After a social media request, people from all over the world bought tickets for Nikolaev Zoo in Ukraine. “Nikolaev is engulfed in the war, but tickets to the local zoo are sold out a month in advance,” the zoo said on Facebook on Friday.
The zoo director was overwhelmed with all the support they got from locals and foreigners. They also received a large donation of food and medicine from zoos in Europe.
The zoo has over 3000 animals in its care, including tigers, elephants and giraffes. They were hit by shells two times, once near the primates and the other time near the lions. No animals were hurt, the zoo said.
Kyiv zoo
“In these extremely difficult times, everyone saw how we are fighting for our country, for our freedom and for our future! War has united us, war has strengthened us. We have become one big team!” Kyiv zoo said on Facebook on Thursday.
A way to support the zoo is also by buying tickets. “We fulfill our obligations 24 hours a day and without days off, so that all our beautiful animals were healthy, warm, well-groomed and fed,” the zoo said.
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) is in contact with three zoos in Ukraine: Nikolaev Zoo, Kyiv Zoo and Kharkiv Zoo. “They are generally still not asking for assistance to relocate animals from high-risk zones,” EAZA said in a statement on Friday. EAZA raised over half a million euros for zoos in Ukraine.
“Initial transfers of money have been made to zoos in Ukraine to allow them to meet the costs of local resupply while banking facilities are still available, and without elevating the risk to zoos,” EAZA said.
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