Happy birthday, Alya!

Today, September 3, Mykolaiv Zoo has a holiday, the birthday of the world's largest common eland (Taurotragus oryx) named Alya, she turns 14! She was born at Kharkiv Zoo in 2010, and arrived at Mykolaiv Zoo in 2011.

By nature, our beautiful birthday girl is a calm and balanced animal. The common eland (Taurotragus oryx) is a majestic and beautiful animal that needs appropriate treatment, which it receives in our zoo.

Our Alya always obediently fulfills the requirements of the zoo employees who take care of her. Despite this, it should be remembered that this is a large, strong animal that can always defend itself and its territory. Given these circumstances, zoo employees strictly follow safety rules when caring for her.

The birthday girl has an individual diet at the zoo. Such a diet is calculated according to all zootechnical standards. The diet includes grass or hay, alfalfa, chopped vegetables and fruits. The animal's favorite food is fresh branches of fruit trees and fruits.

The common eland (Taurotragus oryx) is the largest modern antelope, weighing up to 1 ton! Common in sub-Saharan Africa. Translated from Arabic, "antelope" means "animal with the eyes of a flower", and this definition fits this animal perfectly. The calm nature of animals contributed to their successful domestication. This happened in ancient Egypt. Compared to cow's milk, common eland’s milk contains three times the concentration of fat and proteins. A medicine called "Molokan" was created on the basis of common eland’s milk.

The first attempts to domesticate these antelopes began in the middle of the 20th century. and to this day are conducted on a rather modest scale. Since ancient times, sailors who were shipwrecked off the coast of South Africa, and after them local farmers, nicknamed the common eland "the moose of the Cape of Good Hope", emphasizing the huge size of this antelope.

Due to uncontrolled hunting by humans, elands have become rare animals in the wild.

The zoo employees sincerely congratulate our Alya on this wonderful holiday and invite everyone to take a walk to the zoo to see the largest antelope in the world with their own eyes!