Description of the attraction
Grodno Zoo is the oldest in Belarus. It was founded in 1927 by the remarkable Grodno naturalist, enthusiast of his craft, teacher, teacher of the Grodno men's gymnasium, Jan Kokhanovsky.
First, Grodno has its own Botanical Garden. An experimental site was created, which helped the students of the gymnasium to visually study botany. In the beds and flower beds, they grew different plants and watched their growth. Then, for the same educational purposes, a zoological department was created. It contained various animals, both agricultural and taken from the wild. High school students learned to look after them. A small biological garden was growing and it needed more and more space. In the early thirties, Kokhanovsky obtained permission from the Grodno magistrate to use a former abandoned cycle track for a zoo.
After the unification of Western Belarus and the Byelorussian SSR, the zoo became a state institution, and the Soviet state took care of it. This event had a positive impact on the activities of the zoo. Not only new interesting animals appeared, but the zoo also got the opportunity to conduct educational work among the population. What Jan Kokhanovsky, as a teacher, was very happy about.
The Great Patriotic War caused irreparable damage to the zoo. The biggest loss was the execution of Jan Kokhanovsky in 1942. All valuable animals were taken to Germany, the rest were destroyed. Immediately after the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, the Soviet government decided to restore the zoo. It was very difficult. There was nowhere to take the animals, and even the few that we could get hold of had nothing to feed.
In 1946, A. R. Ganusevich. He immediately got down to business. Having received state funds for the restoration of the zoo, he planted trees, leveled paths, restored water supply and electricity supply, asked for help from other zoos in purchasing animals. Grodno Zoo has become one of the best in the republic. By 1989, it contained 326 species of animals.
The hard times for the zoo began in the 90s, when there was no government funding, everyone was busy with their own business and no one needed the zoo with its problems and its animals. In 2002, a new period of prosperity for the zoo began. The Grodno Zoo received substantial state assistance, its reconstruction began, the total area of the zoo was increased to more than 5 hectares. By 2008, the reconstruction was completed.
Now visitors to the Grodno Zoo can admire the most outlandish animals in wonderful spacious enclosures. For young visitors in 2012, a children's cafe "Mishutka" was opened.
