Georgia – Philippine Long Life Park Opens in Tbilisi Zoo

A natural wooden children’s park ‘Mabuhay’ (Long Life) was opened on the initiative of the Honorary Consul General of Georgia to the Philippines, Thelmo Luis Cunanan, in partnership with the Director of Tbilisi Zoo, Zurab Gurielidze, specifically for International Children’s Day. The open-air park, equipped with houses, a tower, slide, sandpits and other developmental structures, is available free of charge for all zoo visitors from June 1.

June 13 will mark one year since the flood in Tbilisi, during which the city zoo suffered most – with cages destroyed and most of the animals killed. Since then the Zoo has been gradually recovering, acquiring new animals, and improving infrastructure and entertainment areas.

“The new children’s park will be a symbol of renewal. It has a very symbolic name. ‘Mabuhay’ is a Filipino word which means Long Life,” said the Director of Tbilisi Zoo, Zurab Gurielidze. “As such, we hope that the Park and the Zoo as a whole will truly have a long life.”

The Tbilisi Zoo are assured that partnership with the Philippine side is not over. “We are going to bring two mesh pythons to Georgia, so, in addition to the entertainment infrastructure, we want to add to the zoo collection,” said Consul Thelmo Luis Cunanan.

The Zoo has already hosted new habitants from Europe and beyond: banded mongoose, wildebeest, South American coatis and Indian porcupine. In the near future, the Zoo expects delivery of hamadryads, monkeys, wallabies, tapirs, degus, emus and spotted deer from Belgium, France, Holland and the UK. The majority of these new animals have never been seen in the Tbilisi Zoo before.

Eka Karsaulidze