On April 29, 2021, the European bison (Lat. Bison bonasus) named Murko celebrates his birthday. He is 12 years old. The birthday boy arrived to Mykolaiv Zoo on April 20, 2010 from Kyiv.
By nature Murko is a balanced and calm animal. The zoo staff says that they kindly call the birthday boy Murchyk, thus bringing their care and attention to him. Murko never shows aggression towards the staff, but he will not tolerate careless attitude towards himself either.
Our birthday boy lives with female Gaya, who was born on October 29, 2009 and came on November 21, 2013 from Tallinn Zoo, and their daughter Murena, who was born on September 4, 2020 in our zoo.
Murko's favorite food is acorns in autumn and watermelons in summer.
European bison (Lat. Bison bonasus) are the largest and heaviest animals in Europe. They disappeared in the wild in the early twentieth century and remained only in zoos. In the Red List, their status is "disappeared in nature." In 1923 the International Society on Protection of a Bison was established in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which found 56 individuals, including 27 males and 29 females.
After the Second World War, the struggle for the preservation of the bison resumed. Thus, in 1946 bison began to be bred on the territory of Bilovezka Pushcha. In Poland 17 bison have survived to that day, which were collected in a special bison nursery. In 1948, the Central Bison Nursery was also organized in the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve, where part of the bison was transferred to semi-free maintenance.
Mykolaiv Zoo also made its contribution to the preservation of the bison. It is interesting that for all history of keeping and breeding these animals in Mykolaiv Zoo 15 calves were born.
Keeping bison in its collection, Mykolaiv Zoo does everything possible to provide them with good living conditions, thanks to which the animals feel good, have a good appetite, and successfully breed.
So visit our zoo to see with your own eyes our birthday boy and to learn more interesting information about this powerful animal.
