Brave Kharkiv Zoo stays open despite Russian missiles and drones

KHARKIV- Despite air raid sirens blaring at its entrance, this beleaguered fortress city’s free zoo provided a peaceful escape from Ukraine's war with the Russian invader for citizens and two reporters on a sweltering August day. Sonia, an elegant brunette who was calmly selling colourful Kharkiv fridge magnets at the Zoo's modern gift shop, evidently was unphased by the alarms warning of death from the skies.

 “Nobody takes any notice of the air raid alerts,” she shrugged, showing off her perfect English to a rare American souvenir hunter. Ukraine’s second-largest city is located just 20 miles (30 km) from the front line and is attacked frequently. Alerts for fiber optic drones and FPV drones hunting civilians and vehicles on the streets are constant. Ballistic missiles take less than one minute to strike while KAB glider bombs wreak their own evil brand of destruction.

 As recently as June, a drone struck the elephant house in the zoo, which frightened the animals, but the elephants survived. The same attack killed 15 rabbits -- food for the big cats -- and injured some guinea pigs, officials said.

 Finding a friendly maintenance worker who was overly excited to hear English, used a translator app on his phone for a few minutes to let us know he doesn’t speak English. Departing with a friendly handshake, he soon returned with a polyglot guide, Serhii Bilokon.

 Serhii is an English-speaking guide who has been working at the zoo full-time for the past two years and every summer for years before that while he studied in Kyiv. The animals spend the nights in large thick-walled cement buildings that serve as bomb shelters, he explained.

 Supplies for the animals were difficult to get during the start of the war, he added. Citizens stepped up and delivered food in baskets until the immediate crisis was averted. After a few months, the zoo was able to access its own agricultural center for food.

 Some animals are affected by the bombing more than others. “The camels are very docile and apathetic; they ignore all the sounds and just need food and water.” On the other hand, “bears are afraid of loud explosions, and they hide in their dens.”

 In the newly renovated zoo, the bears have more space and have been digging dens in their natural landscape. Today, the 22-acre zoo resembles a large park that you can walk through and view the animals in their natural habitat. They have just under 2,000 animals and around 200 species.

 The zoo is not new to conflict. The oldest zoo in Ukraine, having opened in 1895, it has already survived both World Wars and the October Revolution. During World War II, the German Army occupied the city but did not interfere with the zoo which amused officers of the Gestapo and Wehrmacht to visit.

 However, during the August battles of 1943, a large number of animals died, and when the city was liberated from the Nazis, only four bears, five monkeys and a wolf survived. In 2008, a monument was erected to commemorate the animals that died during World War 2.

 In 2016, the zoo underwent a major renovation, transforming it into a modern safari park “where the animals do what they want and we just study them.” According to Serhii, this place “is not just a circus - we do science here.”

 During the beginning of the Russian invasion of 2022, a female chimpanzee named Chichi provided some light releif by escaping from the zoo to try and join the invaaders but had second thoughts and returned riding a bicycle alongside the zookeeper.

 Following its reopening in 2021, visitors averaged about 15,000 per day before the war. Currently, attendance averages 3,000 to 4,000 on weekdays and 7,000 to 8,000 on weekends, Serhii says. They are open six days a week, closing Mondays for cleaning and maintenance -- the whole zoological garden is spotless.

 The highlights of a visit for Kharkiv kids used to living in fear under Russian shellfire and missiles include the Humboldt penguins, hippopotamuses, a Sumatran orangutan, Asian elephants, and the big cats, along with Siberian tigers.

 With this northeastern Ukrainian fortress city under constant threat, the zoo provides a quiet refuge at no cost to the residents. While the people casually ignore frequent air alerts, due to their sheer volume as well as the courage of the indomitable people of Kharkiv, the drone alert app persistently warns English users: “Head to the nearest shelter; overconfidence is a weakness.”

 Returning to the gift shop with Sonia, we asked if ignoring the alerts was a high-risk attitude.

 “Of course it’s dangerous.” She shrugged, her voice rising as she handed out a receipt for the fridge magnets. “But nobody here takes any notice.” 

 jp-mlp