Departments

Department of Birds

Yerevan Zoo has around 350 bird species, like for example the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus), the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) and many others.

Nearly all of the bird species, living in the zoo, are quite capricious and require special care, keen attention, diet and climate conditions. There are five staff members who are in charge of taking care of the big and diverse family of birds, living in the zoo. Donara Khachatryan has been working in the zoo for 38 years. She is the head of the birds section.

Department of Hoofed Animals

Yerevan Zoo has 21 species of hoofed animals. All in all there are 108 animals in the department among them 27 Armenian mouflons.

Armenian mouflon (Ovis orientalis gmelinii) is the smallest among the species of the Transcaucasian mountain sheep, which has been domesticated 9000 years ago. The species is considered to be an ancestor of the domestic sheep. Armenian mouflon is a wild species. Now it is under threat of disappearance. Armenian mouflons live in flocks (100 heads and more). The rums live solitary and join the flock only in the mating period.

Department of Predators

The Yerevan Zoo is home to about 33 species of predators, such as the Bengal Tiger, the Caucasian Lynx, the Jaguar, the Siberian Tiger, the African Lion, and so on.

“The lions instinct is strong and at a time of danger or alarm they respond very quickly. The tigers are more relaxed, the jaguars are noble, calm, and respectable”, this is how the animals are described by Yunona Khanzadyan, the head of the department of predators for the past 24 years. Even though the lions live in cages, they do not forget their natural instincts.

Department of Aqua-terrarium

Yerevan Zoo houses not only birds, predators, and hoofed animals but has also an Aqua-terrarium. In this department the caretakers are responsible for 20 snakes, 3 species of lizards, 3 species of tortoises, 2 crocodiles, and 77 species of fish. Among the snakes are for example the Indian python (Phyton molurus), the South American rattlesnake or Tropical rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus), the Red spitting cobra (Naja pallid), and the African rock python (Python sebae). All these animals are kept behind glass without any direct contact to visitors because only numbering the names, especially of snakes, already gives an idea that the animals of the Aqua-terrarium Department are not easy to deal with. Here we will present some general facts about snakes and some more detailed information about the snake species which are kept in Yerevan Zoo.