Melios Zoo in Agioi Trimithias, from which a bear recently escaped, continues to operate without a zoo operating licence or planning permit, according to official records. The dispute with the authorities dates back to 2008. The escape ended without incident. The park still admits visitors and runs a website advertising animals and birds, some of them for sale.
Court decisions remain outstanding on halting the use of cages built without permits, on unlicensed plots and on neighbouring state land where deer are kept, and on demolishing them. The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, together with the Nicosia District Local Government Organisation and the Veterinary Services, is drawing up a plan to remove the animals and manage the situation. The authorities say the premises are not licensed and the state cannot guarantee the safety of visitors. The owner repeatedly files complaints with the police against the authorities.
Official records describe a dispute with the Veterinary Services spanning almost two decades, with a series of incidents that ended up in court. In 2008, lions and jaguars were imported from the Netherlands or Germany without approved facilities. The animals stayed in a lorry at Limassol port and were re-exported. In 2010, 20 caiman crocodiles were imported from the Netherlands without suitable holding facilities. When the owner refused to arrange for them to be sent back, the Veterinary Services seized and euthanised them.
In 2016, the owner tried to import three white lions from Poland. The authorities initially stopped the flight, but the animals were later brought in illegally and placed on an unlicensed plot. An administrative fine of 5,000 euros was imposed, and the Administrative Court upheld it in December 2022. In 2023, two bears without accompanying documents were found at the premises.
Melios Zoo Park was first licensed on 26 September 2012 for five years, until 25 September 2017. The licence covered a specific list of approved species and required a register of animals, third-party liability insurance and suitable living conditions. It expired on 25 September 2017 and was not renewed because of non-compliance, including the lack of a register, failure to renew the insurance and planning violations. The owner challenged the refusal. The Administrative Court and then the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Republic.
Despite criminal-court convictions following complaints by the Veterinary Services, the penalties proved no deterrent and the site has continued to operate, according to the official records. The Ministry of Education has been formally informed so that school visits are prevented.
The owner had been registered since 2004 in the Register of Traders and Businesses for intra-Community trade. According to the records, he used that status to bring wild and exotic animals into Cyprus under the guise of the zoo or a pet shop, without the required prior approvals and health checks. On 4 July 2017 the Veterinary Services permanently removed him from the register. On 20 December 2022 the Administrative Court dismissed his appeal, finding that the services had acted on established illegalities and the illegal use of premises for trading in animals.
The records also show that he sent notifications of incoming consignments outside working hours or over long weekends and public holidays, and imported animals through intra-Community trade without notifying the TRACES system.
In 2025 the agriculture ministry, the Department of Environment, the Department of Forests, the Game and Fauna Service and the Veterinary Services decided to draw up a plan to resolve the animal protection issue. They contacted international animal welfare organisations about possibly removing the animals. Many animals had no accompanying documents and could not be taken in. The authorities decided to record the animals through an inspection, without an exact record of the species and numbers in each enclosure, or for all species.
In May 2026, amid an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and after court decisions ordering the demolition of certain enclosures, the Nicosia organisation, the ministry and the Veterinary Services met to coordinate removal, at least from the enclosures covered by the demolition order. The Veterinary Services were sent a plan of those enclosures so they could record the species and prepare a management plan.
Under Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 95/2021, which regulates the keeping and sale of animals under the Animal Protection and Welfare Laws of 1994 to 2025, the owner was required to declare to the Veterinary Services all animals in his possession that may not legally be kept. The deadline, including a transition period, expired in 2021. He has not declared them. He no longer appears to be importing large wild animals for the zoo, at least not himself.
A pet shop operated on the same plot, although the law required it to be kept completely separate from the zoo.