The Russian New University (RosNOU) is among an informal community — the Moscow Zoo Friends Club. RosNOU joined the program "Take an Animal under the Wing", which allows taking part in the conservation of rare species.
In April 2021, RosNOU took the raccoon dog Buba under the wing.
Initially, the university had a plan to take care of a raccoon, since it is the raccoon Arseny – the symbol of the RosNOU student movement, its mascot. But it turned out that these animals are quite popular and all the raccoons in the zoo have already found their guardians. The striped pets were taken under the wings of three organizations ("Enot Print", "Tochka Resheny" and the Main Portal of the Botanical Gardens of Russia) and a person (Andrey Sadovnikov).
Fortunately, it turned out that the raccoon dog Buba lives with the raccoons. And, of course, the raccoon Arseny willingly took Buba under his wing.
Buba was born in the zoo. She's in her seventh year. She likes to spend time in the company of "kinfolks" from the raccoon group. These are Partiec, or Porthos, Scully, and Moses. Porthos is an informal elderly leader who prefers to lie down and lead from a distance. Scully is a bully, who often arranges attacks on relatives, although being advanced in years makes her loosen the grip. Moses is a stocky "pacifist" who calmly tolerates any mischief of baby raccoons, for example, lets them roll him around like a pillow.
In such a cheerful company, Buba feels great. A balanced diet also contributes to a good mood. The diet of a raccoon dog includes mice, quails, chickens, fresh-frozen pollack, cottage cheese 9% fat, chicken eggs, carrots, round rice, bran, millet, buckwheat, meat and bone meal tankage, sunflower oil and a variety of fruits and berries — strawberries, black currants, gooseberries, raspberries, watermelons, melons, apples and pears.
The maintenance of a raccoon dog, as well as its "relatives", is not cheap, and the appearance of guardians is a real help to the animals. That is why the Moscow Zoo Friends Club was created, whose programs allow anyone interested to actively participate in the life of its inhabitants.
As a guardian, the Russian New University will assist the zoo staff in implementing the conservation program and, of course, closely monitor the events in Buba's life.
