UNMIK on air

The first zoo in Kosovo

10 March 2004

(By Gëzim Kasapolli)

Just a 5-minute drive southeast of Prizren can lead you to the entrance gates of the first zoo in Kosovo. The zoo opened its doors on the 23^rd of September in 2003 and has generated a great deal of interest from Kosovans, especially children, in this post-conflict society.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK on air:

Five years after armed conflict, 500 animals and 60 species have been gathered in the first ever Zoo to open its doors in Kosovo. Now visitors, many of whom have never been to a Zoo in their entire lives can approach and interact with animals.

Sali Shehu is one of three brothers who opened the private zoo and says growing up with a lot of animals around him helped to pave the way for him to undertake this enterprise.

Sali Shehu: At the beginning it started as a hobby and since this is a tradition inherited from our father and grandfather, we found it reasonable to open a zoo. Kosovo and Prizren needed something like this and since many people were interested for this we were forced to undertake such a step.

Visitors to the Zoo come from all over Kosovo and are mostly interested to see animals found outside of the region, says Shehu. Although the range of animals is limited when compared to Zoos in other nations, Shehu managed to collect a variety of birds and two bears – a highlight for the visitors.

Sali Shehu: Animals are mainly from foreign countries and we also have some local ones. Foreign animals mostly come from so-called warm countries like pheasants and some other species, while from local animals we have wolf, bear, fox etc. As I said before the rest of the animals come from warm countries.

Seeing animals like bears, wolves and other wild beasts is not an everyday occurrence for Kosovans even as they are considered to be domestic animals in the Balkans. The Zoo provides a safe environment for people to learn about the habitats and behavior of these creatures. Avni a visitor to the zoo thinks that this is a very brave and ambitious step and praises the initiative of the Shehu brothers.

Avni: I think that this is a very good investment since it’s the first zoo in Kosovo. Kosovo lacked such a facility even though this is just a minimum of what one zoo should offer to the people. Hopefully, in the future this will improve and we can see more attractions and a larger number of wild animals.

Taking care of these animals is not an easy task and costs a great deal of money from the Shehu brothers’ own pockets. Shehu brothers say despite the enormous costs, they have undertaken all the necessary steps to ensure that these animals are properly controlled and vaccinated by a veterinarian. Considering that their funds are limited, for the time being they only hope to survive in this business.

Sali Shehu: Our plans for the moment are to use all our efforts to survive if we can because as for the financing it all came from our pockets and we did not receive any help from no one. The only help that we got was from the media that supported us constantly and of course the population and the visitors.

Even as the business is struggling in these first few months of operation, Shehu says that it does not mean they should not improve the Zoo and are currently undertaking efforts to seek funding from investors:

Sali Shehu: We hope to get some support from foreign organizations and foreign donations since we are planning to expand more and to have a richer zoo. We all know that every animal requires more obligations but if we find support for our plans will become long-term and we will bring some animals, which we do not have for the moment such as monkeys, and some other animals which are requested by the visitors and which we still do not have. If we find support it will be more then appreciated.

Shehu brothers hope that they will manage to achieve their plans and make this zoo a destination point for many Kosovans. They say they will continue their efforts to improve the zoo and bring more animals like monkeys and one-day elephants and giraffes- something people in this region have likely never seen firsthand.

In hope that initiatives such as this one will not go unrewarded we end this edition of UNMIK on air. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.