Not far from Sarajevo, in the town of Hrasnica, there is a zoo called “Bambi” that has a special story. Twenty-two-year-old Melvis Lokvančić is the owner of this zoo, which currently has around 150 animals. It all started four years ago, solely because of his great love for animals. The first animal to arrive was the fawn Bambi, after whom the zoo is named. After that, other animals arrived: domestic, wild and exotic. But what is special is that many of the animals were adopted because they were injured, but also rescued by Melvis.
We went on a tour of the zoo with Melvis and were greeted at the entrance by a team of kittens who, as Melvis jokingly says, are real guardians. He wouldn’t have made it without the support of his family, so the ostriches were a birthday present from his father. Currently, the zoo has two African and two Australian ostriches.
“These ostriches are a present for my eighteenth birthday. So, I was asked by my father if I wanted to take my driving test or get an ostrich. I chose the ostrich so that’s my birthday memory,” Melvis recalled.
Each animal has its own story in the background, which makes this garden even more interesting. Most of the animals were injured and would not have survived if left in the wild. After the ostriches, we reached the llamas, which are very tame and friendly.
“One came from Pionirska dolina, and the other from the Ajdinovići sports and recreation center. They have been with me for two years. They are especially interesting to children, although the older ones are always a little afraid. They avoid them in a wide circle because we know that llamas are known for spitting, although my llamas are nice and cultured. They have nice manners, so they don’t spit,” Melvis joked.
Some of the animals arrived from Pionirska dolina, and some from the “Bingo” zoo in Tuzla to support the work of young Melvis. The “Bambi” zoo was registered five years ago in the name of Melvis’ father because Melvis was only 17 years old. It was difficult to take care of the animals and go to medical school, but he still managed to cope with all his obligations. His original plan was to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina after finishing high school, but as more and more animals arrived, there were more and more reasons to stay.
“Later on, it was impossible for me to get used to any life other than this. So, I stayed here and I hope to live like this for the rest of my life. I grew up in the city and even in my younger days I was, as we say, ‘a full city cap’. I’ve been the type of person since I was little that prefers nature to some urban environment, rush hour and some crowds. So I found myself here. I love children and animals, and children are our regular visitors here and they are our most numerous guests. No matter how difficult something is, when you love to do it, it pushes you forward and you have a great chance to succeed in what you do,” said Melvis.
When it comes to maintaining the zoo, Melvis is helped exclusively by his family, and very rarely by a volunteer who doesn’t stay long once he realizes how much effort and work is needed to care for the animals. This year, attendance was record high, with several thousand people coming on weekends, and children from elementary schools and kindergartens on weekdays. The Bambi Zoo does not have a set entrance fee, but is financed exclusively by voluntary donations, and at the entrance you get food that you can feed the animals.
During our walk through the zoo, we were constantly followed by cats who, as Melvis says, are constantly patrolling and monitoring the situation. Cats are not the only released animals that walk around the zoo, you can also see rabbits, various ornamental cocks and turtles. Although rabbits are the most interesting for children, Melvis listed several of the most specific animals in the zoo.
“Albino American raccoon, or white raccoon, which is very rare here in Europe. We also have albino fallow deer, which is born as such one in 36 thousand ordinary deer. Ostriches are also special animals for me, and my favorite is the deer Bambi, which is the first animal. Lately, I see that the children are very interested in the storks that arrived at our shelter as injured. Also, the owl attracts a lot of attention, as well as the hawks,” Melvis explains to us as we walk around the zoo.
Another specific animal is the Chinese silk chicken.
“We don’t have that many of them here, they are quite rare. They originate from China and are exclusively used there for the production of various dishes and specialties because they have blue meat, unlike all other birds in the world. Scientists believe that they were created by crossbreeding rabbit DNA and coca DNA. What is interesting to me is that they have classic feathers exclusively on their wings that enable them to fly, while they are covered with a type of hair that is silky and that is why they are called Chinese silk cocks. Otherwise, they carry eggs that are very curative for lung diseases, and people around the world use them as pets because they don’t have an unpleasant smell like all other feathered animals”, explained our host, young Lokvančić.
Unfortunately, injured storks cannot be returned to the wild, and we also learned how they arrived at the Bambi Zoo.
“One stork is from Pale and they named her Nada. Unfortunately, she was injured, and the children additionally contributed to the “healing” of that injury. I received information that the children beat the stork and threw stones at her. When we brought her in, we saw that she had an open wound under her wing and she was then placed in a veterinary station where she had to undergo surgery. She was also on antibiotics for a month due to an infection. She recovered, but she still limps and is not fit for nature. The other one, for some reason, did not go to warmer regions and she was this year’s chick and simply has stunted wings. It is simply natural selection. And we have three large storks, which are healthy, but they simply stayed here with us, in our climate,” Melvis tells us.
Today, it is very common for people to change the habits of animals, because they feed them and then they don’t want to be separated from people. Lokvančić also told us a very interesting story about how a baby pony of a very specific gray color arrived at his place. It happened when a group of friends came across this pony in Tuzla, about an hour after they read the story about Melvis on one of the portals.
“They saw that the pony was living in poor conditions, that it didn’t have adequate space, and that it was tied up in an ugly spot next to a main road where cars were passing at an abnormal speed. And just an hour earlier, they had read an article about me and my zoo and agreed among themselves to buy the pony and donate it to my zoo.”
Every animal has its own story, something that makes it specific, and Melvis’s story is certainly one of the most humane. There are also big plans ahead of him, all aimed at developing the zoo.
“The plan is to acquire a kangaroo in the spring, and we are also discussing a monkey. It is planned to open a small restaurant where the little raja will be able to refresh himself with some drinks and sweets, but our goal is to serve homemade juices, so that everything reminds of a farm”, Melvis points out.
Currently, Melvis has no other commitments to the zoo, but his wish is to enroll in veterinary medicine in the future, which we have no doubt will happen. We invite everyone to visit this zoo, and we call on the state to help such individuals as much as possible so that they can succeed in achieving their goals for the benefit of all of us. ,
Written by: Maja Popović
This story was made possible through the generous support of the American people through the Local Works program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The author and the Peacebuilding Network are solely responsible for the content of this story. The views expressed in this story do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
