A year ago, on 13 June 2015, torrential rain flooded the Vere River in
Tbilisi, Georgia, killing 20 people and countless animals, destroying houses
and a dog shelter, and devastating the Tbilisi Zoo – the Zoo on the banks of
the river and adjacent to a newly constructed highway in the residential centre
of the city.
Three zoo staff died trying to save animals – Guliko Nozadze (who had
survived a tiger attack a few months before and had just returned to work), her
husband who was also a zookeeper, and a night watchman. Animals took to the
streets – and Begi the hippo, lost and dazed, became a super star survivor.
All of the dogs at the dog shelter, founded by Tamaz Elizbarashvili, died
in the floods. Bears and tigers at the Zoo died, and one tiger killed a citizen
on the day after the flood, before being shot and killed. Fortunately most of
the birds survived, and one penguin was rescued kilometres downstream.
As the zoo staff counted the surviving animals in the morning after the
flood, they realized that a tiger was missing, and assumed that it had drowned
and its body washed away. Residents of Tbilisi were alerted when the tiger was
known to be alive, but it tragically killed a person before being found and
killed. Other animals were shot too – for public protection and due to their
injuries. This included lion cub, Shumba. Criticism toward the police for the
killings, and the Zoo’s responsibily, led to the questioning of the zoo’s
director, Zurab Gurielidze, who was released without charge. However, many
people – a year later – are still asking questions.
The construction of the highway, with its underpasses and tunnels, was
highly criticized as a major cause of the clogging and overfow of water into
the low-lying area of the Zoo: a construction that was criticized in its
planning stages.
In the aftermath of the flooding, emergency services and volunteers helped
clear away the debris. Three months later, on 13 September 2015, the Zoo
re-opened. Animals shared accommodations while some enclosures on higher ground
were renovated or rebuilt. The low-lying areas remain flattened and have not
yet been restored.
The government announced plans for a new Zoo with free-range areas, away
from the city centre, in vast open flatlands near the Tbilisi Sea (actually a
reservoir) – which had been in the concept phase before the floolding. However,
the location, budget and planning is still being debated.
The Tbilisi Zoo will continue in its present location for at least the next
three years. The partially rebuilt site will continue to renovate enclosures as
new animals arrive.
New additions are the pelican enclosure and a new pool for Bega the
hippopotamus. Zoos around Europe have donated about 22 animals to the Tbilisi
Zoo. These include an albino lion family housed in the existing lion enclosure,
wildebeests, mongoose, and a group of porcupines.
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
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