UKRAINE ZOO - ANIMALS CAUGHT IN WARZONE Video #01 Interview: carteblanche.dstv/player/528184 -- OR -- Video #02: carteblanche.dstv/story/Ukraine-Zoo-2014-05-11 When people go to war, animals often get caught in the chaos. Trapped in zoos or fenced into game parks, they can’t escape... Like the thousands of starving animals in zoos across Ukraine where civil unrest rages. Lionel de Lange: “The country is broke, so all non-essential services have been cut. Funding to zoos was one of the first things to go.” South African businessman Lionel De Lange emigrated to Ukraine three years ago with his dog Dash. Lionel: “I was tired of the rat race. I travelled here in 2006 and I just fell in love with the country.” Derek Watts (Carte Blanche presenter): “But instead of a peaceful retirement, Lionel has found himself leading the charge in what has become a desperate battle to save Ukraine’s zoo animals.” Yvette: “I tell you, this is going to be a long story, because now it’s just coping, feeding the animals on an immediate basis. But in the long term that whole picture has to change. It’s a massive re-education program; we’ve really got to bring in a much more modern approach to animal care.” There are about 26 public zoos in Ukraine. The plan is to reduce the number and to find ways for the remaining ones to sustain themselves. Derek: “Visitors to the Joburg zoo may not realise that one of the animals here is a war refugee. Meet Luanda, the brown bear, which we helped to rescue from a zoo in Angola way back in 1994.” Angola, in the grip of civil war, was unable to care for its animals, which were airlifted to South Africa, severely malnourished and traumatised. Today Luanda’s a much happier bear. But 20 years on, we are still fighting wars, and animals are still being forgotten. Yvette: “It’s a war – a looming war - and I really hope that I’m not in a position to have to make decisions that are concerning which zoos we help and which ones we don’t.” Just over a week ago, 38 people were killed in violent clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces in Odessa. Lionel says he is nowhere near ready to give up. Lionel: “Putin himself can walk in here and I won’t stop doing what I’m doing.” earthorganization.org
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 23:09:12 +0000
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