The Mykolaiv Zoo will need nearly ₴39 million for animal feed in 2027

Mykolaiv Zoo, April 2026. Photo: «NikVesti», Serhiy Ovcharishyn

The Mykolaiv Zoo will need nearly ₴39 million for animal feed in 2027. Of this amount, around ₴26 million are expected to come from the budget, whilst nearly ₴13 million will be covered by the zoo’s own commercial activities.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Zoo administration in response to an information request from NikVesti.

By way of comparison, the zoo’s projected requirement for 2026 stood at 38 million 775 thousand hryvnias. Consequently, the zoo forecasts an increase in feed costs of approximately 185 thousand hryvnias for next year.

At the same time, 20.3 million hryvnias in budgetary funds were approved for feeding the zoo’s animals in 2026. The zoo plans to spend a further 7 million hryvnias from the proceeds of its own commercial activities.

The response also included a calculation of requirements for 2027, with a list of animal feed products. These include meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cereals, hay and specialised feed.

The figure of almost 39 million hryvnias represents the zoo’s estimated requirements for 2027, rather than funding that has already been approved.

It should be noted that the Mykolaiv Zoo has arrears of around 2 million hryvnias for animal feed and utility bills due to payment delays by the Treasury.

On the evening of 4 September and during the night of 5 September, Russian forces launched several drone attacks on a shopping centre in Mykolaiv. It is located next to the zoo.

However, the animals at the Mykolaiv Zoo were not harmed during the Russian attack on «Epicentre». At the time of the strikes, they were in closed enclosures.