Reviews - Zoos in Europe

Sofia Zoo's history goes way back. Bulgaria, at least the original territories it partly encompasses, was once part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. After the war between Russia and the Turkish Empire, Bulgaria gained some degree of independence in 1878. When Prince Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg-Gotha - an amateur ornithologist and keen nature lover with scientific interest who spent a lot of time in the field collecting animals and plants - became head of state in 1888 he assigned by decree a site for a zoological garden in the royal botanical garden, at the time a former city dump on the outskirts of town but nowadays near Borysova gardens. The new site was necessary because the small animal collection created by Prince Ferdinand, with its centrepiece the birdcage holding a black vulture next to common pheasants, red deer and a pair of brown bears, became too large to be maintained in the garden of the royal palace of Vrana. Nonetheless, 1888 can be regarded as the year Sofia Zoo was founded, which makes it the oldest zoo in the Balkans.

Thus, in 1890, the royal zoological garden was established on the edge of the city. In addition to the animals of the existing collection, otters, wild goats, lama, birds of prey, swans and cranes were accommodated in the new 2.4 ha facilities. Keepers were appointed, and a sculptor, Ernst Hublein, was called from Coburg especially to take on the job of supervisor. Besides sculptor, Hublein was a keen taxidermist. And his skill to stuff the zoo animals that died, laid the foundation of the National Museum of Natural History, originally named the Royal Prince 's Natural History Museum. This tradition to stuff the rare and more valuable animals from Sofia Zoo still continues.

In 1892, the Zoo's animal collection was extended with a pair of African lions, which were purchased from Leipzig Zoo by Hublein. Already that same year the lions procreated and the cow barn had to be turned into a temporary lion enclosure. Until 1893 the animals in the Zoo could only be admired by the royal family and their guests. However, interest in the animals housed in the zoological garden grew among Sofia citizens, and in the summer of 1893 the gardens were opened to the common people. At first only for three days a week, but free of charge. The species collection became more and more varied, and besides the lions, dromedary camels, elk (Cervus canadensis) and Barbary sheep were acquired. At the same time - under the new manager, ornithologist Paul Leverkühn, who also headed the staff of the National Museum of Natural History - buildings and other enclosures were constructed. Perhaps the most important of these constructions were the elongated aviary with 24 separate cages for pheasants and other gallinaceous birds, and the large domed aviary for bearded vultures, griffon vultures and black vultures. The Zoo successfully bred the bearded vultures, producing 13 offspring with a single pair of adult birds in about 20 years. This achievement, unique at the time when nowhere else this bird was bred in captivity, brought great respect from the zoological community. From then on Sofia Zoo was considered a serious scientific zoological institution. Other important milestones during the management of Leverkühn were the new bear house, carnivore house and the first pool for waterfowl, including pelicans, black swans, ducks and geese.

At the end of the 19^th century the zoo collection had already an impressive 1,384 animals of 266 species on display on the small territory. Their reproduction successes resulted even in surplus stock that was sent to parks in other towns, such as Varna, Ruse and Kritchin, forming the start of a zoological collection in these places. In Sofia Zoo, however, progress continued with creating the terrarium holding South European snakes and lizards, as well as a young Mississippi alligator donated by a lady from Sofia who had bought it at the World Exhibition in Chicago. Meanwhile other species were added to the collection, such as a pair of lynx in 1902, two Tibetan yaks in 1905, and the rare Carolina parakeet, indigenous to the United States of America. The latter was introduced by Adolf Schumann who was appointed as general inspector of the Zoo in 1911 and who had gained experience in zoos and private collections in Austria and Germany. His terms ended in 1940, while the Carolina parakeet's terms ended with extinction - although one of the only two stuffed specimens of this parakeet in the world can be seen in the collection of the Museum of Natural Science in Sofia. In 1912 the Zoo received a male and a female Asian elephant from Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg. These two pachyderms were first put in temporary enclosures at the stables of the royal palace in Vrana, where Prince Ferdinand began his animal collection. Zoo management had problems designing and building a proper enclosure for the elephants, which led to a prolonged stay in Vrana until well after the end of WWI. Sofia Zoo survived the war undamaged, but it took another ten years before the elephants could be transferred to the royal zoological gardens, in 1929. That was the beginning of the tradition of keeping elephants in Sofia Zoo, which is reflected in the Zoo's logo today, an elephant with a crown on top. These first two elephants never procreated while the male passed away of an anthrax infection in 1940, and the female died of an internal parasitic infection in 1953.

In this period a special annual log-book was meticulously kept by the veterinarians, which also proofed all animals were well taken care of. Having a keeper on duty every night was another sign that this was the case.

Then WWII broke out and this war didn't pass unnoticed. As Bulgaria supported Germany - at least politically - and didn't expel German forces from its territory, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria in 1944. This led to heavy allied bombing on Bulgaria's capital. However, while this left Sofia in ruins the Zoo escaped total destruction, as the rest of the country suffered little damage as well. While many terrified Sofia citizens had fled to the countryside, the zookeepers searched the streets and ruins of Sofia for dead horses, oxen and other domestic animals to feed the remaining carnivores. But they also had to make difficult decisions about which ungulate of the remaining collection had to be shot to feed the carnivores, as there was a constant shortage of meat. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the keepers, the zoological garden continued to exist after the war when, in 1945, Bulgaria became an independent socialist republic. And while Sofia Zoo was completely restored, it became part of the Bulgarian Academy of Science in 1947.

The change of geopolitical influence on Bulgaria after WWII made it easier for the Zoo to acquire its first shipment of new animals from the Soviet Union, East Germany and other socialist countries in the 1950s. Fortunately, animals arrived from other regions as well, with a pair of Asian elephants as the highlight in 1954. They were shipped to Varna harbour and from there travelled by train arriving two days later in Sofia Zoo. The male elephant had only a short life at the Zoo. He died in 1964, but not before he had made the elephant cow pregnant. The happy occasion of the first ever birth of an elephant calf in Sofia Zoo took place on 13 April 1965. Although lively and playful, the female calf had to be bottle-fed, because she wouldn't drink from her mother. Despite this, she grew up healthy and strong until at the age of three a sadistic visitor gave her a loaf of bread with needles inside which led to her painful death. The second elephant calf born at the Zoo in 1973 awaited a similar fate. The bull calf was poisoned by another deranged visitor using strychnine.

As of 1960 Sofia Zoo was under the management and administration of the municipal government. Meanwhile the animal collection grew steadily and new species such as penguins, antelopes and zebras were added regularly. It became obvious that the size of the available grounds was too small, both for the number of animals and the increasing number of visitors. Due to the enormous interest of the public it was decided to have the Zoo remain open during the winter season of 1965-1966, for the first time ever. Altogether it was clear that the Zoo had to expand. A plan was conceived for building a brand new zoo in 1966 by architects Radoslavov and Iliev in the foothills of the Vitosha Mountain. The construction was an enormous task for the municipal authorities, but work commenced and with the significant help of Sofia citizen volunteers the three stages of construction were as good as completed in 1983. So, after 15 years of building a new site of 24 hectares (and another 12 hectares for future development) was ready to receive the animals. The transport of the animals to the new site was an enormous operation which required lots of preparatory work. A large number of special wooden crates were made to facilitate the transfer of the different animals, while a special big metal cage was created for the Zoo's single elephant cow, the one who lost both her newborn calves due to insane actions of two visitors. The mass animal transfer was carried out in 1984 with the last animal arriving from the old site in August. On 10 September 1984 the brand new Sofia Zoo was officially opened.

Having spent nearly all their money on this huge project a financial predicament awaited. Especially, because they couldn't let Sofia Zoo's 100^th anniversary in 1988 pass unnoticed. But thanks to many grants, gifts, presents, legacies, and donations from Bulgarian citizens and many wealthy Bulgarians living abroad these 100^th anniversary celebrations were made possible after all. On the day of its 100^th anniversary, the Zoo had nearly 2,500 animals on display of about 250 different species.

In 1968 the Zoo already had started its education programme for children in a so-called zoo school, but following the modern trend in zoos more emphasis was placed on this function in the 1990s. In 1998 the Zoo founded the Environmental Education and Research Centre (EERC), located in a separate building in the 'heart' of the Zoo grounds. Apart from engaging the public in the objectives a modern zoo stands for, such as zoo animal welfare, nature conservation and research, the people working at the EERC collaborate with many relevant institutions in the field of education, conservation and research work.

Similar to what many other zoos in the world did, raising additional funds for the Zoo to address the broad scope of its mission was paramount. For this purpose an animal adoption programme has been set up and in operation since 1995. This implicitly created a valuable group of people that can be called 'friends of the zoo.'

In 2009 a remarkable incident showed how vulnerable an institute such as Sofia Zoo can be. Due to a pricing dispute between Bulgaria and Russia the Russian gas supply was stopped, and as a consequence the central heating at the zoo was shut down. About a third of the 1,300 animals at the zoo were vulnerable to the resulting cold and employees had to find portable electric and oil heaters to heat their enclosures.

As of 2013 the Zoo focusses also more on its botanical function with a dendrology route that has been developed, along which visitors can see 40 interesting species of trees and shrubs from around the world.

Nowadays, Sofia Zoo covers an area of 36 hectares, which makes it, besides being the oldest, also the largest zoo in the Balkans. The Zoo is engaged in nature conservation activities by participating actively in national and international breeding programmes for rare and endangered species such as birds of prey, big cats (Persian leopard, Amur Tiger, Eurasian lynx) and antelopes.

The future
Sofia Zoo is currently (2018) a candidate member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), and it is in the process of upgrading its facilities to meet current European standards in preparation for becoming a full member of EAZA.

(Source: Sofia Zoo website; Zoo and Aquarium History, ed. Vernon N. Kisling, Jr., 2001; Wikipedia; Revolvy.com page on Sofia Zoo, accessed 20.12.2018)

The history of elephant keeping in the zoo is inextricably linked to the history of the zoological garden itself, which is reflected in the Zoo's logo.

The tradition of keeping elephants, Asian elephants, started in 1912, when Sofia Zoo acquired a pair of these pachyderms from Tierpark Hagenbeck in Hamburg. Nal and Damajandi were three years old when they arrived in Sofia. They were 'temporarily' housed in stables of the royal residence in Vrana, where Prince Ferdinand began his animal collection, until the construction of a proper elephant house at the Zoo was completed in 1929 . Nal and Damajandi were relocated to Sofia Zoo on 10 July 1929, after a prolonged stay at the Vrana palace of 17 years.

However, their relocation proved to be a difficult task. Nal had changed his previous “tranquil” temper and became an evil and dangerous bull. To transport him by truck was unthinkable. He was lured into a special reinforced metal cage placed on strong wheels and pulled to Sofia by four heavy draft horses. Unfortunately, his temper did not improved in his new home. He attacked the strong fence made of rail and nothing - not even the Sofia Fire Brigade - could calm him down. Finally, his keepers proved to be more clever, and they managed to convince him to settle down. Contrary to Nal, Damajandi, his female companion, was more docile and presented herself as a real lady - the whole 10 kilometres from Vrana to down town Sofia. They never reproduced, and unfortunately Nal passed away of an anthrax infection in 1940, and Damajandi died of an internal parasitic infection in 1953.

In 1935, a new member was added to the small elephant herd - Pascha came to Sofia as a small 17 year old adult elephant bull. He was also purchased from Tierpark Hagenbeck. As a young bull, he was friendly with his keepers, and enjoyed a regular pedicure with lard spread over his feet to prevent the toenails of getting cracked. After Nal's death he became the new mate of Damajandi. Growing older, Pascha started to show the evil side of his character. Using his natural strength and smartness, his new purpose in life became throwing objects and sand at his keepers. Pascha died in 1975, having sired one calf with Savitra, the elephant cow whose story is next to be told.

In 1954, Sofia Zoo purchased from India a pair of young elephants - Sativan, a male, and Savitri, a female. Their first calf was stillborn, on 29 December 1962. Unfortunately, Sativan had difficulties adjusting to life in captivity, and died in 1964, but not before he made Savitry pregnant. The Zoo's first ever elephant birth was a female calf named Sofia on 13 April 1965. Although lively and playful, the female calf had to be bottle-fed, because for some unknown reason she wouldn't drink from her mother. Despite this, she grew up healthy and strong until at the age of three a visitor gave her a loaf of bread with needles inside which led to her painful death. Together with Pascha Savitri had a male calf in May 1972, named Pascha Junior. He was the second young elephant killed by a visitor, this time using poison, strychnine. Pascha junior died in 1980. This left Savitri alone and lonely.

However, after the Zoo moved to its present location near the foothills of Vitosha mountain, in 1984, Savitri's life became brighter again. In 1985, a companion arrived for her, an elephant cow from the Circus Berolina, Berlin, DDR. Her name was Zita, or Seeta, and she was born in 1963.

In the new enclosure Zita and Savitri lived together for almost 30 years in good friendship, Savitri was the dominant elephant though. They even slept in one stable until Zita became sick with a stomach disorder accompanied by seizures. The vet decided the two friends had to be separated for a while. This turned out to be a long period, which caused a disruption of their relationship. Zita died in 2002 in a tragic accident. She was pushed by Savitri into the inner moat of the enclosure, which she didn't survive. So, Savitri was alone again, and unhappy.

Two years later a 42 year old elephant cow, Artaida, arrived on the scene. She came from Gelsenkirchen Zoo, Zoom Erlebniswelt, and was clearly the boss. These two elderly ladies didn't enjoy each other's company for a very long time, because Savitri died in January 2006. Since then Artaida is the only elephant left in Sofia Zoo. As a matter of fact she is the only elephant in Bulgaria, enjoying a generous space of 2000 m² in the outdoor enclosure and three interconnected boxes indoors of together 770 m².

After Artaida arrived in Sofia Zoo the routine care necessary to keep her feet healthy was gone, which left her feet in a bad state after a while. Therefore, in 2005, to prevent any further deterioration of the feet of both animals a professional specialised in elephant foot care was hired. The elephants had to be immobilised, because of the extensive work that had to be done and because they were not trained properly to accept such pedicure procedures while fully awake. The veterinarian and zookeepers realised this was not to be repeated often, so they sought help and support for them to learn how to improve on easy elephant feet care. Adequate help was provided by Chester Zoo where two of the Bulgarian staff of Sofia Zoo were trained how to handle their elephants properly. This dramatically changed the concept of how to care for the elephants at Sofia Zoo. The idea for PC (Protected Contact) was introduced and embraced by Sofia Zoo management.

In addition, with financial support of the Sofia city government, changes were made to the elephant enclosure to meet the modern husbandry requirements in zoos, including the introduction of sandy substrate in both the indoor and outdoor enclosure, in 2007. Feeding enrichment features are regarded important as well, so they introduced high-placed feeders. The latest enrichment for Artaida is a special ball-feeder for elephants.

(Source: Sofia Zoo website; EleWiki - elefanten.wiki.com)

The weather conditions (-8 ºC and snowing) are not favourable for a zoo visit I have to admit, but I'll just have to deal with it. It should be possible to get a good impression of the Zoo, though I expect that not a lot of animals will be visible in their outdoor exhibits.

I enter via the western entrance which is an inconspicuous small building with two gates and four ticket booths. This entrance is serviced by several buses. I make my way around the premises starting at the exhibits for bears, after which more or less clockwise I will be ploughing through a thick layer of snow of about 20 centimetres. At this early hour the Zoo is still rather empty, except for the people at the cashier desk, but it will not come as a surprise when the number of visitors will be low today ?.

The bears section comprises American black bear, Asian black bear, Eurasian brown bear, grizzly bear, and the odd one out - the striped hyena. That the hyena decided to stay inside today seems a nobrainer from the hyena's point of view, but that only the grizzly bear had the courage to go outside is a surprise. The reason for the grizzly to ruin the pristine snowy conditions in his enclosure is obvious, he knows his morning apple is about to arrive (see video). The outdoor enclosure in the bear section all have deep dry moats at the visitor's side, but it is hard to appreciate the enclosure design with the snow hiding enrichment features that do not rise above the layer of snow. Opposite the bear section wolves occupy undulating grounds with a small hill. The adjacent enclosure for wolves is of similar design but smaller. Both have wire mesh fences all around and not enough evergreen vegetation to provide a reasonable amount of places to hide from inquisitive visitors during winter in my opinion.

The information panels at the enclosures have one single design and provide information in Bulgarian and English, the latter is very helpful for foreigners like me. Together with the website a lot of valuable and interesting knowledge is available for the regular visitor and the zoo enthusiasts. More on signage and information is available here.

When continuing my route there's a row of old-fashioned cages that house small predators, such as palm civet, badger, serval, jungle cat, striped skunk, banded mongoose, striped mongoose and red fox. Most of them were indoors and not visible. All of these enclosures are definitely not fit for purpose with respect to modern zoo standards. The one for serval, however, is the superlative considering the small size and the lack of possibilities for these African cats to express their natural behaviour. Serval have enormous jumping power which they exploit during hunting in the Africa savannah.

Then on the right appear two modern enclosures for jaguar. These are definitely part of the endeavours of Sofia Zoo management to upgrade their exhibits and go from candidate EAZA membership to full membership. Nonetheless, the jaguars are quite exposed in these exhibits with few shelters and fences all around without any vegetation or else as additional barrier.

At the end of the footpath I follow in this section the Amur tiger is housed in a new and large open top enclosure that provides high level observation with a wooden rack and platform. The viewing windows deliver good viewing opportunities, but they are redundant because the all around fencing does not have any vegetation alongside that blocks the view (similar to the jaguar). When I retrace my steps because the path was a dead-end and walk past the jaguar, two adjacent enclosures of similar design as the jaguar appear for another American big cat - the puma (or mountain lion). It has access to a bit more enrichment features than the jaguar. Furthermore in this (big) cat section the Eurasian lynx and the Persian leopard can be found in fenced areas.

Then two species are kept in outdoor enclosures designed according the Hagenbeck principle - no bars but using large moats, and one of the exhibits has a large mural on the rear wall. This regards the African lion and the Amur tiger. Walking further along the footpath around the big cat house towards the other side of the new Amur tiger exhibit and the entrance of the building, there's an open top enclosure for 6 specimens of jackal. This exhibit provides sufficient hiding spots so it seems, especially in spring and summer when the vegetation is luscious and green. When I enter the building I see the indoor facilities of the tiger, lion, jaguar and puma, which are small with few enrichment features, although all have elevated observation posts. The enclosures have tiled floors (easy cleaning), but artificial rock face walls including murals to give the public the impression they are visiting an exotic place. This building has also a large exhibition hall with aquariums and terrariums, the latter mostly for reptiles, but also for cape genet and chinchilla.

Having spent my time first on the northern part of the grounds I now cross over to the opposite side taking a small detour to a row of small aviaries with birds of prey (owls and Egyptian vultures). After seeing a lot of empty paddocks in the heart of the Zoo, where ungulates should be outside, I am surprised to see several ostriches in their outdoor enclosure. So, Gerald Durrell must have been right when he said that you could acclimatise every species to the UK climate ?. From the ostriches it is just a small walk to the large aviary for golden eagle and griffon vulture, which is a landmark on the Zoo premises . As you can imagine I skipped the frozen over ponds near the main entrance, and so next to discover is the southern region of the grounds. This is clearly the part that needs some refurbishment to meet modern zoo standards. Closest to the impressive aviary for birds of prey is a building that used to house (big) cats, but at the moment is used as a temporary unit to house three lions that have been rescued from the derelict and illegal zoo in the city of Razgrad by Four Paws International, more on this story here.

Another old building at the south-eastern edge of the Zoo, along Chavdar Mutafov street, is situated around the corner. It is the first of two buildings that holds primates. The first building consists on one side of a row of old-fashioned outdoor exhibits, perhaps to be called cages instead, for lion-tailed macaque, hamadryas baboon, Hanuman langur, pig-tailed macaque and rhesus macaque. Although much too small, the cages provide ropes, hammocks and some other enrichment. Nonetheless, definitely not fit for purpose. On the other side of this building a few small monkeys, such as Geoffroy's marmoset and pygmy marmoset, are kept. The building is accessible, and it turns out that on both sides there are outdoor and indoor enclosures for the primate species available. Indoors there's a full glass barrier including a service corridor for the zookeepers between the visitor and his fellow primates. Did the outdoor facilities made me shiver when thinking of the animals' welfare, the indoor facilities are even worse. They are small, fully tiled exhibits with only few enrichment features, that really should be renovated and upgraded as soon as possible. The other primate building houses green monkey (Chlorocebus sabaeus), tufted brown capuchin, pig-tailed macaque, common marmoset, ring-tailed lemur and lar gibbon (Hylobates lar). The building is of similar height and construction as the other primate house, therefore absolutely not suitable to house a gibbon that in the wild would brachiate through the rainforest canopy.

From the primate buildings it is just a small slippery stroll through the snow to the pachyderm house. This building is surrounded by several outdoor paddocks for white rhinoceros, hippopotamus, Asian elephant and pygmy hippo. The different outdoor enclosures are of a similar design with a deep dry moat surrounding the flat areas accessible for the animals. Strangely enough only at the hippo and elephant paddock electrical wire is used to prevent the animals from stepping over the edge. Especially, for the notoriously visually challenged rhino this seems dangerous. But it could well be that as soon as the animals are allowed outside again, assuming that they are not allowed out under snowy conditions, the electrical wire will be set up again. Entering the pachyderm house I am hugely disappointed, because I see only one specimen of each species, all of them in small boring exhibits. Fortunately there's a pool available between the hippo and elephant exhibit for them to take turns bathing. When I step out again it still is a bit cold outside, most kiosks (and toilets) are closed, not many ungulates show themselves, and I seem to be the only visitor. So, I decide to call it a day and make my way to the exit.

When Sofia Zoo was moved to the new location in 1984 (see history) it was done because the old place was far too small to keep the growing animal collection in a proper way. It should be applauded that they decided not to grow much further in number of animals, keep large areas of the new grounds unused and make them available for leisure activities such as picnicking. This gives Sofia Zoo a park-like atmosphere and creates a spacious feeling. Another decision I appreciate is the way the animal collection is grouped. No mixed approaches here, just hardcore taxonomic grouping with primates, birds, bears, big cats, small predators, pachyderms and ungulates. Such grouping supports the attempt of getting across an educational message in my opinion without confusing people by suggesting that some species live together in the same habitat in the wild while coming from a different geographic origin. I assume that visitors will know that the species grouped together like here in Sofia, not all come from the same geographical region. Nonetheless, to enhance the enrichment of several species it must be possible to create some mixed-species exhibits with species from the same continent or habitat, I assume.

The information panels at the enclosures are very informative in both the Bulgarian as English language, and it includes the scientific name of the species. The geographical distribution in the wild is depicted on a world map. Some biological data is provided in brief and the IUCN conservation status is mentioned, although the full scale of conservation classifications is not given . Additionally, information is given whether or not there's a breeding programme for the respective species (EEP or ESB) in Europe, although nothing is mentioned about the Zoo's contribution to the breeding programme. Unfortunately, the information is not always entirely up to date or correct - mixing up EEP and ESB sometimes for instance, but this is a well-known common problem in many zoos. Further to the relevant information already mentioned, the panel provides info on the CITES status - something you hardly ever see on public info in zoos.

On the info panels they make use of QR codes which, when scanned with your smartphone, refer to wikipedia information on the species on display - clever!

Kinkajou information provided on website Sofia Zoo.
Image derived from Sofia Zoo website example

As a matter of fact, they use the same panel with information on the species on their website as well, including the QR code; so, you may scan the code when you would like to get access to more info.

Sofia Zoo is rather easy to navigate, and with large billboard maps at crucial points on the grounds you will find your way around fast and easy, without a doubt.

In 2017 Sofia Zoo has played a significant role in the rescue of one of five lions kept under bad conditions in the illegal zoo of the city of Razgrad in Bulgaria - Razgrad zoo's license expired in 2014. An urgent rescue mission conducted by the international animal welfare organisation Four Paws took place over two days to save those five lions, in the end of November 2017. During the mission it became apparent that one of the male lions was in such a bad shape that he had to be taken to Sofia Zoo for further treatment. Together with this 3-year-old called Ivan-Asen, two other lions, siblings Hector and Raya 12 years of age, were temporarily accommodated in Sofia Zoo to recover and strengthen.

The lions are the result of inbreeding due to the introduction of stricter legislation in Bulgaria, in 2008. In the past Razgrad zoo sold the lions they bred to other zoos, circuses and private persons. The new legislation led to a reduced demand from these parties. As no measures were taken at Razgrad Zoo to stop their lions procreating, systematic inbreeding resulted. Besides the negative effect of inbreeding on the health of the lions, they were also kept under deplorable conditions. They vegetated for years without any medical care in tiny enclosures. The lion that had to be cared for at Sofia Zoo, Ivan-Asen, was three years old and was permanently kept in a small indoor enclosure without access to sunlight, fresh air or space to walk around. After his initial recovery he was relocated to the sanctuaries of Four Paws in the Netherlands, end of March 2018. He followed his rescued mates that were relocated to a sanctuary of Four Paws as well.

To see the animals like that was shocking. Never in their lifetime have these lions been examined by a veterinarian. This is fatal, especially in the light of the systematic inbreeding of the big cats. Here, the descendants of siblings have procreated uncontrolled due to lack of care.

Barbara van Genne, Four Paws big cat expert.

The veterinarians that were part of the international rescue team provided medical care to all lions and additionally sterilised two adult males. Due to the lack of physical exercise, the older lions already suffered from severe issues with their spines. It is likely that the younger ones will face the same health problems. The 3-year-old lion Ivan-Asen that was brought to Sofia Zoo for comprehensive examinations was diagnosed with sand in his bladder and fibrosis in the kidneys, besides being malnourished, suffering from decubitus and vitamin A deficiency.

The two lion cubs that were part of the rescued animals were born in September and only three months old when saved from further abuse. In fact, they were rescued from the zoo a few weeks before the older animals were removed and taken care of. The cubs were rejected by their mother and had respiratory problems, diarrhoea and were dehydrated. So, immediate action was necessary. They received urgent medical care in a temporary location. As soon as they were fit for travel they were relocated to the Four Paws sanctuary in the Netherlands, on 6 February 2018.

One lion couple remained in Razgrad zoo, awaiting the decision of the local authorities to shut down or renovate the place. Four Paws closely monitors the well-being of the 6-year-old siblings that remain as well as that of the other zoo residents.

Razgrad Zoo
The Razgrad Zoo is located in north-eastern Bulgaria and opened in 1960. Although its license expired in 2014, the derelict zoo remained open to visitors for free. The breeding and sale of lions was used for financing the enterprise.

As far as I know and could discover online the zoo is still open. The animal welfare issues of the zoo has been brought to the attention of European Parliament, but this particular political avenue will not bring the permanent solution animal lovers hope for on short notice (see the notice to members of European Parliament). [Moos]

Some additional information, such as contact details and involvement in breeding programmes.

directions to Sofia Zoo

Sofia Zoo has two entrances, of which the western gate is best accessible by public transport. There is no dedicated parking lot at either entrance, so public transport is recommended.

Address:
str. Srebarna 1, Hladilnika district
1407
Sofia
Bulgaria

public transport

by metro

• Vistosha station, which is the terminal station of metro line 2 in the Hladilnika district, is situated on walking distance (about 1 km) from the western entrance of the Zoo. From Vitosha station several buses run via the zoo bus stop as well. So if you want to save your energy you could take bus 83, 88, 120, 64 or 66 to get to the Zoo.
  When you buy a single metro ticket, it is valid to travel in the metro within 30 minutes after it is issued (Beware: do not buy a return ticket in advance!). In addition the ticket should be validated at the barriers at the entrance of the metro station.

by bus

• Bus lines 102 and 67 have a stop at bul. Simeonovsko Shose close to the main entrance.

• Bus lines 120, 122, 93, 88, 83, 64, 66 and 10-TM stop right in front of the western entrance ticket booth at str. Srebarna 1.

A good trip planner for any available kind of public transportation in Sofia you can find here. Or you could try this website.

by bicycle

When you stay within the boundaries of Sofia city cycling is fairly easy because the area is rather flat. But there are two annoying issues, besides the limited number of bicycle lanes. One of the is that Bulgarian drivers don't score high on tolerance for cyclists. The other one is the aggressiveness of the street dogs at night. Fortunately your visit to the Zoo will be at daytime, so you're good regarding the dogs.
If you didn't bring your own bike, there are several places you can rent one in Sofia. Most hostels and hotels will assist you, or they might provide their own bikes. If not, try Sofia Bike or Drag Bike Rental.

by car

There are various options for reaching the Zoo by car. Choose the route that suits you best by using a route planner or your SatNav.

There is no dedicated parking at either entrance, so arriving by car is discouraged.

Download the zoo map here.