 2006, the zoo has exhausted its opportunities for expansion. Meanwhile, the animals multiplied, and there was an urgent need for new areas.

Today it is already possible to say with certainty that the safari park "Taigan" in Crimea appeared thanks to kind and not indifferent people. This is Oleg Zubkov, the former director of the Yalta Zoo. He found under Belogorsky an abandoned, dilapidated base, which at that time had been put up for sale for more than ten years, but there was no one willing to buy it.

Oleg Zubkov became the owner of the huge ruins of the former military base "Falcon". And then a long and painstaking work began on clearing the territory.

Building

Crimean safari park "Taigan" was created uneasy. It was necessary to build kilometers of bridges and fences on them, build dozens of cages, lay paving slabs. Zubkov had many like-minded people, including representatives of the city authorities, who took an active part in the construction of the park.

Animals

They were collected for five years around the world. Lions were brought from Russia, Ukraine, many European countries. White lions were brought by a special flight from South Africa.

Opening of the park

The solemn ceremony was held on April 20, 2012. All the leaders of the Crimea republic, fans of the Yalta zoo "Fairy Tale" came to her, there were many students and schoolchildren. Present and local entertainers. The holiday lasted until late in the evening.

Safari Park "Taigan" today

Such a magnificent park of lions is the only one in Europe. In a vast area of 32 hectares, more than fifty lions, tigers, leopards walk freely (not in open-air cages).

Safety system

Visitors to the park have a unique opportunity to observe the behavior of lions in the natural habitat from special bridges with fences that are raised to a height of three meters.

Inhabitants of the park

Safari Park "Taigan" gives visitors the opportunity to watch predatory cats all day long. You can see the meal of the king of beasts, look at the two males, who were separated from other community because of their bad temper. If you are lucky, you can observe how gentle and affectionate these terrible predators come with their girlfriends and cubs.

Relationship to animals

I would like to dwell on this issue in more detail, since such care and love that the inhabitants of the park receive is difficult to be found elsewhere.

In the park "Taigan" lives a blind lioness, who is called Dragonfly. Once it belonged to photographers who drove it along the beaches of Evpatoria so that tourists were photographed with a predator. Lioness grew up, became aggressive, and she began to be beaten. Often, the poor fellow got to the head.

When law enforcement agencies confiscated it from the mountain owners, she was already blind. As a result of the beating, the optic nerve was damaged in the lioness . Now she does not see anything, but she does not feel anything. She was released in a safari, and she found her friends and even a friend. Soon she had a daughter Marousia, who now lives in an open-air cage with teenagers.

A lioness Elsa many years ago I passed a circus artist to the Yalta zoo. Has handed over to die. She had all the joints inflamed, bone tissue was being destroyed from the inside , it was difficult for her to stand. But Elsa not only did not die, she seemed to be born anew. Bright sun, fresh meat, care and care have done their job. Most recently she had offspring. Since 2015, it is among the lions in the safari.

When is it better to visit the park?

In the park-safari "Taigan" it is better to come in the low season or to come in the evening, if you were in the Crimea in the summer. Otherwise, you will watch animals dormant in the shadow of rare trees.

Zoo

The territory on which lions live is just one part of the park. Safari Park "Taigan" has its own zoo, in which in spacious and clean enclosures live a variety of animals. Here, giraffes and camels, yaks and llamas, bears and macaques, leopards and hyenas have found their new home. Peacocks simply walk around the paths next to the visitors.

Park development and further plans

Currently, the safari park "Taigan", a photo of which you can see in our article, is actively developing. Here, more and more interesting expositions are being created. For example, on the site of the old garden a complex of enclosures for different animals was built. They turned out to be spacious, bright and very comfortable for their inhabitants.

The Amur tigers left their concrete and not very large enclosures and moved to more spacious ones - with grass, trees and huge pools. They managed a housewarming and a nosuh. Now they have a house with trees. Cages for elephants are being built. A cozy and warm house for giraffes was built.

Appeared in the park and rows of small enclosures intended for small mammals: badgers, raccoons, skunks, monkeys, nutria, foxes. In the park-safari "Taigan" continue to come new tenants. From Kharkov came the powerful bison, and from Moscow - the Tibetan yaks. Holland sent mini-animals, who now live in the exhibition "Grandma's Yard." From Kaliningrad, the plane delivered three Baltic seals, which immediately fell in love with visitors.

Park Safari "Taigan" has its own cafe "Eastern Fairy Tale", where guests are fed with dishes of Crimean-Tatar cuisine. This cafe has become very popular. Hot chebureks, lagman, shurpa, pilaf from a fire - these dishes cause delight of tourists.

There is also another cafe - "Bungalow" in the park. It is noteworthy for being on the outskirts, where lions live. You can order yourself, for example, a shish kebab, sit on an open balcony, and under you will walk, frolic, lie dozens of lions.

All guests pay attention that there are a lot of marble sculptures. Dozens of magnificent peacocks are walking in the park, African guinea fowls are running around, rabbits are running around, no one is afraid, gentle and graceful roe deer are walking. In the "Taigan" is unobtrusive and quiet music. All this creates an atmosphere of harmony between man and nature.

Where to live?

Park Safari "Taigan" has its own hotel, which is called - "Safari". Today it receives more than 200 guests at the same time. There are two conference halls, spacious banquet halls, as well as billiards, karaoke room, underground cinema hall, sauna and baths.