Animals at Tirana Zoo exhausted by heat
teisipäev, 1. september 2026 13:21
Animals at Tirana Zoo are suffering this summer due to extreme heat, lack of shade, water shortages, and construction noise, Balkan Insight reported.
According to zoo staff, sprinklers are turned on three times a day for two hours at a time. Wildlife veterinarian Ariel Vasili, who has previously worked with the zoo, said that some animals can tolerate 34 or 35 degrees, but not more extreme heat. “These are not normal temperatures,” he said.
According to Vasili, the zoo's trees are very young and do not provide shade, and water must be conserved because there is not enough running water. “If we kept the sprinklers running constantly, we would run out of water in Tirana,” he said.
Zoo director Evis Rrahmani stated that frozen fruit has also been used to cool the animals. According to Indrit Osmani, a representative of Animal Rescue Albania, water, food, and shade are only the bare minimum to offer animals, and modern animal welfare requires access to various microclimates, shaded areas, and indoor spaces.
Established in the 1960s, Tirana Zoo was closed in 2015 after videos of poor living conditions for the animals spread on social media, and it reopened in 2022. According to Vasili, the zoo has taken in three large felids and a small bear over the last four years. If this continues, he says the zoo will no longer have enough space.
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