A 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger named Rio is seen at Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 29, 2022. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation.
Located near the Athens international airport, Attica Zoological Park opened to the public in spring 2000.
Starting as a bird park, it developed into a full-fledged zoological park extending to 20 hectares that currently hosts some 2,200 animals of 280 species, including mammals and reptiles, said Jean Jacques Lesuaeur, founder and CEO of Attica Thematic Park S.A., which manages the zoological park.
A 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger named Rio was one of the star attractions of the ark.
Rio was born in the park in 2019. His parents are gone and his sister was sent to a German zoo. In 2022 the zoo expects to receive a young female Sumatran tiger so that he is no longer alone, Lesuaeur told Xinhua in an interview.
Attica Zoological Park runs breeding programs and all the animals in the park were born in captivity.
Sumatran tigers like Rio are endangered, he explained. Currently it is estimated that there are about 400 Sumatran Tigers living in the wild in tropical rainforests.
"I think tigers are a very emblematic species of cats ... maybe the most emblematic in the eyes of the public. Maybe not the most endangered, but still it is an endangered species," Lesuaeur said, before sending warm wishes for the Year of the Tiger.
"I send all my wishes to Beijing. I love Beijing. I was there many years ago. Beautiful city, fantastic history. And what I love about China, of course, is the giant panda," he said.
"I hope one day our governments will be able to exchange and we receive a giant panda in Greece. It's an emblematic species," he added.
Sofiana Menti and Anastasia Paschalidou were among visitors of the park on Saturday. They both admired Rio for the strength tigers represent and sent wishes to Chinese people.
"Happy New Year China. We love you," Menti said.
"I wish that the New Year will bring to everyone what they want, (I wish) an end to COVID-19, that it disappears if possible, and (I wish) health, love and abundance to all," Paschalidou said. ■
A 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger named Rio is seen at Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 29, 2022. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
Jean Jacques Lesuaeur, founder and CEO of Attica Thematic Park S.A., which manages Attica Zoological Park, holds a toy tiger in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 29, 2022. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
A 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger named Rio is seen at Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 29, 2022. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation. (Xinhua/Yu Shuaishuai)
A 3-year-old male Sumatran tiger named Rio is seen at Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, on Jan. 29, 2022. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Tiger, the founder of Attica Zoological Park in Greece sent wishes to Chinese people and called for bilateral cooperation. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
