The modern Ark of the Beasts flees Poland from the Kyiv Zoo after a six-day odyssey through Ukraine in which their evacuation convoy was fired upon by Russian artillery and forced to flee Putin’s tanks.
A modern coffin of animals has fled to Poland after a six-day odyssey in war-torn Ukraine, in which their evacuation convoy was fired upon by Russian artillery and forced to flee Vladimir Putin’s tanks.
Animals from a rescue shelter near Kyiv airport were attacked by Russian shelling when the director decided to evacuate them.
Saying that they will either die of “bombs or starvation”, Natalia Popova contacted a zoo in the Polish city of Poznan before making the difficult decision which of her 80 animals has the best chance of surviving the trip.
Choosing six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a Capuchin monkey, Popova then arranged to meet with the Polish zoo at the border.
Departing on Saturday, the convoy had to return immediately after the shelling. The next day, they encountered Russian tanks, forcing the convoy to flee, but resumed on Tuesday, changing course several times to avoid bombs and Russian troops.
A modern coffin of animals, including a Capuchin monkey, fled to Poland after a six-day odyssey in war-torn Ukraine, seeing their evacuation convoy fired on by Russian artillery and forced to flee Vladimir Putin’s tanks.
The animals, including six lions from a rescue shelter near Kyiv airport, were attacked by Russian shelling when the director decided to evacuate them.
Warning that animals, including tigers, will either die from “bombs or starvation”, Natalia Popova contacted a zoo in the Polish city of Poznan before making the difficult decision which of her 80 animals has the best chance of surviving in the journey.
Popova chose six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a Capuchin monkey and arranged to meet with the Polish Zoo at the border
The modern Ark reached and crossed the Polish border late Thursday night after evading artillery fire and Russian tanks in a desperate attempt to flee the country.
Piles of food were loaded onto an animal carrier as it left the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a desperate evacuation as Russian troops advanced into the capital after invading the country last week.
At the border last night, the happy employees of the zoo posted on social networks: “We succeeded! Everyone is alive! The crossing took eight hours in the cold, and people and animals were exhausted.
After fleeing Russian tanks, they headed for Zhytomyr, where they encountered a bombing raid, so they headed south to Vinnytsia before heading to the Metica border crossing.
At the border last night, the happy employees of the zoo posted on social networks: “We succeeded! Everyone is alive! The crossing took eight hours in the cold, and people and animals were exhausted. We are worried about an old tigress, a tiger cub and a lion.
The director of the Poznan Zoo, Eva Zgrabczynska, said later: “Leaving the attacked country is not easy, as hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine have already learned. It’s even harder with animals.
– At a given moment [Natalia] he called me, whispering that she was sitting in the cabin and seeing the tanks. I begged her to leave the animals and save her life. She refused.
The animals are already on their way to the zoo, where after a break some will head to shelters in Spain and Belgium, where they have been offered shelter.
Several of the 80 animal zoos have been abandoned in a desperate evacuation effort this week, including alpacas photographed at the zoo earlier this year.
Choosing six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a Capuchin monkey, Popova then arranged to meet with Polish zoo staff at the border, leaving the other animals behind.
Several of Kiev’s 80 zoo animals were abandoned when staff evacuated some of the creatures as Russian troops advanced into the Ukrainian capital after raiding the country last week.
Several of the 80 animal zoos have been abandoned in a desperate evacuation effort this week, including alpacas photographed at the zoo earlier this year.
Turtles were among nearly 70 animals left at a zoo in Kyiv this week after staff evacuated a small number of lions, tigers and other animals across the Polish border.
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