An Asian elephant named Horace is so terrified by the sound of an explosion that he is being injected with a stick. The zebra is also locked inside. Kiev zoo workers have no choice but to lock themselves inside when they hear a gunshot and try to escape.
Similarly, a lemur named Maya (a species of monkey) almost died after abandoning her one-week-old baby out of fear.
Zoo in most parts of the world suffers greatly from war. War affects, not only people but, also animals. Now the Kiev zoo is also affected by the war. As Russian forces advanced to capture the capital, Kiev, the zoo near the military base was left unaffected.
As the conflict escalates, animals are also beginning to show signs of stress. The heart-rending sound of a siren sounding during an air strike and an explosion can be heard throughout the day. The sound of gunfire doesn't stop overnight.
Assessing the dire situation, 50 employees, including their families, are taking shelter inside the huge but chaotic zoo. It has become a daily routine to take care of the animals 24 hours a day with about 30 family members.
When the sirens of the air strike sound, they run to a safe place built in the zoo. One shelter is inside a bird cage and the other is in a semi-built aquarium. However, it is impossible to keep giant animals like elephants and giraffes in underground shelters.
'They have no place to run or hide," said Kilo Martin, 49, the zoo's director. That's the decent thing to do, and it should end there."
According to The Fieldsman, Eco park Zoo in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the recent shelling has caused some damage. 'Some animals have been injured. Even if some are killed', the zoo wrote on Facebook', the war is still going on in the area. So that's not the end of the story.
This is nothing short of a nightmare for the Kiev Zoo. Some small zoos and shelters outside of Kiev have relocated the animals to Poland. There are also a few dozen lions and tigers. But according to Martin, it is difficult to move large animals from one place to another in times of peace, not even during war.
Instead, Martin, in consultation with the director of the Haifa Zoo in Israel, which is in the throes of war and ammunition, insisted on providing the necessary food to the animal and care workers. By assessing the war, he also fixed the wire. Which now seems to be somewhat fruitful.
Zoo staff are keeping some animals inside the shelter to protect them from shelling. However, Horace can easily hear the sound of bombs exploding in the distance with his long ears and is frightened. So to encourage a 17-year-old adult elephant, an employee sleeps nearby at night. When the elephant is frightened at night, it is given an apple and talked for hours until it calms down. "Now friends know how to calm down a rocket or a bomb" Martin said.
The zoo now has enough food for two weeks. But zoo staff are concerned about animals, such as elephants, which eat up to 100 pounds [100 kg] of food a day. The issue of how to manage the food if they can't manage it has become a big headache for them. But they have not given up hope.
The zoo, which used to hear the thrilling sounds of children roaming around, is now as calm as Samson. The occasional croaking of a crow and the roar of a frightened animal disturb the peace.
Some staff Numbers at the zoo carried guns to fight in the war, but some did not. According to one of the zoo's animal keepers, keeping animals alive during the war is no less important than fighting in a war.
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