Nine red deer born at Tbilisi Zoo have returned to the wild — or, more precisely, to a semi-wild environment. They have moved to Algeti National Park, near Tbilisi.
Life at the Tbilisi Zoo: video
Deer born at Tbilisi Zoo were first moved to Algeti National Park in the summer of 2025. It was the first attempt to reintroduce the species into the wild in Georgia.
The process will continue in the coming years until the park has enough deer to restore the population.
The idea of restoring Georgia’s deer population emerged in the 1990s, when their numbers in the country fell sharply. Poaching and uncontrolled hunting contributed to the decline. Today, the red deer features on Georgia’s Red List of threatened species. In 2023, at the initiative of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, authorities drew up a national plan to restore endangered species.
Zurab Gurielidze, a professor at Ilia State University and director of Tbilisi Zoo, led the development of the plan. As part of the project, authorities established an enclosed area of around 60 hectares in Algeti National Park, providing the deer with a suitable habitat and the conditions they need.
The process will take time and require continuous monitoring, adequate protection and cooperation between various agencies. Once the deer population in the park reaches a sufficient level, authorities will release the animals fully into the wild, where they will be able to live independently.
Tbilisi Zoo‘s history spans nearly a century. It was founded on 10 February 1927 on the basis of the Caucasian Society for the Acclimatisation of Animals, which had been keeping wild animals since the early 20th century, though without official zoo status.
The zoo was originally built on 70 hectares in the Vere River gorge. Over the years, the expansion of the capital — and later the devastating flood of 13 June 2015 — significantly reduced the territory of the old zoo. Today, it covers five hectares and is home to around 1,500 animals, each with its own story. In this video series, we will introduce you to the residents of Tbilisi Zoo.
We will show how their day unfolds, how they interact with other animals and people, and how their behaviour changes depending on the weather and the season. Get ready to hear many fascinating stories.