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Subscribe to RSSMaria Danilova of AP reports from Kiev, Ukraine: An Indian elephant called Boy, the pride of the Kiev Zoo, collapsed and died in his enclosure. Around the same time, Maya the camel succumbed to a digestive illness and Theo the zebra died after crashing into a metal fence. And there's more, much more.
AP file
Boy, a 39-year-old Indian elephant, lies in his pen covered with a cloth after he collapsed and died on April 26, 2010. Animal welfare groups say dozens if not hundreds of animals have died at Kiev Zoo in recent years due to malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment, and some suspect that corruption is at the heart of the problem. Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.
The animals just keep on dying at the Kiev Zoo, a place some have likened to an unkempt warehouse for those with fur and feathers. Animal welfare groups say dozens if not hundreds of animals have died at the zoo in recent years due to malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment — and some suspect that corruption is at the heart of the problem.
Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.
"The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it's so far removed from any zoo in Europe," said John Ruane of Naturewatch. "The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same."
New managers appointed in October said that nearly half of the zoo's animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors, and a government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared. Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.
But despite the management change, the zoo's animals are still dying. Some activists suspect a secret real estate deal is in the works — that the zoo is being deliberately decimated so it can be closed down and the prime land that it sits on in the center of Kiev can be sold.
Genya Savilov / AFP - Getty Images file
People hold candles and pictures of dead elephant Boy during a protest in front of the Kiev city administration on April 30, 2010. Ukraine prosecutors are probing the suspected poisoning of 40-year-old Asian elephant Boy who dropped dead at Kiev Zoo on April 26, 2010. Kiev prosecutors quoted by the Interfax agency said they had opened a probe into the death, after zoo officials suspected poisoning.
Other violations included the purchase of medication for already deceased apes, paying for hyenas that were never shipped to the zoo, the illegal sale of 12 macaques, the unrecorded sale of zoo tickets and the misallocation of funds earmarked for feeding zoo animals. The violations totaled 1.6 million hryvna ($200,000 or €140,000), according to Irina Parkhomenko, spokeswoman for the government auditing agency.
Once the jewel of the Ukrainian capital and a favorite weekend spot for families, the zoo began to deteriorate after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the years of poverty that followed. Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.
The Kiev Zoo gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of a female bear.
The elderly brown bear named Dinara had been moved from a small enclosure where she had spent all her life to a bigger pen with a male Malayan sun bear. Stressed by the new premises and her new companion, Dinara began to bang her head against the concrete walls of the enclosure, leaving blood stains on the walls and floor. After days of this, she was euthanized.
On a recent visit, the zoo looked desolate. The elephant's pen stood empty, a lonely wolf paced an open-air enclosure, a collection of farm animals was closed to visitors and two giraffes were locked in two small indoor cells.
The zoo's problems grew worse under the leadership of the city's eccentric mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, who has been widely accused of mismanagement. Under his appointed zoo director, Svitlana Berzina, about a quarter of the animals died and another quarter disappeared in the two years before she was ousted in October, according to the new zoo director, Oleksiy Tolstoukhov.
Sergei Chuzavkov / AP
Zebras walk in the zoological garden in Kiev Zoo on March 16, 2011.
Boy, the biggest Indian elephant in a European zoo, collapsed in his enclosure and died in April at age 39. Berzina denied any wrongdoing and claimed the elephant was poisoned.
Others disagree. Serhiy Hryhoryev, a zoo worker who has set up a group to protect the animals, believes that Boy was killed by a yo-yo diet. He said zoo staff considered Boy to be overweight and put him on a diet of mainly water and hay, causing him to lose more than a third of his weight in four months.
"By the end, his ribs were sticking out," Hryhoryev said.
Then Boy was put back on beets, carrots and apples, which caused rapid weight gain, which Hryhoryev said led to the elephant's heart failure. An autopsy was inconclusive.
A month later, Maya the camel died. Hryhoryev said zoo workers failed to treat her for abdominal bloating after a sudden diet change. The zoo, however, blamed the death on a mysterious poisoner, a middle-aged man with an earring who just happened to resemble the whistleblower Hryhoryev. He was fired from his job but then reinstated through a court order late last year.
Theo the zebra died in late March after being separated from his female companions, as the animals were let outside after spending the winter in cramped indoor quarters. The male zebra threw himself into a metal fence in a desperate attempt to reach the females.
Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species.
Oleksandr Mazurchak, deputy head of the Kiev city administration, said about 250 animals died due to "problems" during two years under Berzina. The government audit last year also found that 131 other animals were missing.
Mazurchak said 50 animals have died since Tolstoukhov took over, though most from old age. But some deaths could have been avoided, like those of the three fish that died in late December when a power outage stopped the flow of oxygen into their tank.
Defending his record, the new director said the zoo has not purchased any new animals in recent years due to funding shortages and 60 percent of the zoo's animals are approaching the end of their natural life span anyway.
"It's not as bad as they say," Tolstoukhov said. "In all the zoos, including in Europe, animals don't live a million years. They also die and get sick."
But Volodymyr Boreiko, an ecologist who has monitored developments at the zoo, said in a report last week that the number of animals that have died since the new managers took over in October is closer to 250 and includes a penguin, a crane, turkeys and mongooses. The zoo said his findings are falsified.
Sergei Supinsky / AFP - Getty Images file
Ukrainian animals-rights organization activists, locked in a cage and wearing masks, tke part in a protest called 'No ZOOcide!' at the entrance of Kiev Zoo on December 20, 2009. The protesters demanded an improvement in animal-keeping conditions at the zoo.
Tolstoukhov said the zoo hopes to attract funds to restore existing enclosures and build new ones, and to repair the heating, air conditioning and electric systems. The zoo also plans to acquire new animals, including two young female elephants and 12 blue sheep.
He denied any plans to sell the 34 hectares (84 acres) of land the zoo occupies in central Kiev.
Luisa Kuznetsova, 26, who came to the zoo last week with her 2-year-old twins Kolya and Karina, hopes it can be saved.
"I want there to be a beautiful zoo here with all the beautiful animals because the kids are growing and the zoo helps them develop," Kuznetsova said as the twins watched a giraffe attempt to kiss them through a glass wall.
But Tamara Tarnavska of the Kiev-based SOS animal rights group believes the zoo must be closed to protect its animals from further abuse.
"The zoo is in such a condition that it's no longer a zoo, it's a concentration camp," Tarnavska said. "When I look those animals in the eyes, I am ashamed to be a human being."
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This is disgusting. Kiev Zoo needs to be shut down until sensible people can be hired to run it and take care of the animals.
Stories like this one wound my soul. Animals and children are the only innocents, counting on us to care for their needs. I don't care what the reason is: idiocy, incompetency, theft, graft. This is not a zoo - it is a death sentence for any animals unfortunate enough to find themselves living in this squalor. SHUT IT DOWN NOW!!!!!!
There is a special place in HELL for people who mistreat animals. CLOSE THE ZOO!
This is no Fairy-Tail! I think as long as man walks the face of the earth he will destroy everything in it's path to gain what ever man wants. In the case of the animals at the Zoo. There is money and property involved. I think the zoo should be closed. Actually I would hope that some enviromental / animal rights group like GREEN PEACE goes in and takes all the animals out and puts them in zoo's that have a conscious. But this is all wishful thinking. These Ruskie's remind me of the Japanese in 1937/38 what they did to the Chinese. You wonder sometimes why man is on this earth. We have done a pretty good job of distroying our mother/Gaia.
Can anyone help the poor creatures who are still in this horrible place? I have been sickened
by the cruelty of these precious animals who depend on "humans?" for their well being!
I know citizens are outraged! Someone help them! Who can we contact?
This is beyond horrific! The so-called people who are responsible for this should be prosecuted and then serve their sentence at the zoo in the same conditions and with the same feeding, etc., that they put these poor creatures through! These people need to die a slow, painful death--they make me ashamed to be a human!!!These animals need to be "liberated" immediately from that zoo and sent to decent facilities that can care for them properly. Cut thru the red tape and get it done. I hope these people are NOT representative of the people of Kiev and the Ukraine--those of you with a heart and a conscience should be in the streets in front of the zoo and city hall, raising heck with the officials there!!
The Ukrainians are too busy with milking tourists of money through scams and prostitution. Most men are too busy screwing around with the pretty girls, and most women are busy looking running around like a headless chicken trying to find another opportunity to get quick money or to get the heck out of that sham of a country. A society as this was better under communism, even though I don't like communism.
Remember that we are all animals in one way or another. But why the administrators at the Zoo continue to praise their work and say that the Zoo will live on seems to be a small part of the indecent 'care package' that sounds good ,but will never help the turkey find food, or the giraffe be able to stretch his legs and get good medical help, etc. CLOSE THE ZOO and move forward.
The article postulates that the reason for all the deaths stems from lack of medical care, malnutrition, and corruption. Ah........the wonderful lasting legacy of communism. Where the cream sinks to the bottom and the dregs rise to the top. U.S. citizens will fare no better than these zoo animals, if Obamacare gets put into action......where centralized federal stooges control everyone's personal life, all under the auspices of "helping the uninsured". Socialism begets Communism. A few powerful people at the top get to control all the assets of a nation, and distribute those assets as they see fit. It may start out as an idealistic crusade, but it ends up in death. Ask any Russian or Ukranian how their lives were when the central govt controlled every aspect of their lives under the Soviet system?
Wow. Why the do you guys always bash the president when something happens. Obamacare and the Zoo have nothing in common. Go get a job you piece of trash.
To Scrimminy Bimminy, yeah the sky is falling and healthcare left unchecked will benefit us all. The few powerful people at the top that get to control all the assets of the nation are the oligarchs!!!! If government doesn't intercede, than you will be at their mercy!!!!
Wha?? What does communism have to do with being humane? This garbage goes on all over the world no matter what kind of society it is.
they well shut it down and build condos on the land.just like when a natural disaster happens in a poor part of the world,if it's beach front it'll be high end hotels next.
You are an idiot. What's next, Obamacare causing the earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan.
Places that have more government healthcare than Obama's plan: Every single developed country. It is less liberal than all of Europe, all of the developed Asian countries. It is very similar to what Bob "Mr. Communist" Dole proposed. It is basically the same as Romney's plan. You are an idiot.This is a zoo story. This is about humans being selfish or shortsighted.
you dumb @!$%#, using this tragedy to fuel your pathetic rhetoric about anti-Obama, anti-healthcare bill, blah, blah -- it's obvious you don't give a @!$%# about the zoo, this article, the animals, or people for that matter. Shut your mouth and save it for the rest of the idiots at you Republican circle jerk, not here.
Scrimminy, you are an idiot. Craw back under your rock.
Stop using an article regarding animal cruelty to push your political agenda. There is no place for it here.
I'm no fan of Obama, but I have to say this is not the place to get into that. This is a story about horrendous mistreatment of zoo animals; there are plenty of other stories and sites in which to get into politics.
Ya know Foxoid, you and your fellow dittoheads, Beckheads, and other assorted airheads should get a library card and check out some real facts. I know righties don't care about facts, but they do matter. Where are there death panels? here in AZ, courtesy of Gov. Jan Brewer, a dumb-as-a-stump Republican. And who is cutting out medical care across the country? The new class of GOP governors, who haven't quite figured out how democracy works.
The only stooges out there are you and your easily-conned buds, who believe every lie Fox feeds them.
Socialism is not Communism. There are no death panels. The Affordable Health Care Act is not even a government-controlled plan. If it would have been, it would have been single-payer, and healthcare costs in the US would have been lowered by billions. Facts, dude, facts.
You see, dunce, when health care is a for-profit business, part of the money that should be used to treat people is used to pay shareholders, not to mention exhorbitant exec. salaries. And in my lifetime, which I'm sure is far longer than yours, i have seen the healthcare "industry" develop into a cesspool of greed.
Those who perpetrate such a system love that people like you are so easily led by the nose to defend a system that delivers more millionaires than medical care. Rush and Glen make millions a year. And they have you carrying their water and paying for the "privilege".
Is it true that ignorance is bliss? You oughta know.
shut it down and move those animals to a better facility!!!! no excuses. who are we to keep these animals in these conditions? they are all living, feeling creatures that deserve a decent life. end of story!!!! this story made me sick.
You forgot to say put those responsible in cages!
WHAT A HORRIBLE SHAME, WAKE UP WORLD ! WE are all accountable This should not be news of what is wrong , but what they are doing to change circumstances for all these poor animals. They have certainly known long enough
This is why I don't go to zoo's. Not even good ones. Leave animals where they belong.
@Butz91...that would be out in the wild where they can be poached into extinction? Great idea. Lets get rid of all zoos and breeding programs to keep species alive and let the poor people in undeveloped nations that hunt for a living continue to kill all the tigers, rhinos and great apes. We don't need to intervene.
Sorry Butz we need zoos to show future generations that there were other forms of life on this planet the only way we can keep them where they belong is if Humans stop breeding like RATS overpopulation by the Human Race is destroying the planet Earth. These animals do not deserve this treatment and should moved and the responsable should be given the same living conditions for 20 years!! Also every breeding pair of Humans should only be allowed 2 or less kids, International Law!!!! That would solve most of the worlds problems.
Yes, we do need to intervene and no, we don't need zoos. Animal sanctuaries can run breeding programs - animals don't need to be put on display for human entertainment. Blame it all on the poor in undeveloped nations? Use corrupt officials for a protein source, unfortunately the supply seems to be unlimited.
luckyducky, your quote "Blame it all on the poor in undeveloped nations?"
Sorry ducky, but you have no idea what your writing about. The FACT of the matter is, that poor people, people who are in need of things, kill protected animals all the time in every nation in which they reside. Hence many many animals need protection. Almost ALL the great cats are gone from the wild. Why?, because they have been systematically killed for money, many by people in poverty. Without breeding programs, they would all be gone very soon. Many many zoo's across the world have done great things, obviously this zoo is in terrible shape, and needs intervention. But, yes Ducky, the poor are in realty the most dangerous thing that many animals face in their lifetime. Humans the scourge of this planet, nothing new about that.
I agree the Humans must stop killing protected animals, but I also believe that if we stop overplopulating the would the animals will have there habitat, The only way We are going to save it to cut overpoulation of the Human race have fun, have sex, have a condom, You do not need more than 2 Kids over population is destorying Earth and adding to the National DEBT. and get rind of ill mexicans they are not helping us
This is terrible. They need to move these animals where there are professionals to give them the care they deserve. I am not a big fan of zoos, but once they are there they deserve the very best care possible
The greed of money is the root of ALL evil and the treatment of these animals is EVIL!
I agree!!!!!!!. Sign should read: PROFIT BEFORE LIFE ON EARTH.
Move the animals and take the sick Ba*(&^%s responsible and draw and quarter them in public)!.
Put the past zoo directors in the animal cages for life and feed them the same diet the poor animals lived on. Put them on display for everyone to see. Russian corrpution and incomptetence on display.
This is absolutely unconscionable, inexcusable, and criminal. The animals running the zoo need to be fired, go on trial, something. Someone needs to be held accountable, and perhaps an animal welfare group needs to step in and remove these poor creatures to safer homes and better zoos.
The more I hear about abuse of animals in zoos worldwide, the less I want to visit them.
Simply disgusting and morally bankrupt, these 'people' running the zoo.
I agree, this is disgusting. It breaks my heart to hear how badly these animals were and are being treated. This zoo needs to be shut down NOW.
Poor babies!!!
Shut the zoo down and place the remaining animals in zoo's and animal sanctuaries where they will be looked after!!! There should not be any zoo's in the first place - leave animals where they belong and quit trying to profit off of them!!!!
This is awful. Something must be done. These animals do not deserve to live like this.
The Ukrainian people and Ruskies main export is organized crime.These people are more ruthless every generation.Be very warry of intentions or any relations with.Has anyone had their checking account # stolen lately!
i agree shut this zoo down and move these animals somewhere else as this is just down right sorry, and jail the people who did this in their cells and feed them like that, but wait they are already doing that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These animals should be moved elsewhere and the administrators should be put on display.
"Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species." .... That is 2,600 animals too many.
This zoo needs to be closed down. I'd prefer to keep the animals in their natural homes, but if they are to be kept in a zoo for children to see and learn from, and for adults to marvel at, then they should be treated with the utmost care and respect.
How horrible the zoo must be still radioactive and that's why the animals are dying what a shame I usually visit zoos in the summer.
are you retarded? not joking, seriously?
Kiev is not Chernobyl... seriously? if you check a map - they are 82 miles apart or 132 km.
Andrea: Wow, a whole 82 miles huh?
Andrea and M.O'Neal: kathryn has a point. there is a possibility that the animals are dying from radiation still in the atmosphere. the radiation in the air was blown all the way from chernobyl to wales, where the soil is still so contaminated that it cannot be used. wales is much farther from chernobyl than kiev is from chernobyl, and if wales got effected by the radiation, then it's possible that the animals in kiev zoo are harmed by it.
While there may be a point about aftereffects from Chernobyl, I think the problem more then likely is with the food given to the animals. Animals can get deathly sick from hay that is moldy. Since there is no accountability at this zoo, it is very possible that the quality of the "animal chow" is below par. Also, if their water supply is not clean, microbes growing in it could wreak havoc with the animals' weakened systems. Just my thoughts.
I couldn't even read this article past the 1st paragraph. It is heart wrenching at best! Ya cage them for the public to view, but primarily to raise funds. And then you mistreat these innocent creatures, and when they become too expensive to maintain you let them die of starvation, illness and enclosure!
STOP ALL ZOOS, CLOSE THEM DOWN AND RETURN ALL ANIMALS TO THEIR NATURALL HABITAT WITH THOSE FUNDS HAVE BEEN RAISED TO TAKE CARE OF THEM WITH. Locking an animal in a cage only for people to view them from behind bars is cruel----set them free and will shall then remain free! (If it's ok to cage them, then we too should be caged and put on stage to be viewed by them---imagine thier laughter at our confinement!!!!!!!!!!)
I guess it's been awhile since you have visited a modern zoo,or read a book about animals in general, animals are not "kept behind bars', but are free to roam in very well designed habitats, sometimes so well designed you can't see the animals! They can't be "returned to their natural habitat", first because they would immediately starve or be killed by other wild animals or poachers, secondly, in another few decades there will be no more natural habitats, due to man's greed and ignorance. Get used to zoos and animal preserves, because this is the only way our great-grandchildren will be able to see these animals alive.
There is no doubt that I agree this zoo needs to be penalized and shut down so the animals can receive the proper care elsewhere. Also remember that if they do close this zoo that is a lot of animals they need to place and not all other zoos would be able to house them. But please do not put ALL zoos in the same bucket. If it wasn't for zoos many animals would be put down or extinct because of PEOPLE. Most zoos house animals that people have as pets and can't take care of anymore or they come from circus', etc. If zoos do have animals from the wild they are there for a reason to breed and reintroduce the offspring into the wild to boost populations and add genetic diversity. Many species would be extinct (because of humans) but were saved because humans that care took the last surving animals from the wild to breed in zoos. The black footed ferret and Aryabian Oryx are to name a few. Plus we can see animals we'd never see in our natural lives if it wasn't for zoos so they can educate us. Please just support the good zoos that take care of our animals and close the zoos that mistreat them.
This is exactly why we should not have zoos. Natural Preserves, yes. Breeding programs to ensure a species doesn't die out, sure. Not somewhere where we stand and gawk at them in an enclosure or sitting in a stand. I don't even want to think how stressful that would be for a WILD animal. Sea World, Zoos, circuses and the like should all be closed.
Agree. People should watch "The Cove". Nobody would want to go back to Seaworld. It's beyond awful what dolphins and whales suffer for being in captivity.
Something needs to be done now about this zoo. I'm sick and tired of hearing about "investigations" having to be done. There is already overwhelming proof of abuse and starvation. "Investigations" means obfuscation and more time to cover up. Zoos all over the world should speak up and take these animals. Let the government sell off the land and send the profits to the facilities that are caring for the animals. It still amazes me the inhumanity and cruelty that people show.
All of these knee-jerk, emotional responses are nothing more than propaganda to get sympathy. I totally agree that these animals need moved to better zoo facilities. Who is, seriously, ignorant enough to take an animal that more than likely was born and raised in captivity and turn it loose in the wild? Talk about a cruel ending. They might starve to death, having been fed all their lives. No fear of man will get them shot. About the only thing they could do is fight off an enemy, but a lot of zoo species have been modified, canines removed, wings clipped, beaks trimmed and so forth.
Please, people, have feelings and emotions. Just don't let those feelings and emotions allow you to make a decision that could put these animals in a worse situation.
More food for thought...zoos are helping keep certian species; tigers, rhinos, great apes, from being totally extinct. Think about what they to to help animals. Not every zoo is a horror show.
Agreed!
Just one more sickening story that proves HUMANS are nothing but S#!T !
And you're one of us
oh latexlatina, you are the wisest of all!!!it all starts at home,with each and everyone of us
Greed is the symptom of the souless. Anyone who can look into the eyes of these animals, see their deplorable condition, and NOT be moved to action or tears is a waste of skin. But this is where the world is heading...and it makes me sick.
the world's always been like this
The animals need to removed to an animal sanctuary where they can live out the rest of lives with peace, dignity, and proper care. I think the zoo should be shut down and turned into a community park and recreation area. Why give the corrupt government officials and commercial developers what they want?
Its strange how we worry about the well-being of animals[which we should], but we wont hesitate to slaughter a human baby in the womb.
save your stupid propaganda for where it's appropriate -- in your weekly Church brainwash session. Don't step over this tragedy to promote your own cause (adding 'which we should' doesn't act as a disclaimer).
Jay....give me a break!! This article has NOTHING to do with killing babies. Please keep on point and keep your political opinions to yourself.
Jay, you should be getting the hang of the free speech thing by now.
You are free to speak as long as you agree with Didi.