Ukraine's Save Wild Bear Sanctuary Near Kyiv Evacuates its Animals to Poland’s Zoo Poznan

A Ukrainian animal sanctuary Save Wild bear sanctuary near the capital city of Kyiv has begun to evacuate its animals to the Zoo Poznan in Poland.

This comes after Russian tanks surrounded the animal sanctuary on Monday, Feb. 28, and a battle occurred near the enclosure over recent days.

The evacuation of animals is parallel to a mass number of Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn homeland since Russia started their invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24.

It has caused regional tensions affecting not only humans but also animals and their natural habitats.

Evacuation of Animals

The Zoo Poznan is expecting the arrival of a group of animals from the Ukrainian animal sanctuary as per the latest reports.

However, the travel time of the animals' evacuation is being affected due to the recurring explosions and gunfire in Kyiv and other areas across Ukraine, as per Fox News.

Officials of the Zoo Poznan are waiting for the animals near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

They are reportedly concerned since the journey is taking longer than usual. The Polish Zoo considered the incident to be remarkable since they did not expect that the animals are still alive.

Animals Left Behind

The evacuation of animals at the Save Wild bear sanctuary near Kyiv is only one of the many zoos in Ukraine that have already evacuated their animals to other neighboring countries, according to Euronews.

Still, there are remaining zoos in Ukraine that are yet to evacuate their animals.

At the Kyiv Zoo, there were no reported plans yet to evacuate its approximate 4,000 animals from more than 200 species, including camels, elephants, and the only gorilla in Ukraine, as per Euronews.

The process of evacuating the animals at Kyiv Zoo is challenging due to food and transportation problems.

According to ABC7 news, the zookeepers from Kyiv Zoo stayed behind to take care of thousands of animals left behind.

The majority of these animals were subjected to stress due to the sounds of bombardment and firing amid the arrival and attack of Russian military forces in the Ukrainian capital.

Russia-Ukraine War

Also called the Russo-Ukrainian war or the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war began when President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to enter eastern Ukraine on Feb. 24 as part of the so-called military operation; which included a series of airstrikes and artillery on multiple cities in Ukraine.

Prior to the Russian invasion, military tensions have been building up along the Ukrainian-Russian border.

This prompted the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and their allies to be on heightened alert, with measures including deployment of standby forces outside Ukraine.

Tensions of Recent Years

Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, was a former state and part of the Soviet Union, also known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 allowed Ukraine to gain its independence, including other countries, that were part of the USSR.

However, the conflict between the two countries erupted again when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. Since then, internal conflict in the form of Russian-backed separatists emerged in Ukraine's Donbas region.