A Slovenian farm in which there are all the indigenous breeds of domestic animals has opened at Ljubljana Zoo.

The farm is home to 11 indigenous breeds (three horse breeds: Lipizzaner, Posavje and Slovenian cold-blood; four sheep breeds: Belokrajinan and Istrian pramenka, Bovec and Jezersko-Solćava; cika cattle, the Styrian hen, Drežnica goat, the Krškopolje or Blackbelted pig and the Carniolan bee). The pre-existing farm at the zoo has been remodelled, thereby assuring new accommodation for all breeds. Event space has also been set up in the farm courtyard, where there is to be a weekly showcase of all indigenous animal breeds.

Indigenous animal breeds are spread throughout Slovenia and it is not easy to visit and get to know them all, and Ljubljana Zoo is to be the only place where all the breeds are collected in a single location. In this way, the zoo would like to make a contribution to species conservation and awareness of the natural world in younger people and the rest of the general public.

The ‘Educational farm at Ljubljana Zoo’ project

The ‘Educational farm at Ljubljana Zoo’ project is based on European funding from the Swiss contribution to the enlarged European Union as well as co-operation with other partners such as Zurich Zoo.

Professional support and assistance in the project has been offered by the livestock gene bank at the Department of Animal Science at Ljubljana University’s Biotechnical Faculty, which takes care of the genetic purity and selection of our indigenous domestic animal species in situ on farms throughout Slovenia and is an expert centre for the conservation of Slovenian indigenous breeds. Simultaneously, by opening the educational farm, Ljubljana Zoo rounds off the first period of partnership with friends and supporters KD Life Insurance d.d.The project got underway at Ljubljana Zoo in April last year, after a successful application for funding in a tender from the Swiss contribution to a united Europe (50,000 CHF). The project aims to bring people closer to native (indigenous) domestic animal breeds and raise national awareness of the importance of farming to our breeds to maintain the high biodiversity of the Slovenian cultural landscape. The project is a partnership project type, so Ljubljana Zoo has sought partners in Switzerland (Zürich Zoo). Zürich Zoo is the central Swiss zoo for natural world education in Switzerland and also across Europe. The project lasts for 18 months and concludes in September 2013.