Construction of New Zoo Starts in Tbilisi

TBILISI – Tbilisi’s City Hall announced Tuesday that eight hectares of land have been fenced off for bear and wolf cages as part of the construction of the city’s new zoo.

London-based HASSELL studio designed the new zoo’s concept with help of British engineering and planning company, Arup.

The studio won Tbilisi City Hall’s approval to carry out their design on the outskirts of the Georgian capital with a strategy aimed at causing minimal disturbance to the area's natural beauty.

The project will replace the existing zoo in the city center, most of which was destroyed in a flash flood in June 2015, leaving half of its animal inhabitants either dead or on the loose.

The USD 40 million project will be carried out in stages, with the German Corporation for International Cooperation paying for the construction of the cages.

The zoo expects to get financing from other foreign donors to complete the project.

By Ana Akhalaia