Over a month ago, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine, causing devastation to the country’s wild animals. We are horrified by the suffering inflicted. It is having catastrophic consequences for Ukraine’s free wildlife and for the poor, unfortunate animals in zoos. These poor creatures now have war to add to the cruelty they suffer as caged captive animals.

Zoo animals are starving as you read this! HELP US GET THEM FOOD!

This is a representation, but we know from previous experience what will happen to Ukraine’s zoo animals

ASI strongly disagrees with zoos that cage wild animals who should be free in their natural habitat. But we can’t stand by and watch innocent animals suffer, and zoo animals are starving in Ukraine right now.

Because of the war, no help is coming from the Ukrainian government and so we partnered with the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG), an NGO made up of scientists and other experts, to help feed these creatures.

This is a representation, but we know from previous experience what will happen to Ukraine’s zoo animals

One of the more dire situations is at the Askania-Nova Biosphere Reserve in Kherson Oblast which has 3,898 animals, including ostriches, emus, rhinos, bison, wild horses, llama, zebras, antelopes and the world’s largest herd of critically endangered saigas antelopes. This is an area that has seen heavy fighting.

The animals are running out of food and facing CATASTROPHE!

UNCG had made a deal with local farmers to provide enough fodder. That deal has come to an end, but with your help, we can renew it and keep feeding the animals. Any donation you can make today will be of enormous value to hungry captive animals.

IT GETS WORSE!
Russian tanks destroyed zoo fences and shelled animal enclosures!

• The Mykolaiv Zoo is running out of money to feed giraffes, hippos, polar bears, elephants, tigers and the Amur leopard – the rarest subspecies of the big cat. The zoo has been hit multiple times by Russian shelling, which is “very stressful” for the animals, according to director Volodymyr Topchyi. Evacuation is not an option for these poor creatures right now, and we applaud the zoo’s brave staff who remain behind to care for them. UNCG has already managed to send some funds to the zoo. But with rockets flying overhead and air raid sirens wailing, the 4,000 trapped and hungry animals need our help with more funding. UNCG says that the zoo’s main needs are medicines and fresh meat for predators.
• The Berdyansk Zoo, located in a zone that is under Russian occupation, is in a similar situation with lions, wolves, alpacas, tigers, black bears, camels, black leopard, lemurs and emu urgently needing food. Once again, we have found a way to feed them.
• The Yelanetsky Steppe Reserve in Kalynivka, Mykolaiv Oblast, needs food for 28 species of mammals including bison, red fox, roe deer and wild boar, but the most urgent need there is to rebuild a huge fence that has been repeatedly breached by Russian tanks and other military equipment. If the animals flee, their fates are sealed; they will be mown down in the war. The grazing bison are incredibly important for the reserve’s ecosystem, because they protect it from being overgrown with invasive, alien plants. Thanks to your generosity, we were able to rush emergency funds to UNCG so that they may tackle this project immediately. Your donations have already been transferred to Yelanetsky, and they can now buy much-needed fodder and supplies to begin rebuilding the fence right away. UNCG informed us that this is an area that has recently been liberated from Russian troops. We hope this will be the first success story of many for Ukraine’s struggling reserves and zoos.

This is a representation, but we know from previous experience what will happen to Ukraine’s zoo animals

ASI will always come to the aid of animals in crisis and despite our fundamental opposition to zoos, we must ask you, in this time of crisis to help us feed zoo animals in war torn Ukraine. Giraffes and lions, let alone polar bears, have no place there, and now a deadly war is raging around them to add to their suffering. We need your help to help them!