Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv zoo workers stay behind to care for animals amid invasion

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Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Kyiv zoo workers stay behind to care for animals amid Russian invasion
Zookeepers in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv have stayed behind to care for some 4,000 animals amid the Russian invasion.

Like many large metropolitan cities, Kyiv has a zoo. And, like the people of Kyiv, those animals are in grave danger from the Russian invasion and bombardment.

Some 4,000 animals are not being evacuated -- that would be too logistically difficult, not to mention traumatic and dangerous for the animals.

But the zookeepers have stayed behind to take care of them.

In fact, the workers have moved in at the zoo, staying overnight with the animals to be with them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And some of the more vulnerable animals, such as elephants, are given sedatives when the shelling and missile strikes happen nearby.