A zoo in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv says it may need to put down big cats, bears and other large animals as their facilities were almost destroyed by Russian bombing. The Feldman Ecopark issued a statement from its founder on Tuesday saying the park was looking for ways to temporarily house the animals, otherwise its “only choice” would be euthanasia. “Ecopark no longer exists. Now that can be said with certainty,” said founder Oleksandr Feldman. “Yesterday and today [the zoo] was again subjected to massive bombardment and bombing. “The infrastructure was destroyed, the enclosures were destroyed.” He said the shells still maintained “miraculously” their integrity, but would likely be jeopardized by another round of bombings. The park fears that its predators – including lions, tigers, panthers, jaguars and bears – may escape their enclosures and enter the city of Kharkiv or nearby villages. “It’s incredibly painful to talk about it, but the main priority now is people’s lives,” Feldman said. Feldman Ecopark later posted a video on its Facebook page showing the damage done to some enclosures. “As you can see, a little more, and lions could be out of the shell,” the caption read. In the post, the zoo again asked for help in evacuating its predators, saying that “animal euthanasia is the extreme measure we hope [we] it will not arrive “. However, moving large cats and bears is an operation that requires “special transport” and “large numbers of people,” warned the Feldman Ecopark. The zoo also noted a “high probability” that the moves would draw the attention of Russian forces, who may resume bombing the area. There may still be some hope for the beasts of the zoo: In a separate update, the park said it has received responses from Ukrainians across the country offering transportation and cages. The zoo said it has since started evacuating two lions, a jaguar and a panther. “Transportation is already coming to us, the necessary cages are coming, people who are not afraid to take the animals out of the firing range, are ready to receive our pets in many places,” the park said in a statement. “Of course, everything is still very difficult and the process is only gaining momentum,” he added, adding that further assistance would be needed with logistics, animal feed, finances and human resources. The Feldman Ecopark donation page is here.
