According to the Eastern calendar, our year 2021 is the year of the White Metal Bull. The White Metal Bull is determined and hardworking. The element of metal gives it an iron will, and white color - self-confidence. The bull embodies power, fertility, strength.
The symbol of 2021 is characterized by great diligence and studiousness, it can ensure the well-being of the family. And behind his simple appearance are hidden reason and nobility. However, the calm nature of the Bull is combined with irritability and stubbornness.
In Mykolaiv Zoo you can see the symbol of the year and make a wish, because according to the Chinese calendar, the New Year will come on February 12 at 21:05. It will last until January 31, 2022.
In our zoo live: American bison (Lat. Bison bison), European bison (Lat. Bison bonasus), wild yaks (Lat. Bos mutus (grunniens).
The first individual we will start with is the male American bison named Buran, who was born in 2005 in our zoo.
The American bison (Lat. Bison bison) is a very close species to the European bison, both species can interbreed without restriction, giving fertile offspring - bison. Because of this, they were sometimes considered as one species. This extraordinary animal lives in the forest-steppe of North America. The species was extinct in most of the range, preserved in the reserves of Canada and the United States.
Next to the American bison lives our family of the European bison (Lat. Bison bonasus). This is the male Murko, who was born on April 24, 2009, and came to us on April 20, 2010 from Kyiv, the female Gaya, who was born on October 29, 2009 and arrived on November 21, 2013 from Tallinn and their daughter Murena, who was born on September 4, 2020 in Mykolaiv Zoo.
The 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 European Bison Conservation Society was established in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, which found 53 individuals in captivity. They became the ancestors of all modern European bison of the Bialowieza subspecies, i.e. those that live again in nature. Today, about 200 European bison live in Ukraine. Some populations have survived in Volyn, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Sumy and the Carpathians.
All offspring of the European bison obtained at Mykolaiv Zoo is transferred for keeping to other zoos according to the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) according to recommendations and advice of EAZA zoological consultant Douglas Richardson.
A family of the wild yaks (Lat. Bos mutus (grunniens) is kept close to the European bison family: the male Spartac, the female Silva, and their adult daughter Sakura, who live together in the same enclosure, opposite the enclosure with tapirs.
Wild yak (Lat. Bos mutus (grunniens) is a mammal of the bull family. Homeland of wild yaks is Tibet. Wild yaks live in alpine meadows and alpine deserts. They have a thick and smooth coat, which forms a kind of "skirt" that reaches the ground and protects an animal from a cold while resting on cold ground and in the snow. In bad weather under the "skirt" hides a baby. Also in a blizzard wild yaks hide females with babies in the middle of the herd, so they protect them from the bad weather. Wild yaks have only black color, domestic are brown and white-spotted. Wild yaks have a very well-developed sense of smell, sight and hearing are usually weaker, and the legs of yaks are shorter and thicker than those of cows.
It is said that all these animals symbolize strength, perseverance, reliability and calm…
Mykolaiv Zoo invites all visitors to see the animals which are the symbol of this year and to make a wish!!!