{"id":37451,"date":"2024-04-18T11:50:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T09:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d138d150-2f23-4776-9f4b-902948cc00d2"},"modified":"2024-04-18T13:35:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T11:35:43","slug":"thousands-of-exotic-animals-were-abandoned-when-war-broke-out-in-ukraine-but-one-woman-stayed-behind-to-save-them","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/thousands-of-exotic-animals-were-abandoned-when-war-broke-out-in-ukraine-but-one-woman-stayed-behind-to-save-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of exotic animals were abandoned when war broke out in Ukraine, but one woman stayed behind to save them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Witness the resilience and compassion of individuals and organisations as they work tirelessly to safeguard the Ukraine’s precious wildlife during challenging times. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 18 April 2024 at 09:50 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Two years ago, war broke out in Ukraine. As its citizens fled, many animals were left behind. But they were not abandoned completely.<\/p>

A wolf arrives at Pozna\u0144 Zoo on a late transit.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Inside a dimly lit room at Pozna\u0144 Zoo, Poland, two men pry open a makeshift wooden crate. As the lid pops, a tiger cub springs out, all claws and fangs. It has endured a three-day transit by truck with no food or water and is starving and stressed.<\/p>

The cub has not arrived at the zoo alone; various other containers are still in a truck outside. While their occupants await release, staff use tweezers to pass small items of food through roughly drilled breathing holes and between bars.<\/p>

\"Saving
A tiger cub, evacuated from war-torn Ukraine, is released from its travel crate at Pozna\u0144 Zoo, Poland<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

It\u2019s 3rd March 2022, day seven of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. 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 Pozna\u0144 Zoo.<\/p>

The last individual to be released is Kaja, a 16-year-old circus tigress. She is gently carried into an enclosure and laid on some hay. Blind and declawed, she starts slowly licking and gnawing her paws, quietly vocalising. I feel a heaviness in the pit of my stomach, but that Kaja has even made it to Pozna\u0144 alive is nothing short of remarkable.<\/p>

Several days earlier, while working at the Poland-Ukraine border as a fixer, assisting other journalists in the field, I had heard a rumour that a number of big cats were heading our way, evacuees from Kyiv Zoo that were being transported to Poland. But these were not zoo animals. They were individuals from private collections, acquired via a black-market trade in exotic pets that is rife in Ukraine, and left behind as their owners fled the war.<\/p>

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a human tragedy, but also an animal tragedy. Thousands of animals \u2013 pets and livestock, but also those housed in zoos, private houses, circuses, shelters and vet clinics across the country, have been caught up in the conflict, forcefully separated from their owners or simply abandoned. Yet a great effort is being carried out by people across the country to save them.<\/p>

Playing a major role in this operation are two incredibly determined women who have teamed up across the Poland-Ukraine border. On the Polish side is Ewa Zgrabczy\u0144ska, director of Pozna\u0144 Zoo and renowned for combatting the illegal trafficking of big cats through the country. It is at her insistence that the zoo is providing sanctuary for the evacuees until they can be rehomed elsewhere.<\/p>

\"Saving
Ewa and the newly arrived capuchin<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

On the Ukranian side is Nataliia Popova, a former equestrian champion. She rescues animals stranded at the front line \u2013 often alone, and often risking her life to do so. Her horse-riding centre, Magnat, on the outskirts of Kyiv, now functions as an emergency vet clinic, providing first-aid to everything from bears to birds while they await transit to Pozna\u0144 Zoo.<\/p>

\"Saving
Nataliia comforts Yana the lion at Magnat, her former equestrian centre<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

I follow Ewa to her office, where she attempts to soothe the capuchin. The walls are adorned with children\u2019s drawings; the floor and furniture bear the scrapes and scars of the many creatures that have taken refuge here. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if these animals will survive,\u201d she says. \u201cBut we\u2019ll do our best for them and for Nataliia.\u201d<\/p>

\"Saving
Ewa\u2019s office, Pozna\u0144 Zoo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Two weeks later, I meet volunteer drivers Olena and Ivan from animal welfare organisation UAnimals, who have started to assist Nataliia with rescue operations. We\u2019re on the Ukrainian side of the Korczowa-Krakovets border. They arrive in an animal ambulance complete with two lions, two tigers, several Arctic foxes (from a fur farm), plus a cohort of pet raccoons and domestic cats. The animals are unloaded from their vehicle and reloaded into our Polish one, against a chaotic backdrop of fleeing refugees, busy aid workers and volunteers arriving to fight. The border guards take selfies with the animals and Ivan jokes that if he opens the cages they will create a green corridor here. As we drive our charges across into Poland, one of the lions roars so powerfully that I can feel the vibrations passing through the chassis.<\/p>

\"Saving
Border guards interact with rescued raccoons<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

A few days later, I\u2019m back in Ukraine with Olena and Ivan on a supply run to Magnat. The goods we are carrying are courtesy of Ewa. Knowing that Kyiv could be surrounded in days, she has packed up as many food items, supplements, tranquilisers and sedatives as she can. A curfew is in place as Ukrainian forces launch a counter-offensive to push the Russians out of the capital. \u201cThe mayor of Boryspil has called for all citizens to leave,\u201d says Olena, reading the news out loud. Magnat is very close to Boryspil, on the outskirts of Kyiv, but we know that Nataliia won\u2019t desert her animals.<\/p>

\"Saving
Olena helps to transfer the animal evacuees at the Korczowa border. In the background, citizens are also escaping the conflict<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Ivan crosses himself and lights a cigarette. \u201cDon\u2019t fasten your seatbelt,\u201d he warns. \u201cWatch me closely. If I go down, you go down.\u201d He accelerates and manoeuvres between lorries, taking us through the town of Vinnitsa.<\/p>

Though we are some distance from the front line, Ivan sees smoke and enquires on the radio about recent shelling. It seems a garrison or ammunitions stock has been hit. We take the long way round, avoiding the towns of Hostomel and Bucha, where heavy fighting has broken out. \u201cGoogle Maps doesn\u2019t tell you where the Chechnyans are,\u201d jokes Ivan.<\/p>

\"Saving
An air raid hits Vinnitsa as the team passes through<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Olena mentions that there\u2019s a lion called Ruru in Hostomel that needs evacuating. She is met with silence. We take the Kyiv ring road, which leads us closer to the front line. \u201cYou see that smoke? That\u2019s around Kyiv,\u201d says Ivan. Olena helps to transfer the animal evacuees at the Korczowa border.<\/p>

In the background, citizens are also escaping the conflict. I notice he is paying close attention to the sky, scanning for aircraft flying low to avoid detection. At every military post on the empty highway, Ivan exchanges greetings in the form of a clenched fist: \u201cGlory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!\u201d.<\/p>

The travel information usually displayed on the digital road signs has been replaced with a single, unfriendly message to the Russians. We arrive at Magnat in a blackout, our headlights off. The battle front is just 8km away in Brovary. As we turn onto the gravel road, the silhouettes of vehicles and soldiers catch in the indicator lights.<\/p>

We are greeted by Nataliia; Sveta, the centre\u2019s former restaurant manager; and Sofija, Sveta\u2019s 14-year-old daughter. Like Nataliia, both refuse to leave. The noise of artillery fire rumbles in the distance, but tonight, the skies over Magnat are clear. We stay outside a while, admiring the stars.<\/p>

Taking me around the centre, Nataliia explains how it all began. In 2018, when she was running Magnat as an equestrian centre, she had a call from a welfare organisation that needed help saving a lioness called Yana. \u201cI could see from a photo how miserable she was \u2013 nobody wanted her, so I took her,\u201d Nataliia recalls.<\/p>

Soon, Magnat was doubling up as an animal rescue centre, taking everything from tigers to parrots to reptiles.<\/p><\/blockquote>

She set up a funding webpage, but only received more pleas for aid. Can you help this suffering bear? Can you take in this tiger? \u201cAnd I couldn\u2019t say no,\u201d she says. Soon, Magnat was doubling up as an animal rescue centre, taking everything from tigers to parrots to reptiles.<\/p>

\u201cYana! Come here,\u201d she calls, warning me to keep my distance. We\u2019re still in darkness, and I can just make out the shape of a lioness rubbing herself against bars. \u201cHumans have abused her \u2013 she\u2019s been beaten and electrocuted,\u201d says Nataliia. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t like people now. She has a broken spine; she can walk a little, but evacuation to Poland is not an option. She will stay with us.\u201d<\/p>

It\u2019s still the early days of the war, but Natallia has already taken in hundreds of animals. The first was a lion from Kramatorsk. \u201cShe had no food and water and was dying, but nobody could reach her due to the shelling,\u201d says Nataliia. \u201cCan you imagine what a frightful death that would be? I went to get her, I was scared \u2013 everyone was scared \u2013 but I went anyway. Everyone has to do what they can in this war. I save animals, if the missiles don\u2019t get them first.\u201d<\/p>

\"Saving
A lion cub evacuated from Kyiv arrives at the Polish border<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Transporting animals across borders is complicated at the best of times; during a war it is beyond dangerous. Those whose welcome I witnessed at Pozna\u0144 Zoo had been lucky to even leave Magnat, loaded onto trucks just as Russian forces were advancing on Kyiv.<\/p>

\u201cThe TDF (Territorial Defence Forces) had called that night to warn me that a Russian convoy was nearby,\u201d recalls Nataliia. \u201cI saw them by my fence \u2013 the TDF asked me what I saw exactly, but I didn\u2019t go out to check. I was petrified.\u201d The Russians didn\u2019t spot Nataliia or the other volunteers hidden within the centre, nor did the TDF engage \u2013 at Nataliia\u2019s request. An exchange of fire would almost certainly have proved fatal for the animal evacuees, packed up inside trucks parked across the centre\u2019s entrance.<\/p>

Only once the Russians had moved on could the convoy depart, managing to circumnavigate the shelling and troops to reach the border. We head to the restaurant to join the others. The windows are blacked out with drapes and we eat by candlelight. Nataliia, Ivan and Olena discuss options for the rescue of Ruru the lion in Hostomel.<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m not a zoo,\u201d says Nataliia. \u201cMy goal is to save and stabilise, then send animals to a better place.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>

In the morning, we unload the supplies from Ewa and I see Magnat in the daylight. Various enclosures, stables and makeshift aviaries are scattered across a facility long past its prime. \u201cI\u2019m not a zoo,\u201d says Nataliia. \u201cMy goal is to save and stabilise, then send animals to a better place.\u201d She points to a pen. \u201cThere, we had circus bears. I had to take them or they would have been put down. They are now in Romania.\u201d<\/p>

Veterinary support will come further down the line, but for now, Nataliia has to be self-sufficient. She has taught herself to assess an animal\u2019s condition and administer medicine. Crucially, she\u2019s also learned how to anaesthetise animals when working alone.<\/p>

It\u2019s time to head back to Poland. We were hoping to take another transit of animals with us, but it is stuck behind the Russian line. Olena and Ivan decide that we will go via an animal hospital west of Brovary, where hundreds of cats are stranded. They manage to rescue 40, and I take one more, making it a collar from a press band. As opposed to a lion\u2019s roar, from the back of the truck now comes a clamour of muffled, scared mewing.<\/p>

A few days later, Ukrainian troops force the Russians to retreat, liberating the towns of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel. Nataliia, Olena and Ivan work tirelessly to rescue any animals that are stranded on these former battlegrounds. Ruru is among their number.<\/p>

As with any story of war, the picture is bleak. None of these animals have a bright future, and the majority can never be reintroduced to the wild. Nonetheless, they will at least be afforded a better quality of life away from the conflict, thanks to the people that have chosen to protect them.<\/p>

Their courage and determination to save a nation of animals is awe-inspiring.<\/p><\/blockquote>

With the war unlikely to end any time soon, Nataliia, Ivan, Olena and many other animal-aid volunteers across Ukraine, as well as Ewa in Poland, continue to burn the candle at both ends. Their courage and determination to save a nation of animals is awe-inspiring. Not only are they giving these creatures sanctuary away from the conflict, but their efforts may in time help to fight the illegal trade in exotic pets in Ukraine. As combat continues, so their endeavour continues, to save the animals of war.<\/p>

What happened next?<\/h2>