Two ponies, four pythons, three pairs of parrots and red-eared arrived in Dushanbe on May 3 for the Dushanbe Zoo.
The Dushanbe Zoo director Mahmadali Sharipov says the animals have been brought to Dushanbe from Kazakhstan in exchange for two black vultures and two lammergeyers.
“In total, 828 animals of 14 species are now kept in the Dushanbe Zoo,” Sharipov told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Meanwhile, a pair of Australian kangaroos that were brought to Tajikistan from the Czech Republic in 2015 gave birth to their first offspring in January this year.
Dushanbe Zoo or Dushanbe Zoological Park was founded in 1960 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Founded in 1960, the zoo is located in the center of the city on the Luchob river bank (on Ismoili Somoni Avenue). By 1974, with 1059 animals of 254 species, Dushanbe Zoo was regarded as one of the best zoos in the Soviet Union. Until the breakdown of the Soviet Union and independence in 1991, the zoo was considered one of the best sightseeing attractions in Dushanbe. The number of animals was great and diverse. National independence in 1991, followed by a civil war lasting until 1997, posed a great threat to the zoo in terms of the loss of species and economic hardship. Public financing was no longer available to the extent it was before.
Dushanbe Zoo has been member of the Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 2007.
