June 5, 2025, 9:01 p.m.
(A buzzard bird. Photo: State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District)
Employees of the State Ecological Inspectorate seized birds of prey that were kept in the Circus restaurant in Odesa and transferred them to the Odesa Zoo.
According to Suspilne, these are two birds - a Great Hedgehog and a Buzzard - that were rescued during the shelling and temporarily kept in cages wrapped in plastic.
"They are not in a very good condition: they have been sitting there, I don't know how long, in cramped cages, I guess. They have a break in the cover, you can see that it is worn. But we will nurse them," the media quoted the zoo director Ihor Bilyakov as saying.
The common buzzard is protected under the Bern and Bonn Conventions, the CITES Convention, as well as a number of regional red lists in Ukraine. The buzzard is also used as a game bird for hunting partridges, pheasants and rabbits.
Director of Odesa Zoo Ihor Bilyakov, zoo ornithologist and eco-inspector with birds of prey kept in cages at the Circus restaurant in Odesa. Photo: State Environmental Inspectorate of the Southwestern District
According to Bilyakov, the birds need a spacious enclosure so that they do not injure their feathers, proper nutrition and rehabilitation. Zoo doctors examined them: there are no serious mechanical injuries.
"They are very stressed, they need to be well fed now, they need to be supported with medicines and they need to be given time for rehabilitation so that they can regain the ability to fly. We will see by them how well they will be able to live in the wild, this is an important moment," the zoo director told.
The Greater White-footed Falcon belongs to the genus Falco. Several similar species of this genus, which also have the word "falcon" in their name, are sometimes distinguished into a separate group Hypotriorchis. The common features of this group are predominantly dark gray plumage, black "mustaches" and black longitudinal spots on the abdomen
If everything is fine with them and if experts see that the birds can live in the wild, they will be released, Bilyakov said.
Олеся Ланцман
March 30, 2026
OSCE condemns Russian attack on Suspilne Odesa office