Vitebsk Zoo to get its own symbol of Kolyada - the cat Bayun
On the eve of the Christmas holidays, the symbol of Kolyada, a lynx, will settle in the Vitebsk Zoo. The zoo purchased the red-listed wild cat using charitable funds raised by its visitors, the director of the Vitebsk Zoo, Irina Orlova, told a BELTA correspondent.
The lynx is the very animal that symbolized Kolyada for the ancient Slavs. According to legend, it received its golden (not reddish, as it seems at first glance) fur from a deity. Perhaps the famous cat Bayun, who served Kolyada, was none other than a lynx. By the way, ancient Scandinavians considered the lynx sacred, and the Greeks believed that the lynx's sharp gaze could pierce opaque objects through.
The seven-month-old messenger of Kolyada is currently traveling from a Grodno animal farm licensed to breed lynxes. It is expected that the male lynx cub will arrive in the evening in a specially built enclosure with a warm house at the zoo. Visitors will be able to see the rare forest dweller in a couple of days.
The latest purchase was made with donations left in a special box by Vitebsk residents and city guests who visited the zoo. Sponsors also help the zoo by making voluntary donations to its bank account. Last year alone, thanks to benefactors, the collection was replenished with seven species of mammals, including a coati, a llama, a nilgai antelope, a bear, and a European bison, and this year squirrels and mongooses have settled in the zoo.
The Vitebsk Zoological Park was founded on March 30, 1992, on the basis of the animal theater that existed in the city. Currently, over 70 species of animals, more than 1,000 individuals, are kept here on an area of 1.3 hectares.
The lynx prefers secluded dark coniferous forests, climbs trees excellently, swims well, and is adapted to snowy winters. Its diet mainly consists of hares, black grouses, small rodents, and small ungulates; it does not shy away from domestic cats and dogs. In Belarus, there are about 500 individuals living in the wild.