Surely many dreamed of being in a real safari park. However, not everyone can afford to go to Africa in our difficult time. But do not despair - dreams come true. Today we will go on a short trip. You will not have to go far away. Safari Park Taigan is located in Crimea. And when you get acquainted with this miracle in the Crimean land, you will definitely want to visit it. We are sure that you will not regret the trip.
Safari park "Taigan" in Crimea: how it all began
This unique park is a branch of the famous Yalta Zoo on the peninsula. In 2006, the zoo has exhausted its expansion potential. Meanwhile, animals were breeding, and there was an urgent need for new areas.
Today it is already safe to say that the Taigan safari park in Crimea appeared thanks to kind and caring people. Such is Oleg Zubkov, the former director of the Yalta Zoo. He found this near Belogorsk abandoned dilapidated base, which at that time had been put up for sale for more than ten years, but there were no people who wanted to buy it.
Oleg Zubkov became the owner of the huge ruins of the former Sokol military base. And then began a long and painstaking work to clear the territory.
Construction
Crimean safari park "Taigan" was not easy to create. It was necessary to build kilometers of bridges and fences on them, build dozens of aviaries, lay paving slabs. Zubkov got a lot of like-minded people, including representatives of the city government, who took an active part in the construction of the park.
Animals
They were collected for five years around the world. They brought lions from Russia, Ukraine, many European countries. White lions were delivered by special flight from South Africa.
Park opening
The ceremony was held on April 20, 2012. The whole leadership of the Republic of Crimea, fans of the Yalta Zoo "Fairy Tale" arrived, there were many students and schoolchildren. There were also local pop artists. The holiday lasted until late in the evening.
Safari Park "Taigan" today
Such a magnificent lion park is the only one in Europe. On a vast territory of 32 hectares, more than fifty lions, tigers, leopards walk freely (not in aviaries).
Safety system
Visitors to the park have a unique opportunity to observe the behavior of lions in their natural habitat from special bridges with fences that are raised to a height of three meters.
Park dwellers
Taigan Safari Park provides visitors with the opportunity to watch predatory cats all day long. You can see the meal of the king of animals, look at the two males, who were separated from the rest of the community because of their bad temper. If you are lucky, you will be able to observe how gentle and affectionate these formidable predators are with their girlfriends and cubs.
Attitude towards animals
I would like to dwell on this issue in more detail, since such care and love that go to the inhabitants of the park is difficult to find elsewhere.
In the park "Taigan" lives a blind lioness, whose name is Dragonfly. Once it belonged to photographers who drove it along the beaches of Yevpatoriya so that tourists would take pictures with a predator. The lioness grew up, became aggressive, and she was beaten. Often the poor fellow got on the head.
When law enforcement authorities confiscated her from the unfortunate owners, she was already blind. As a result of beating, the lioness damaged the optic nerve. Now she does not see anything, but she perceives everything. She was released on a safari, and she found friends and even a friend. Soon her daughter Maroussia was born, who today lives in an aviary with teenagers.
And many years ago, a circus performer handed over the lioness Elsa to the Yalta Zoo. Surrendered to die. All joints were inflamed, bone tissue was destroyed from the inside , it was difficult for her to stand. But Elsa not only did not die, she seemed to be born again. The bright sun, fresh meat, care and care did their job. More recently, she had offspring. Since 2015, she is among the lions on a safari.
When is the best time to visit the park?
It is better to come to the Taigan safari park during the non-hot season or to come in the evening if you are in Crimea in the summer. Otherwise, you will watch animals dormant in the shade of rare trees.
Zoo
The territory inhabited by lions is only one part of the park. The Taigan Safari Park has its own zoo, where a variety of animals live in spacious and clean enclosures. Giraffes and camels, yaks and llamas, bears and macaques, leopards and hyenas found their new home here. Peacocks easily walk along the paths next to visitors.
Park development and future plans
Currently, the Taigan safari park, the photo of which you can see in our article, is actively developing. More and more interesting expositions are being created here. For example, a complex of aviaries for different animals was built on the site of the old garden. They turned out to be spacious, bright and very comfortable for their inhabitants.
Amur tigers left their concrete and not very large enclosures and moved to more spacious ones - with grass, trees and huge pools. Celebrated housewarming and nosoha. Now they have a shelter with trees. Aviary for elephants are being built. A cozy and warm house for giraffes was built.
Rows of small aviaries intended for small mammals appeared in the park: badgers, raccoons, skunks, monkeys, nutria, foxes. New residents continue to come to the Taigan safari park. Mighty bison arrived from Kharkov, and Tibetan yaks from Moscow. Holland sent mini-animals that now live in the exhibition "Grandmother's Yard." From Kaliningrad, the plane delivered three Baltic seals, which immediately fell in love with visitors.
Safari Park “Taigan” has its own cafe “Oriental Fairy Tale”, where guests are fed dishes of Crimean Tatar cuisine. This cafe has become very popular. Hot chebureks, lagman, shurpa, pilaf from a fire - these dishes cause delight of tourists.
There is another cafe in the park - “Bungalow”. It is noteworthy because it is located on the outskirts where lions live. You can order yourself, for example, a barbecue, sit on the open balcony, and dozens of lions will walk, frolic under you.
All guests pay attention that there are many marble sculptures. Dozens of magnificent peacocks walk in the park, African guinea fowls run, brisk rabbits run around without fear of anyone, gentle and graceful roe deers are walking. In "Taigan" unobtrusive and quiet music plays. All this creates an atmosphere of harmony between man and nature.
Where to live?
Safari Park “Taigan” has its own hotel, which is called “Safari”. Today it receives more than 200 guests at a time. There are two conference rooms, spacious banquet rooms, as well as billiards, a karaoke room, an underground cinema, a sauna and baths.