Impact of war on zoos in Ukraine

Evacuation is impossible. All civilian airports have been bombarded and destroyed, there is no way you can get a plane in or out of Ukraine. Highways are blocked by a hundred thousand of cars of people trying to escape who bandoned them after they got stuck in jams. Bridges got blown up to slow down Russian tanks. The city with population of 3,5 milliol is under continuous air and land attack, high-rise building wil produce so much rubble that it will make streets unpassable as days go. Check historic pics of Grozny, Warsaw or Berlin after war to understand how you question is naive. There is no way to evacuate the majority of people, let alone animals.
 
CGSwans said:
The zoo has posted on its Facebook page that staff went to work today and all animals have been fed and enclosures cleaned. Not all heroes wear capes.

edit: correction, this post seems to be from a staff member. It was shared by Zoo News Digest.
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I'm sorry, I've garbled this. The person posting was the director of the Nikolaev Zoo, in southern Ukraine. Not Kyiv.

BUT.

The *actual* Kyiv Zoo posted this two minutes ago:

Operational information from KyivZoo
The critically needed number of employees (about 50 people) are constantly in place, even at night. The zoo is closed to visitors, but the care of animals doesn't stop.
Military actions cause terrible stress on animals, so some of them are moved to internal avalanche and underground galleries. Veterinarians monitor their emotional state and provide sedative when necessary.
During the night fight (night and morning zoo video in the comments) there was no direct shooting into the zoo territory, staff were in prepared bomb shelters.
The Kiev Zoo is provided with electricity, water, heat and feed (about 10 dib ahead).
So the most important thing in the coming days is to support our defenders.
Take care of yourself and Ukraine!
Cyril Trantin,
gen. the director of Kyivzoo
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Київський зоологічний парк загальнодержавного значення
 
One wondering what could happen, can follow well documented histories of zoos in Poland attacked in 1939.

In Poland many animals were quickly killed in bombing, but far more died from stress from loud explosions and fires. Soon afterwards, animals started dying from starvation. The first to die were seals, sealions, pelicans and other fish-eating animals, because fish transports ran out. Afterwards died monkeys and apes, carnivores, birds of prey and fruit-eating birds because fruit and meat could not be obtained.

Source (in Polish) book: Karol Łukaszewicz - Ogrody Zoologiczne. Wczoraj, dziś, jutro.Karol Łukaszewicz • Ogrody zoologiczne. Wczoraj, dziś, jutro

Unlike the invasion of Poland in 1939, the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is in winter, with temperatures in Kyiv falling below freezing. This means that a longer power outage will kill many primates and other tropical animals.

It is sad, the only hope that the war will be stopped quickly.
 
Since this horrible conflict escalated in the last few days I have been curious to hear about what has become of zoos in Ukraine, the days ahead look dark but it is good to know that hard-working staff are still making sure animals are looked after. Thank you for posting and let's hope the war ends soon.
 
Some of the posts made are so naive, Kyiv is a war zone for goodness sake, people and army are fighting to survive and for their own lives and the Russians are not "peacemakers". All we can hope for now is that the majority of animals are as well cared for as is humanely possible under these dire conditions.
 
CGSwans said:
It’s an active battlefront. The Russians aren’t going to stop attacking while zookeepers load elephants into a truck.
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Jurek7 said:
One wondering what could happen, can follow well documented histories of zoos in Poland attacked in 1939.
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Kifaru Bwana said:
Some of the posts made are so naive, Kyiv is a war zone for goodness sake, people and army are fighting to survive and for their own lives and the Russians are not "peacemakers".
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Although one very much hopes this does not end up being the case, there is a very strong chance that the impact of war on Zoo Kyiv could mirror that seen at Zoo Berlin during the final weeks of WWII as the Russian battle lines reached the zoo, as discussed in the following thread:

The Impact Of WWII on Berlin Zoo - as illustrated by maps of the time [Berlin Zoo]

TeaLovingDave said:
The final battles at the end of April 1945 were devastatingly big; at the bitter end of the war, our wonderful zoo was turned into a desolate battlefield, littered with bomb craters, criss-crossed by trenches and battered by the constant onslaught of tank warfare. All of the larger houses and buildings had variously been bombed, incinerated or hit by artillery fire, and not a single roof remained intact in the entire zoo. In the place of animal houses and enclosures stood mountains of rubble, the perimeter wall was pockmarked with gigantic holes and gaps, and piles of human and animal corpses lay scattered among masonry debris and the remains of fallen trees; in short, the zoo was a picture of horror.
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All we can do is watch, and hope, that the city and the zoo get through this storm.
 
You have to take your hat off to people who go to work to take care of animals under such a threat.

But whatever happens to the animals will simply mirror what happens to the country and to the people who live there. They’ve been invaded and many lives will be ruined.

While people here care a lot about zoo animals there is a much larger picture. This invasion is a dreadful, disgusting and illegal act by Russia.
 
I think it’s legitimate that conversation here will focus on the zoos and indeed that is appropriate for this forum. It doesn’t mean that posters are indifferent to the wider plight of Ukraine and its people.

It is also legitimate that people might have thoughts or questions which others could view as being naive. This is a situation which is, for many of us, completely unprecedented and on a scale in Europe which is hard to comprehend.

People are trying to be kind, compassionate and empathetic in a very dark time and I think we should respond to them in a similar manner.

Can I also suggest that the dropdown option for “Kiev Zoo” under Ukraine is changed to “Kyiv”? Use of the Ukrainian rather than the Russian spelling is more important than ever.
 
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Shirokuma said:
Can I also suggest that the dropdown option for “Kiev Zoo” under Ukraine is changed to “Kyiv”? Use of the Ukrainian rather than the Russian spelling is more important than ever.
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Although a very good suggestion and one I fully agree with, it's not something any of the moderators reading this thread have power over - pop your request into the forum/gallery creation thread and jobalba will be able to handle it :) as she's the admin responsible for that aspect of forum upkeep.
 
Jurek7 said:
One wondering what could happen, can follow well documented histories of zoos in Poland attacked in 1939.

In Poland many animals were quickly killed in bombing, but far more died from stress from loud explosions and fires. Soon afterwards, animals started dying from starvation. The first to die were seals, sealions, pelicans and other fish-eating animals, because fish transports ran out. Afterwards died monkeys and apes, carnivores, birds of prey and fruit-eating birds because fruit and meat could not be obtained.

Source (in Polish) book: Karol Łukaszewicz - Ogrody Zoologiczne. Wczoraj, dziś, jutro.Karol Łukaszewicz • Ogrody zoologiczne. Wczoraj, dziś, jutro

Unlike the invasion of Poland in 1939, the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 is in winter, with temperatures in Kyiv falling below freezing. This means that a longer power outage will kill many primates and other tropical animals.

It is sad, the only hope that the war will be stopped quickly.
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Another possible (yet probably highly unlikely) outcome is that some valuable animals may be transported into Russian zoos. Lutz Heck, head of Berlin Garten during the Nazi Regime, visited Warsaw zoo following the German invasion of Poland and took back the most Valuable animals for display in Germany. However the circumstances back then were highly different to the current ones, so it is probably highly unlikely any of the animals in Kyiv will be taken out of the country (they most certainly would not end up in Moscow Zoo, judging how it is a WAZA facility), and more likely they will die in the zoo without proper care. Hopefully the situation won’t end on such a grim note, but it is a possibility if things go any further downhill sadly.
 
Many Ukrainian cities are under heavy bombs and rockets, Russia is razing down high-rise building with people inside, tageting historical centers and suburb commie panel blocks. Kharkov, Kyiv, Kherson, Cherkasy and many others. Kyiv will be within 48 hours circled around 100% and Russia will start Stalingrad-type siege. Shutting out electricity, water, heating, everything, and killing local residents who will fight house by house. There are at least 2 mio people still inside.

over 750.000 people already crossed eastern EU borders and became refugees, internal displaced people around 12.000.000 and many of them try to still get west towards EU. Many locals stayed back and try to slow down Russian tanks by jumping under them to slow them down on streets.

If, NATO doesn´t help within 48 hours or if somebody doesnt do a Putin-ousting, this will be genocide we havent seen since WWII in Europe. Belarus went full Russia and their army joined them. Russia will, latest Friday do another mobilisation of 500.000 of reservists and sent them on the front. Nothing will be left of Ukraine and Russia will continue with other countries, including Baltics.

I watch accounts of our some our Ukrainian/Belarus/Russian immigrants who forward pieces of info and videos and translate also official info from Russian government and from the fronts.

Mods, if you think this doesnt belong here, please delete it.
 
I understand that many of us, myself included, are feeling angry, upset and anxious about the current situation but I do think that we should stay on topic in this thread.
 
Shirokuma said:
I understand that many of us, myself included, are feeling angry, upset and anxious about the current situation but I do think that we should stay on topic in this thread.
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At the moment it's difficult to discuss Kyiv Zoo without discussing the war.
 
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