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April 17, 2026, 10:54 a.m.
In half a day, Odesa residents collected a thousand signatures for Bilyakov's return to lead the zoo
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PHOTO COLLAGE: Intent
A petition to the head of the Odesa City Council demanding that Ihor Bilyakov be retained as director of the Odesa Zoo collected the 1,000 votes needed to be considered and responded to by the community in less than a day on April 16.
As noted on the Socially Active Citizen platform, where the appeal was submitted, the petition has now collected 1,668 signatures.
In addition to the return of Ihor Bilyakov to his position, the petition demands that the zoo be banned from unreasonable movement of animals and prevented from being moved from its historical location, and that any decisions regarding the zoo's activities be made solely on the basis of professional opinions, not under the influence of information campaigns or political pressure.
Meanwhile, the interim mayor of Odesa, Ihor Koval , has appointed Oleksandra Shvets , who previously headed the private Biopark, which is actually owned by the owner of the Odesa Dolphinarium, city council member Andriy Kislovsky, to temporarily manage the zoo. A number of members of the Odesa City Council were outraged by the fact that the appointment of the zoo's head was made without a competition.
Earlier, Igor Bilyakov announced the completion of his work as director of the Odesa Zoo. According to him, the contract has expired, and he is no longer in charge of the institution to which he has devoted a significant part of his life. In his address, he emphasized that over the years of his leadership, he managed to significantly change the zoo for the better. According to his assessment, these changes are noticeable to the citizens, but at the same time, there are still many unresolved problems that require attention and further solutions.
See also: Zoo wars: opinion of animal rights activists and officials.
In 2025 and since early 2026, the Odesa Zoo has repeatedly become the epicenter of scandals. In the spring of 2026, a 23-year-old lioness died in the zoo, which is longer than usual for lions living in captivity, and some animal rights activists in the city accused Ihor Bilyakov of this.
Earlier, Boomer the bear, who was relocated to the Odesa Zoo in 2019 from the Podil Zoo in Vinnytsia region, died.
In January, the Odesa Zoo accused animal rights activists of fakes that block the work of the institution. As a result, employees cannot fully care for the animals. Due to such activities, the institution is forced to constantly undergo audits, which distracts staff from caring for animals and creates artificial tension among employees.
In November 2025, the Prymorskyi District Prosecutor's Office opened criminal proceedings against the director of the Odesa Zoo , Ihor Bilyakov, who was charged with animal cruelty. This was done following a statement by the NGO UAnimals. At that time, the zoo's lawyers were preparing a lawsuit about the damage caused to the municipal institution by the attacks of animal activists.
