Join our zoo community

Impact of war on zoos in Ukraine

Discussion in 'Ukraine' started by JurassicMax, 24 Feb 2022.

  1. Arek

    Arek Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    351
    Location:
    Świdnica, Poland
    Feldman Ekopark in Kharkiv is all the time under artillery fire. Four days ago missile hit ape house. Two orangutans and one chimpanzee died. But there is also better news: yesterday four orangs and nine chimps were evacuated to Kharkiv Zoo.
     
    Kifaru Bwana and Haliaeetus like this.
  2. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Jun 2011
    Posts:
    5,497
    Location:
    London, UK
    Feldman Ekopark is the only ZTL zoo with the western long-tailed hornbill, one of 3 ZTL zoos with the grey-cheeked mangabey and eastern lesser white-nosed monkey, one of 4 with the Massena's lorikeet and Allen's swamp monkey and one of 5 with the cardinal lory and Congo Basin Wolf's monkey.
     
  3. Arek

    Arek Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    351
    Location:
    Świdnica, Poland
    Another zoo in serious trouble is XII Months Park. The zoo is located in the northern outskirts of Kyiv. Zoo wasn’t under fire, but almost from the beginning of the war it was under russian occupation. There is no heating, no food for animals. German, Czech and Polish gardens provided food and medicines for Ukrainian zoos, but there is no way to deliver it to XII Months Park. Owner asks for a green corridor to be able to take out smaller animals and bring food for larger (zoo has rhinos, hippos, giraffes, orangs). Unfortunately, the occupier doesn’t agree to this. So far, the food portions have been limited, but some animals died of shock and starvation.
     
    Blijdorpenaar and Kifaru Bwana like this.
  4. Elena

    Elena Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12 May 2020
    Posts:
    653
    Location:
    California
  5. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Administrator Staff Member 20+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Oct 2003
    Posts:
    4,026
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Lion and wolf taken across Carpathian Mountains in 'mission impossible' escape from war-torn Ukraine

    A lion and a wolf have been evacuated from a zoo in Ukraine following a four-day rescue mission.

    Simba the lion and the wolf named Akyla were completely awake during their journey due to the lack of tranquillisers available in war-torn Ukraine.

    The pair were delivered to their new home in Radauti in Romania this week after travelling from a zoo in Zaporizhzhia in south-east Ukraine.

    Escaping the war zone involved crossing the towering Carpathian Mountains, which arch across the countries' common border.

    ...​
     
  6. Zooplantman

    Zooplantman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23 Jan 2008
    Posts:
    4,144
    Location:
    New York, USA
    Last edited: 25 Mar 2022
  7. Elena

    Elena Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    12 May 2020
    Posts:
    653
    Location:
    California
  8. Dassie rat

    Dassie rat Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Jun 2011
    Posts:
    5,497
    Location:
    London, UK
    I have received an e-mal from Animal Survival International (ASI).
    It states that the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve in Kherson Oblast has ostriches, emus, rhinos, bison, wild horses, zebras antelopes and the world's largest herd of saigas and is an area that has seen heavy fighting and which the Russians now claim to completely control. Russian tanks have destroyed zoo fences and shelled enclosures.
    ASI says that the Mykolaiv Zoo is running out of money to feed giraffes, hippos and polar bears; rockets are still flying overhead. .
    ASI says that lions, wolves, alpacas, tigers, black bears and leopards, camels, lemurs and emus urgently need food at the Berdyansk Zoo.
    ASI says the Yelanetsky Steppe Reserve in Kalynivka, Mykolaiv Oblast needs food for the bison, red fox, roe deer and wild boar. The most urgent need is to rebuild a huge fence that has been repeatedly breached by Russian tanks and other military equipment. If the animals flee, they will be mown down in the war. The grazing bison are incredibly important for the reserve’s ecosystem, as they protect it from being overgrown with invasive, alien plants. UNCG said this is an area has recently been liberated from Russian troops.
     
  9. Arek

    Arek Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Feb 2010
    Posts:
    351
    Location:
    Świdnica, Poland
    In Feldman Ecopark, a couple of bison died as a result of shelling, only ten-month-old bison was left.
    But again some better news: most of the monkeys were taken from Feldman Ekopark (two days ago) and XII Months Park (today). It is also possible to deliver food to XII Months Park (the area is still under russian occupation, but there are no fights there).
    Anywhere I can't find information about Mariupol Zoo(it is small institution, 3,5 ha, probably private). I only read rumors that few days ago lion was running around the city streets.
     
  10. Blijdorpenaar

    Blijdorpenaar Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    1 Apr 2018
    Posts:
    168
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    As the Russians seem to be in full retreat in northern Ukraine, any word on XII Months?
     
  11. Dylan

    Dylan Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    12 Mar 2016
    Posts:
    459
    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Feldman Okopark has confirmed on Facebook that continued shelling over the last two days has destroyed the majority of their infrastructure. As they still have their big cats on site, they are hoping to move them to other facilities whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, if that opportunity fails to appear, they are considering the euthanasia of these animals.

    Source: Фельдман Экопарк
     
    Blijdorpenaar likes this.
  12. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 Oct 2012
    Posts:
    10,699
    Location:
    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    They posted an updated today that four cats were successfully evacuated and that they are receiving new transport/holding cages and supplies which will hopefully help them evacuate more animals.

    ~Thylo
     
    Elena likes this.
  13. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Sep 2017
    Posts:
    11,354
    Location:
    Wisconsin
  14. Blijdorpenaar

    Blijdorpenaar Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    1 Apr 2018
    Posts:
    168
    Location:
    the Netherlands
    Feldman Ecopark has evacuated some kangooroos and tapirs to Poltava.
     
    ThylacineAlive likes this.
  15. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    7 Mar 2015
    Posts:
    16,336
    Location:
    New Zealand
    Feldman Ecopark has successfully evacuated three tapirs:

    Rare tapirs rescued from Ukrainian zoo where three keepers have died

    Three rare tapirs have been rescued in the back of a van, after they were left in a Ukrainian zoo.

    Feldman Ecopark zeoo said in a statement: "Dalma, Pinto and Dolly were taken out of the danger zone and sent to the Poltava region, where a temporary home was prepared for them.


    "Many thanks to brave rescue volunteers, partners from Ecopark Kovalivka and our many friends, thanks to whose donations we can evacuate animals."
     
    ThylacineAlive and Smaggledagle like this.
  16. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Administrator Staff Member 20+ year member

    Joined:
    18 Oct 2003
    Posts:
    4,026
    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    From the Feldman Ecopark website: War brings bad news

    We have received confirmation that two of our employees who went missing in early March have died. When the war started, they stayed in the Ecopark and helped to feed the animals. We arrived at the Ecopark on March 7 and did not find them there. We searched for them for a long time, hooked up law enforcement officers. Until the last, we had been hoping that nothing irremediable had happened, and they were able to survive. But yesterday we received confirmation that their bodies had been found. Our guys were shot by the enemies, and their bodies had been barricaded in the back room.

    We’ll cherish the blessed memory of these wonderful and courageous people. Sincere condolences to their families and friends. We believe that inhumans who have committed this will definitely be punished!​


    ABC News in Australia reported on this: Ukrainian zoo workers found shot to death and dumped in barricaded room, say owners

    A Ukrainian zoo says two workers who stayed at the park to feed the animals after Russia launched its invasion have been found dead.

    The Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv said in a statement the workers bodies were discovered "barricaded in the back room".

    Kharkiv, in Ukraine's north-east near the Russia border, has been witness to some of the fiercest fighting in the war.

    ...

    The ABC has not been able to independently verify the claims.
     
  17. Lafone

    Lafone Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    6 Dec 2021
    Posts:
    1,547
    Location:
    UK
    It must have taken a lot of courage to continue to go to work to care for animals in the middle of a war.

    A terrible thing for them and their families. The whole thing is awful.
     
  18. SaritaWolf

    SaritaWolf Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    15 Feb 2021
    Posts:
    82
    Location:
    USA - Pennsylvania
    It takes an evil, evil person to shoot someone while they’re just trying to care for animals.
     
    Blijdorpenaar likes this.
  19. TinoPup

    TinoPup Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    17 Jul 2016
    Posts:
    6,553
    Location:
    .
    The dolphins at Kharkov Dolphinarium in Kharkiv have been moved to Odessa.
     
    ThylacineAlive and SaritaWolf like this.
  20. Terka

    Terka Member

    Joined:
    18 Aug 2021
    Posts:
    17
    Location:
    Czech Republic

    probably not all of them - a baby was born by end of April (oh no!), so the calf and parents stay, as well as beluga whales :(