How much does a lion cost and where to buy a camel? A Belarusian woman moved to a village 18 years ago and started a mini-zoo

— I just got really carried away with the process, — Natallia says. — First, we tidied up the summer house for summer holidays. Everything by hand: we removed trash, built something, patched, painted. I started planting the first greens, and then I got fascinated by chicks. I got incubators, watched how tiny chicks hatched and grew. My older daughter helped me a lot. I saw how touchingly she doted on the chicks, cared for them, learned responsibility… And I kept getting more and more chickens.

And then I thought: "I have so many breeds of chickens, it's so interesting, let everyone see." So we sold our apartment in Baranovichi and built a guest house — that's how our Naturlich agritourism farm appeared in the village of Dzekaly, offering excursions and family holidays by prior appointment.

And only then did people start giving us animals: expensive decorative foxes, a raccoon. These animals were bought for themselves, for children, to keep them at home or in an apartment. But people encountered a difficult specificity – living side-by-side with a wild animal is hard. Those same foxes smell very strongly. And at some point, when the novelty wears off, only difficulties remain.

That's how we gradually acquired all sorts of pets. The ostriches, by the way, I bought on "Kufar"; they came to us very small, and today they are already 12 years old. They are our old-timers.

— What is the oldest animal living with you?

— Zhuzya the bear. She is a very old circus bear who spent her whole life with people. She had an owner, the owner of an agritourism farm, who loved Zhuzya very much, hugged and nurtured her. But he died a few years ago from "corona" (COVID-19). And his wife was forced to put the house up for sale, along with the enclosure for the bear. The person who bought the place had no idea what to do with the animal and was looking for somewhere to rehome the bear.

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It so happened that on the anniversary of Zhuzya's owner's death, his wife posted on Instagram with heartfelt videos, featuring him, the bear, and their entire complex story.

I must say, before this, we were offered teenage bear cubs several times, but I refused each time. But here I couldn't resist: the bear's story touched me deeply, so I immediately called the new owner of the farm. And we agreed that he would wait a bit while we built an enclosure and organized everything necessary for Zhuzya: territory, a pool, entertainment, toys.

My subscribers helped raise money for the enclosure. And a few months later, on my birthday, the bear moved in with us. I was very worried she would be stressed, but she immediately liked her new place. Today, Zhuzya is 26 years old. She has been with us for two winters already. She went to sleep this year in September and woke up in mid-February. But this winter, she got up once to have a snack — to eat some fish. She got the necessary protein and went back to sleep.

— And how much meat does it take to feed a bear?

— She doesn't eat meat at all, she refuses it. She really likes eggs, grapes, raisins, cucumbers, tomatoes, sea fish, buckwheat porridge with salmon oil. But Zhuzya doesn't care for river fish. My husband once went fishing for her, brought some fish, and released them into the pool. Well, they just splashed around next to Zhuzya. We had to take them out of the pool (the fish were hungry) — and release them into the wild.

— Where did you get the lioness?

— From the Minsk Zoo. It happened that her mother died during childbirth, and the lion cub named Kasia was left an orphan. Zootechnician Nataliana (she has been in charge of predators at the capital's zoo for over 20 years) hand-fed Kasia and saved her life…

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She stayed with the weak newborn cub literally day and night. But raising predators, like lions, requires them to be "in a family." They live in prides; there must always be a "tutor" in front of the little cubs' eyes. And for this cub, a dog became such a tutor. Kasia followed him everywhere and perceived him as a mother. And the question arose what to do: the cub and the dog could no longer be separated, they were family; you couldn't put them with the father-lion and the dog. They turned to us with a proposal to take both, and we managed to buy this pair.

— Does this mean an average Belarusian can buy the king of beasts at the capital's zoo?

— Of course, they won't sell to just anyone. Conditions for keeping a predator are required. But generally, if a wolfess has a litter of, say, 5-6 pups, zoos look for opportunities to exchange or rehome young predators in mini-zoos. Animals need territory. And where within the city limits can you get extra square meters for such a number of animals all at once? They would be cramped, so they strive to arrange the best conditions for the animals.

— And how much do lions cost now?

— That was four years ago, so I can't say exactly, but the price was roughly like that of a pedigree puppy or cat. Nothing exorbitant, as people unfamiliar with this field sometimes imagine. In this case, they don't try to make a profit from exotic animals, so the price isn't astronomical. In Russia, for example, it's a huge problem — people used to frequently buy lions and tigers from circuses and zoos for 1000 dollars, because it was affordable and "cool." But then they couldn't handle their upkeep. Now they are trying to confiscate all large cats from citizens there.

Here, everything is much stricter: any animal requires special conditions, and the zoo checks the potential owner. And then they don't abandon them without help — they assist with treatment, vaccinations, medications, X-rays, etc. Plus, they visit regularly to ensure the animal is doing well.

But yes, the most unexpected "pets" came to me specifically from zoos and circuses. For example, they asked us to take a tigress from a circus in Dagestan. And a camel appeared with us during the lockdown period when a Russian circus couldn't leave our country. Borders were closed, and performances in indoor venues were not allowed, so nine camels were put up for sale. We bought one of them.

Camels need to be monitored very carefully: watch their diet, do not overfeed (only up to 5 kg of vegetables per day), and deworm them every three to four months. I heard that all the other purchased animals died; only our camel named Ford survived.

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— Aren't you afraid of your pets? They are huge, unpredictable animals, aren't they?

— I don't take risks: I've never dreamed of stroking a tiger or ruffling a lion's mane. All enclosures are fenced: while I clean, the predator is on the other side of the fence, then we switch. So I don't interact with adult animals at all. With the small ones — yes. For example, the little puma, while she needs constant care (she has rickets, bone fractures), lives in our house and sleeps on my husband's pillow. An enclosure has already been built for her, but it has many climbing structures and shelves. I'm afraid she might break her paws, so while there are health issues, the puma lives with us and takes medicine. But she's a baby.

Visitors sometimes ask: "Can I pet a bear?" I reply: "You'll probably get to do it once." I try to react with humor but clearly explain that these are wild, serious animals.

— What were the strangest requests from your guests?

— The animals have "trained" me so well that people no longer surprise me with anything. I react absolutely calmly to any questions.

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— Let's get back to meat. How much of it is needed to feed this whole crowd?

— Besides pure meat (turkey, chicken fillet, beef), animals also need many other things: bones (for calcium), offal (beef and pork hearts, chicken gizzards), and even feathers... So I make a weekly shopping list and buy accordingly: tripe, necks, bones, meat, etc. Usually, the calculation is: a predator eats 10% of its body weight per day. The small puma that lives with us weighs 30 kg; she needs about 3 kg of meat products per day.

But now the animals eat little; they are trying to lose weight. After a harsh winter, the temperature fluctuation was almost 50 degrees — from -30 to +18. In winter, the animals ate heavily to stay warm, but now they are hot, and their appetite has decreased. They are not like people; they don't eat out of boredom or for company, but rather based on their internal needs. Still, I buy them around 200 kg of meat products per week.

And besides that, a lot more of everything. Monkeys love berries, marmalade, any nuts, baby purees. For them, by the way, I go to the forest in summer to pick berries. Lemurs adore grapes, raisins, yogurts, dates. Alpacas — cabbage, carrots, corn. Porcupines — nuts, cherry tomatoes. Raccoons — quail eggs, marshmallows, grapes. Ferrets and martens prefer chicken fillet, hearts, quail eggs…

Foxes, the tiger, wolves, lynx, puma love pork very much. I don't give it to them, but sometimes I allow visitors to bring it as a treat or a delicacy. Because too much pork is harmful. But you can spoil the animals sometimes. Peacocks and chickens love cabbage, carrots, apples, wheat, and corn. Meerkats prefer chicken hearts, quail eggs, live cockroaches, and maggots. I breed Madagascar cockroaches for them.

— You have your own chickens. Do they also go into the business?

— No, our chickens live to old age. But they lay eggs, and everyone loves eggs. So I try to crossbreed different chicken breeds. Beautiful, long-lived ones, which can live up to 10 years, unfortunately, don't lay well. Ordinary speckled layers live short lives, unfortunately, only two to three years. So we have to find a compromise between aesthetics and general utility.

— And how did you teach the raven to talk?

— I just chatter a lot, constantly talking to the animals. But not all of them can repeat after me. But this fellow learned.

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