Did you know that the UPJŠ Botanical Garden welcomes eighty thousand visitors a year? And did you know that in addition to plants and the popular exhibition of live butterflies, you can also find a Mini Zoo here? If you are a fan of the garden, you will certainly not miss the renovated dwellings for rabbits, parrots, sheep and goats on your next visit. After several years of operation, restoration was necessary.

The civic association BotaniKE received financial support for their revitalization from our grant program Together for the Region. The botanical garden is also one of the locations that we have been helping for a long time as part of the volunteer event Steelmakers for Košice. A large group of our volunteers did a lot of work here in June in restoring the aviaries, dismantling the fencing of the sheep and goat enclosure, painting curry nets and preparing the terrain.

During the summer months, the Botanical Garden and OZ BotaniKE brought the project to a successful conclusion. The aviaries for rabbits, parrots and chickens received a new mesh filling and a new coating. The spread gravel on the access path and the area in front of the aviaries creates a reinforced surface and enables safe access for visitors to the animals.

Robert Gregorek, project coordinator and deputy director for operations of the UPJŠ Botanical Garden, talks about the renovated sheep and goat enclosure:

"Since we strive for ecological farming, grazing and regulation of the scrub in our forest park is provided by a small group of sheep and goats. Their new enclosure is made of thick-walled steel posts, and the fencing is made up of pieces of curry netting. The fence follows the terrain, the lower parts are reliably anchored in the ground. We have planned the surrounding areas and with the arrival of autumn, the sown lawn is already starting to germinate. The animals will be moved here from the forest park at the end of autumn. They will spend winter and spring here. In case of bad weather, they can hide in the shelter, on which this year we repaired the roof structure and with the help of you, the steelmakers, we also made a new covering."

Since its inception, OZ BotaniKE has been responsible for the successful implementation of several projects in the UPJŠ Botanical Garden. These include building an herb garden for the visually impaired, installing wooden sculptures in the forest park, building a pergola and an outdoor classroom, planting new trees, improving information boards and the audio-visual system in the exhibition greenhouses, placing an apitherapy house, or creating a graffiti art wall.

Robert Gregorek sent us nice photos of the tenants of the new enclosures, along with comments: