Details are starting to emerge on how Ukraine’s zoos are coping with the war. Some of the animals including lions, tigers and wild cats have been rehomed to zoos in Poland but this is just not going to be possible for many species.
The current situation in Ukraine is having a drastic effect on the nation’s zoos, just as WWII did at London Zoo. Right now, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA) are working to support the Ukrainian zoos as much as they can.
There are three large zoos, Nikolaev Zoo, Kyiv Zoological Park and Kharkiv Zoo, in cities currently under attack by the Russian military, which have talked about how they are currently coping. Outsiders might think the best thing to do would be to evacuate the animals into a safer environment away from the war zone. But this is an incredibly risky endeavour. In a tense and difficult environment animals may be fearful of the sounds around them. Loading highly stressed animals into crates and transporting them across noisy and complicated conflict zones could cause severe illness or death, quite apart from the danger of being hit by gunfire.
Noise affects animals
Zoo animals are used to a degree of noise when visitors come to their enclosures. Even human chatter has been shown to cause zoo animals to become stressed or change their behaviour. But mostly, the impact of visitors on zoo animals is negligible.
Read more: Zoos are key to the planet's healthy future – don't let them go extinct
Research on the effect of explosions near zoo animals, as is happening near some Ukrainian zoos, is not something that has been studied but we do have some possible comparisons to construction work. A study published in 2019 investigated how elephants, giraffes and emus coped with zoo construction work. Elephants, giraffes and emus reacted with stress and agitation and moved to quieter areas of their enclosures. Giraffes also moved closer to other animals in their herd, a behaviour seen in wild giraffes indicative of increased protection.
With the scale of war and associated explosions being much higher than construction work, we could assume that this will be having a terrifying impact on the animals housed at these zoos. At Kyiv zoo some animals are being given sedatives or moved to underground spaces, and keepers are staying with them overnight.
On March 18 EAZA released a statement to say that: “Ukrainian zoos are generally still not asking for our assistance to relocate animals from high-risk zones; this may not correspond to information you are receiving in the general media coverage, but we support the direct request of the zoos not to relocate animals for the present.”
We also need to consider where would they go. Neighbouring zoos may not have the space, staffing needs, expertise or specially designed enclosures to house these animals.
Even in normal circ*mstances, moving zoo animals is not an easy task, animal transportation can have negative effects on the animal’s welfare. Animals undergoing transportation can experience dehydration, fatigue, behavioural changes and stress. Research has also shown that animals form relationships with the keepers and so this might have additional welfare implications if animals are moved under stressful conditions to new locations.
As the war continues, there have been reports of zoo animals being killed in the blasts and “many animals dead with others roaming the streets”, including lions, but these reports have not been verified by zoos.
What can we learn from the past?
London zoo was established in 1828 and has survived two world wars, and its history of coping during bombing raids may have useful lessons.
On September 3 1939, WWII began and at 11am that day, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), who run London zoo, were told to close it by the government. London zoo had been preparing for this. The records show that two giant pandas, two orangutans, four chimpanzees, three Asian elephants and an ostrich were relocated to Whipsnade zoo outside London for safety. ZSL have collated documents from this era that tell us what went on.
Unfortunately, some of the venomous animals were killed to increase the safety of the public and staff in case any were able to escape due to an invasion. Parts of the zoo were able to reopen but the aquarium remained closed until 1943 in case of bombing. The tanks were emptied and some inhabitants had to be killed – although some fish were moved to tubs in the tortoise house.
London zoo started breeding its own invertebrate supplies such as mealworms. Requests for acorns and other items to feed the animals were broadcast on the radio and the public donated them at a rate of one ton a week. The public were also able to adopt animals and help support them – this might be something that could happen in Ukraine’s zoos.
By March 18 2022, the EAZA Ukraine Emergency Fund had raised €576,371 (£483,768) from a very large number of individual and institutional donors, “an extraordinary and humbling result that will help provide immediate and long-term assistance to colleagues in Ukraine,” said EAZA. Funds raised will be used to assist Ukrainian zoos to provide food and care to animals in conditions of relative welfare and safety, as well as providing support for care staff and management at the zoos.
The zoo, dubbed “Fairytale Dibrova,” is in a park on the banks of the Dnieper River, just west of the Kakhovka dam, which ruptured early Tuesday after a reported blast, sending a deluge through surrounding areas. Workers arrived at the zoo early Tuesday to find it entirely flooded. As many as 300 animals died.
Destroyed homes, gruesome untreated wounds, and a constant search to find enough food to survive—these are a few of the daily struggles dogs, cats, and other animals in the war zones in Ukraine face two years after the country was invaded, and their numbers grow with each day of the bloody conflict.
Animals in Ukraine, like humans, suffer from war—they are killed by shelling, sustain injuries, suffer from stress and hunger. Zoo animals are even more dependent on people and food, on whether they are evacuated in time, or left to be cared for.
Zoo animals usually do not form resistance to the most ordinary of ailments and are more prone to catching viruses that they would never encounter in the wild. Moreover, living in captivity causes animals to lose their natural disposition to the extent that they become unrepresentative of their species.
IFAW has been providing emergency relief and funds to Ukraine since the start of the war. We helped more than 103,000 animals in 2022 by providing local shelters and rescue centres with food, supplies, and veterinary services (including vaccinations, chipping and sterilisation).
IFAW has been helping animals threatened by the intense conflict in Ukraine since February 2022. Thanks to overwhelming support from people around the world, IFAW's work and that of our partners continues to make a difference for the animals and people impacted by the war in Ukraine and around the world.
Fourteen million Ukrainian people left their homes due to the war. While some were able to bring their pets with them, many did not, leaving countless dogs and cats to wander the streets in search of food and shelter.
No one knows how many pets have lost their homes amid the vast exodus since the Russian tanks arrived in 2022, but animal welfare experts put the number at upwards of 100,000. More than six million Ukrainians have fled the country, and at least three million others have been internally displaced.
Nevertheless, PETA-supported teams and Ukrainian animal rescues continue tirelessly to advocate for and protect animals in Ukraine. PETA Germany and their partner organization, Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK), have rescued 15,000 animals from conflict zones in Ukraine since the start of the war.
After an animal dies, a necropsy is done to determine a specific cause of death to list beyond simply euthanasia, and the results are added to the animal's permanent file. Once this testing is completed, the remains of the animal are cremated.
The Zoo had been preparing for war for some time. Zoo records show that at the beginning of September 1939, some of the Zoo's most valuable animals were transferred to Whipsnade for safety; two giant pandas, two orang-utans, four chimpanzees, three Asian elephants and an ostrich.
Only in very special circ*mstances do zoos obtain animals from the wild, which is illegal in many nations. Thus, zoos are not in the practice of actively capturing animals in the wild from their natural habitats.
On average, captive animals (especially mammals) live longer than wild animals. This may be due to the fact that zoos provide refuge against diseases, competition with others of the same species and predators.
Other animals are typically given to the zoo by an owner who couldn't care for them, rescues (from when people just release a pet into the wild), or they may have been born and raised in captivity. Animals in a zoo aren't just there to entertain families, they are also there to educate people.
Many procedures routinely accomplished on domestic animals with minimal restraint require anesthesia of zoo animals for the welfare and safety of both animals and personnel.
Some locations filled up before the storm, but other arrangements were quickly made. Some farm animals were housed in county jails after inmates were evacuated. Some of the more fragile zoo animals were placed in bunkers while many of the large animals were housed in their sleeping quarters.
Being unboxed before me is an extraordinary menagerie of animals: six tigers, four lions, two caracals, an African wild dog, a capuchin and even a stray cat. All have been rescued from war-torn Kyiv and brought to the safety of Poznań Zoo. The last individual to be released is Kaja, a 16-year-old circus tigress.
Some of the animals were slaughtered for meat for Warsaw residents, others were killed by bullets and some managed to escape into the city. The most valuable animals, including Tuzinka – a favourite of Warsaw residents – were transported to the Reich.
Introduction: My name is Kareem Mueller DO, I am a vivacious, super, thoughtful, excited, handsome, beautiful, combative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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