Tbilisi zoo reopens in September after devastating flood
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Wednesday, August 19
The Director of the Tbilisi Zoo confirmed that Georgia's one and the only zoological park will be reopened in September.
According to Gurielidze, part of the damaged open air cages and buildings are already cleaned and restored.
The Tbilisi zoo was almost fully destroyed during the June 13 nature disaster, which also killed huge part of zoo inmates.
"Restoration works are still in progress. However, sections of the zoo which survived during the flood will be reopened. Even though we lost many of our animals, there still are many interesting species left to see," stated Gurielidze.
According to him, Tbilisi Zoo plans to obtain new animals.
"Many enclosed and open air cages were fully destroyed. In the near future we will add monkeys to our collection, while other breeds will be added only after creating the necessary environments," he stressed.
Deputy Director of the Tbilisi Zoo, Davit Taktakishvili, confirmed the information about a new Zoo which is planned to be built near the Tbilisi Sea (Tbilisi Reservoir) .
"The new zoo is planned to be much bigger than the existing one. About 47 hectares of territory is allocated. New cages will meet all the European and American standards," said Taktakishvili.
According to him, the date when the construction will be launched is still unknown.
"We still work on the plan. However, as we calculated the construction process will take approximately 2-3 years," he stated
The flash flood in Tbilisi resulted in the death of 19 individuals and 3 are still missing. Also, it caused approximately 100 million GEL in damage.
