Yesterday, we spent a very pleasant afternoon and early evening in the Košice Zoo with the families from the We Are With You at the Right Time project. The seven families were joined by Vice President for Finance Silvia Gaálová with her daughter Olivia and Director for External Relations Ján Bača.
The families were welcomed by the director of the Košice Zoo, Erich Kočner, and then followed by a tour of the garden with a guide Josef Kindl, who knows a lot about animals. In addition to the information provided, he also had a lot of questions.
Is the zebra black with white stripes, or is it the other way around? How long can a camel go without water? Can a tiger and a lion meet in one place? The answer "yes" really surprised him. After explaining that he was in the zoo, he acknowledged that the answer was correct.
Children and adults also learned, for example, about the successful breeding of flamingos in the Košice Zoo and several guessed what causes their coloration. They get their pink color in the wild from aquatic bacteria and beta carotene, which is found in shrimp and algae, which are part of their diet.
Not only children were very much looking forward to meerkats and feeding them with live crickets. The little beasts, which look as if they are constantly curiously observing the life around them, caught the attention of Teo and Timon Vagaš, but also Richard and Alexander Zlacký. Adults were also interested in the information that meerkats are skillful hunters who can deal not only with insects, rodents or lizards, but also with poisonous snakes and scorpions. The small, curious beasts were also admired by the youngest member of our group, Tobias Beneš.
We were almost alone in the early evening garden. We still had a stop at the breeding facility for penguins, which are one of the main "magnets" of the Košice Zoo, because it is the only one in Slovakia that breeds single-belt penguins. The beginnings of breeding were complicated, embarrassing and breeders did not succeed, but eventually they became internationally recognized experts. Since 2018, the Košice Zoo has been leading the European Rescue Program for this species. The cubs from Košice have found their home in other zoos throughout Europe.
Even a little tired families were pleased with the final and extremely tasty "dot" after our meeting. A barbecue awaited us. Grilled sausages, bacon, onions... Of course, it was mainly men and boys who caught the spits, but some ladies were not ashamed either. While tasting sausages, we learned that all our families have a nice summer, that Teo Vagaš and Rišo Zlacký are already looking forward to school (they are going to the first grade, so it is understandable). Older children, on the other hand, would welcome a few more holiday weeks.
In order for older children not to be sad about the upcoming return to school, the administrator of the U. S. Steel Košice Foundation, Slávka Tvrdoňová, invited all families to an event that she organizes at the end of the month for children from children's homes. It will be a farewell to summer as it should be, full of sports and entertainment competitions, but also good food. We will be there and we will definitely write to you about it.
Photo: Ján Kisucký
