Taigan Safari Park, Safari park in Bilohirsk Raion, Russia
Taigan Safari Park is a wildlife park in Bilohirsk Raion featuring open enclosures for large mammals on former military land. The grounds sit on a hillside above Taigan Reservoir and include separate zones for different predator species and primates.
Oleg Zubkov founded the park in 2012 and converted the old barracks site into a breeding facility for big cats. The first lions came from Russian circuses and private collections that had to give up their animals.
The name Taigan comes from the nearby reservoir and reflects the connection between the grounds and local geography. Visitors can watch feeding sessions and see how animal groups interact with handlers who have cared for them for years.
The entrance sits near the town of Belogorsk and is reachable by car along a paved road from Simferopol Airport. Marked paths lead through different sections, and visitors should plan around three hours for the full circuit.
The lion prides live in an open area where visitors walk through raised tunnel paths while the animals roam freely around them. This setup reverses the usual zoo experience, with humans inside an enclosure and the animals outside.
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