The Live Planet Association has named the winners of its Third All-Ukrainian Hit Parade. In the Most Exotic Animal nomination the winners were Sarah, a Manx tailless cat, two Danubian Sphinx cats, a Mexican hairless dog, raccoon, and Dusia, a Vietnamese potbellied pig. The pig and the raccoon belong to the same master, animal trainer and ethologist Andriy Orlovych. What differs Andriy from other animal trainers is that he trains animals for the movies, television, and photo studios. To be able to do so, he studies the animals’ instincts and invents little tricks. For instance, to make a monkey turn over book pages, he had to stick candies on them. It seems that at his home things are quite different, at least, with Liza the raccoon: she has established stable borders there and does not let anybody on her territory. When the raccoon’s masters leave, they have to lock her in a cage because of her curious nature: she likes to open wardrobe doors and rummage in its contents. Dusia, the pig, on the contrary, likes order and pushes strangers out of the apartment with her snout. Andriy claims that this kind of pig has a sharper sense of smell than dogs and can be used as guards if you stimulate their abilities.
The awards ceremony was combined with an exotic animals show, so the public had a chance to meet the pig and the raccoon right in the Kyiv Operetta Theater hall. Another animal arresting everybody’s attention was a domestic polecat. This breed was raised three hundred years ago in Egypt by crossing a marten and a skunk. These animals submit to training very well and are able to carry out up to a hundred various commands. Masters of this amazing polecat Lika and Valery Yasynovsky say that it can tell slippers from shoes and follows them in the street without a leash.
Winnie, a brown owl, watched the show from its high perch. Few months ago it was dying of emaciation in a pet shop. To heal the bird, Dmytro and Iryna Kovalenko fed and watered it every thirty minutes for two weeks. However, Winnie cannot be set free because it has a broken wing. The owl’s master is vice president of the Club to Protect Birds of Prey and is going to move to a cottage and organize a rehabilitation nursery for birds of prey. Today this is a sore problem because of the growing popularity of falconry. Many people are ready to take on any birds of prey in hopes of making money, and after they find out that a bird is not fit for falconry and just throw it out. There are special methods of making it possible to return a bird to the wild. Some people don’t know that when owlets learn to fly, they jump out of their nest on purpose and then climb the trunk back. Their parents supervise them in this period, so there is no need to pick up owlets in city parks in the spring.
Small animals from the Kyiv Zoo were also represented in the show. Recently many people call the zoo to inquire about how to feed turtles. Turtles go out to relax in the spring sun and fall prey to so-called nature lovers who don’t know how to look after them. It turns out that there are turtles and turtles, and what for some of them is a favorite snack is absolutely inedible for others. The most interesting among the animals presented by the zoo was a chinchilla. It looks like a small rabbit, though is very timid, does not like water or juicy food, and likes to take sand baths. It inhabits the highlands of South America and is valued for its delicate fur.
