This zoo opened in Turkey last year April. It had been a subject of controversy while being built and its fist few months when stray dogs entered to the facility and killed off gazelles,the municipality bought five or six pairs of Humboldt's penguins for one million Turkish Lira (one million bottles of water), and when a south American coati got tangled into a electric wire. According to what I heard, the municipality got the animals from a broker who obtained the animals from a closed park. The zoo is now being consulted, and plans to obtain eaza and species 360 membership
It seems like I have been neglecting for news for this zoo so here’s some updates I found online on their social media. An orphaned lynx now calls this zoo home the zoo has made first time breeding achievements amongst Turkish zoos including Humboldt penguin, trumpeter hornbill and vond der deckens hornbill.
Last year representatives from the zoo were invited by Pierre-Yves Bureau to EAZA’s annual conference in Lisbon. Eskişehir Zoo was the only zoo from Turkey to visit the conference. In the conference the zoo displayed their in situ projects in Turkey which was the conservation of lynxes and Egyptian vultures within Turkey. On instagram, the zoo teased the renovation of a tropical bird house. I am not sure which tropical bird house they are referring to since they never had a building that goes by that name but this aviary looks like a completely new structure. Neither the zoo nor any media outlet ever announced anything about this project before this instagram story.
Well, you finally have an answer for your question. The zoo welcomed auditors from the EAZA for two days and had discussions about the accreditation process. Eskişehir Hayvanat Bahçesi on Instagram: "Hayvanat Bahçemiz, Avrupa Hayvanat Bahçeleri ve Akvaryumlar Birliği (EAZA) akreditasyon süreci kapsamında yurtdışından gelen EAZA denetim heyetini ağırladı. EAZA denetçileri Alexander Sliwa, Arun Idoe ve William Vant Lint’i bahçemizde ağırlamaktan memnuniyet duyduk. 2 gün boyunca süren denetimlerde popülasyon yönetimi, yabani hayvan bakımı ve refahı, koruma eğitimi ve bilimsel araştırma ve genel tesis işleyişi gibi konular gündemi oluşturdu. Batı Asya ve ötesindeki ilerici hayvanat bahçeleri ve akvaryumlar ile diğer ortaklar için standartları belirleyen üyelik kuruluşu olan EAZA, Avrupa ve Batı Asya hayvanat bahçesi ve akvaryum topluluğu içinde eğitim, araştırma ve koruma hedeflerine yönelik işbirliğini kolaylaştırmak için çalışmaktadır. Sürecin başından beri ekibimize desteğini esirgemeyen kıymetli hocamız Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Büyükerşen’e, büyükşehir belediyemize, danışmanımız Koen Brouwer’a ve özverili çalışmalarından dolayı tüm hayvanat bahçesi ekibimize çok teşekkür ederiz. EN @eaza_official Our Zoo hosted the EAZA audit committee from abroad within the scope of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) accreditation process. We were pleased to welcome EAZA auditors Alexander Sliwa, Arun Idoe and William Vant Lint to our zoo. During the 2-day audits, topics such as population management, wild animal care and welfare, conservation education and scientific research, and general facility operation were on the agenda. As the membership organization that sets the standards for progressive zoos and aquariums and other partners in West Asia and beyond, EAZA works to facilitate collaboration towards education, research and conservation goals within the European and West Asian zoo and aquarium community." I also forgot to mention that the park bred a green turaco for the first time last year. This the first time record for Turkey.
The zoo has announced on instagram that the aquarium has been renewed and that they acquired new species.. While the change isn’t too apparent I could sort of tell since the small marine tanks on the right in the entrance hall has been swapped with freshwater tanks. There are new species such as gar, freshwater stingrays, and a soft shell turtle none of which I was able to identify on a species level.