White tiger set to be euthanized at Kharkiv zoo to avoid death by shelling or their escape

NEWS AND COMMENT: This is more than about a white tiger in a Ukrainian zoo but it comes down to the same thing; the utterly uncivilised manner in which humankind is behaving at the moment at the expense of vulnerable animals. I'm referring of course to Putin's invasion of Ukraine which has proved to be far more barbaric than anybody envisaged and which is causing the mass destruction of many animals. 

I have recently written about the starving to death of 300 dogs in an animal shelter in Russian occupied Ukraine because they failed to care for those dogs while they were caged.

Alexander Feldman the zoo's owner. Picture as per the credit in the image.

The owner of a zoo in Kharkiv, Alexander Feldman, is telling the world that he is set to euthanise the animals that remain. This includes a white tiger, as mentioned, and lions and bears. Some of the animals have been evacuated such as kangaroos but some kangaroos have been killed. Some of the deer escaped to surrounding forest. Some have been killed.

The aviary was shelled and I presume all the birds were killed or perhaps some escaped. Mr Feldman has said that the animals are terrified and he is terrified that there will come a time when the cages for the big cats will be so destroyed that they simply escape and disappear into Kharkiv. The thought of that is horrendous because it would result in tigers and lions wandering around a part-destroyed city where occasionally citizens emerge from their basements to go in search of food.

There would be competition between the big cats and the people to find food and we know who would win. The people already have to deal with these damnable Russians who are intent on destroying the country but then to suddenly face a starving white tiger would be just too much.

White tiger at Feldman's zoo.

Mr Feldman said that the cages for his big cats were badly damaged due to shelling for five weeks and that it is a miracle that they've not already escaped.

The zoo is called Feldman Ecopark. Mr Feldman recently said that: 

'After yesterday's massive shelling by missiles and planes, the [zoo] is practically destroyed.

The aviaries have been destroyed. All the infrastructure has been destroyed.

'By some miracle, the tigers and lions have survived. Their cages are badly damaged.

'By tonight, we will decide either to put the bears to sleep or move them. If there are any ideas, maybe we will save some and try to save the little jaguars.

'Maybe we will save little panthers. But all the other animals are likely to be destroyed.'

One zookeeper said that they keep on evacuating the animals. He was a van driver fleeing with kangaroos. The kangaroo enclosure had been repeatedly shelled. The volunteers have risked their lives to save the animals.

Mr Feldman is appealing to the world to help him save the remaining animals. The zoo would normally have around 300 species of animal. If you are interested you can donate to help him by clicking on the following link:  https://feldman-ecopark.com/en/donation/.