Tigers, Lions, and More: The Transformations of Chelyabinsk's Top Vet's Patients
On October 31, the «Doctor Aibolit of All Russia» (a fictional animal doctor) — veterinarian Karen Dallakyan from Chelyabinsk — turned 55. Severely ill, injured, and abandoned wild animals are brought to him from all over the country, and the animal rights activist has likely saved hundreds of animals and birds. His most famous patients and touching photographs are in our celebratory collection.
Karen Dallakyan has been treating and rehabilitating wild animals and birds for many years, but in 2009 he became famous for rescuing a tiger cub. The six-month-old Zhorik came into the veterinarian«s hands with advanced sinusitis due to a tubular bone that had pierced his palate: the cub was unconscious, feverish, and there was almost no hope for a successful outcome.
Karen Dallakyan treated Zhorik together with maxillofacial surgeons from the regional hospital, the tiger cub was not only nursed back to health but also bought out from a traveling circus in Kurgan: Chelyabinsk residents collected 150,000 rubles (approximately $2,000 at current rates) for this in a week.
In the autumn of 2010, the predator was sent to the «Utes» wild animal rehabilitation center in Khabarovsk, where Zhorik was allocated half a hectare of wild taiga.
Zhorik became the mascot for the European and World Judo Championships held in Chelyabinsk in 2012 and 2014, and several books were written about him. Now Zhorik is a tiger in his prime, the pride of the Khabarovsk rehabilitation center.
The paralyzed lion cub Simba was brought to Chelyabinsk in the spring of 2020 from Dagestan. A local photographer kept him in a shed, in cold and hunger. Karen Dallakyan performed surgery on the lion cub, he was brought back to his feet at the shelter, and a year later he was sent on a special flight to Tanzania, to the Kilimanjaro Animal Crew special rehabilitation center.
Karen Dallakyan even told President Vladimir Putin about the abuse of Simba, law enforcement agencies became interested in the story, and in 2021 the photographer was sentenced for cruel treatment of an animal.
Karen Dallakyan continues to visit Simba in Tanzania, and a couple of years ago it became known that the lion found a mate and began building his pride.
A small leopard was rescued from a traveling zoo in the Orenburg region. The mother refused to feed the cub born in captivity and almost killed her. At the shelter, the girl was named Eva, and she instantly became everyone«s favorite.
After recovering and gaining strength, Eva flew to Africa together with Simba.
The male cougar Athos «worked» in a Siberian traveling circus, then ended up in a private zoo in Tomsk, where due to terrible conditions he developed gangrene. One of the cougar«s front paws had to be amputated. Since 2017, Athos has been living at the »Spasi Menya« shelter.
The lion Shiraz was brought to the shelter in the spring of 2023 from the home of a negligent owner who had abandoned the expensive «toy». The beast was cured of rickets and frostbite, and for now the handsome one lives in Chelyabinsk — in a spacious and warm enclosure.
Among the patients of «Doctor Aibolit» there are also less exotic predators. The story of the lynx Marysia, who came to the «Spasi Menya» shelter in 2017, even influenced changes in federal legislation: before that, a wild animal seized from an owner could only be put up for auction or euthanized.
In 2020, Karen Dallakyan saved three orphaned bear cubs found in the forests near Khanty-Mansiysk. The rehabilitation was supported by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, that same summer they were sent to the «Utes» center in Khabarovsk to prepare for life in the wild, and a year later they were released into the wild.
Sofya Karenovna was saved and fattened up after the small bear, hungry and emaciated, came out of the forest to people. Now she also has her own spacious home at the shelter.
But one should not think that Dr. Dallakyan only treats large animals: for example, birds that have strayed from their flock or were taken from poachers often end up with him.
