Zurab Gurielidze

Zurab Gurielidze
Born	(1959-12-05) December 5, 1959 Tbilisi, Georgia
Occupation	Zoologist
Employers	Ilia State University Tbilisi Zoo

Zurab Gurielidze (Georgian: ზურაბ გურიელიძე) (born December 5, 1959, Tbilisi) is a Georgian biologist, zoologist, associate professor of Ilia State University.

Biography

In 1981–1988, he was the chief gameologist of the main division of nature reserves. Since 1988, he has been a junior researcher at the Institute of Zoology. Since 1996, the head of the animal world protection department of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection. Since 1997, director of the "Species Conservation Center". Zurab Gurielidze has been the director of Tbilisi Zoo since 2006.

In 1999, he defended his candidate's thesis "Processes taking place in the population of the Caucasian red deer against the background of the decline of the wolf population." From 2009 until now, 11 master's theses in the field of ecology and conservation of large mammals have been defended under his guidance. Zurab Gurielidze's main research issues are the conservation of large mammals and the ecology of the predator-prey relationship. As the director of the Tbilisi Zoo, He oversaw and prevailed through the harsh 2015 Tbilisi flood.