Yakutsk Zoo, Wildlife center in Yakutsk, Russia.
Yakutsk Zoo, also called Orto-Doydu, is a state-run zoological park in the Khangalassky ulus near the village of Oktyomtsy, between Yakutsk and Pokrovsk. Its collection is organized into sections for ungulates, carnivores and small mammals, ornithology, and herpetology and entomology. As of 1 January 2008 it held species such as the Siberian roe deer, reindeer, musk ox, Amur tiger, polar wolf, brown bear, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, and Nile crocodile.
The zoo opened in 2001 and became the main zoological institution in the Sakha Republic. Since its founding, it has grown to serve as a center for regional animal management.
The zoo is named "Orto-Doydu", meaning "Middle World" in Yakut, a reference to the middle realm of the Yakut cosmology between the upper and lower worlds. It was founded on the initiative of Mikhail Yefimovich Nikolayev, then president of the Sakha Republic, and is classed under the republic's Ministry of Nature Protection.
The zoo is open year-round and allows visitors to observe animals in outdoor areas. Pathways guide you through the grounds to reach the different enclosures and viewing areas.
The zoo is the only one in the world operating in an extremely cold northern climate, and it accepts any wild animal in need of help. It lies in Khangalassky District near the village of Oktyomtsy, between Yakutsk and Pokrovsk, not inside Yakutsk itself.
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