How IFAW is helping animals and people during the Ukraine crisis
How IFAW is helping animals and people during the Ukraine crisis
March 22, 2024
A lioness and her three cubs are safe in their new home in the UK
March 22, 2024
Lioness Asya and her three cubs Teddi, Emi, and Santa have arrived safely at their forever home in the United Kingdom. In June 2023, they were evacuated from war-torn Ukraine by IFAW and Wild Animal Rescue and cared for at Poznań Zoo in Poland while a permanent home was secured.
After a journey of more than 48 hours across six countries, via road and ferry, the four lions arrived at Yorkshire Wildlife Park late at night on Wednesday 20 March.
As the cubs were born at Wild Animal Rescue in October 2022, they knew no other life than their enclosure. According to an article in The Mirror, after the cubs were released, they initially huddled together but soon got to playing with the logs and other enrichment materials in their enclosure. Asya was released into a pen next to them and seemed quite quickly at ease, taking in the sky and her surroundings.
We are happy that they will be able to feel the grass beneath their paws and rummage around like young lions should. Asya and her three cubs have gone through a traumatic ordeal, but they are now safe and miles away from the warzone they came from.
Wild animals born in captivity and rescued from these situations cannot return to the wild, so providing quality lifelong care is the priority. Housing options can be scarce, and the ongoing war has caused a marked influx of animals needing homes, straining the already limited number of suitable venues with capacity. Yorkshire Wildlife Park is well placed to offer these big cats a good life in the park’s Lion Country area, where they have housed numerous lions similarly rescued from traumatic situations.
Safe refuge for rescued wildlife in Western Ukraine
February 23, 2024
Kasova Hora is the largest meadow-steppe area in Central Europe and stretches out over more than 130 hectares (321 acres) in Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk region, 71 hectares (175 acres) of which belong to a local community. The community-owned area was at risk of wildfires because of significant shrub overgrowth and numerous alien species. To help restore the ecosystem, local environmental group Eco-Halych worked with IFAW to set up a wildlife rehabilitation and release area.
Not only will rescued animals have a safe space to be rehabilitated and become wild again, but they will also help recreate and preserve the unique meadow-steppe ecosystems of the area through moderate and controlled grazing.
The community land is under consideration to become a protected nature reserve. This status will hopefully be granted in the coming months. The intention will then be to rehabilitate and release wild animals in a fenced-off area within the new nature reserve.
Several animals rescued from the war or from inappropriate living conditions have already been released into the reserve, including one Przewalski’s horse, an injured hare, five roe deer, and a mouflon—a wild sheep species.
One of the young roe deer was found all alone in a forest, and another was found by local mushroom pickers near its dead mother. Both were taken in by local families, kept in their backyards, and fed cow milk. The young male hare was the sole survivor of an attack by stray dogs on him and his siblings. He was taken in by a group of military personnel for some treatment. The female Przewalski’s horse was found wandering in the Kyiv region, at risk of being shot by local people for food. Luckily, the military was able to guard it for a few months. After being rescued by Eco-Halych and Wild Animal Rescue, these animals were placed in temporary enclosures near Kasova Hora. There, they received food and care and were able to socialise with other animals.
‘These animals initially lacked the skills to survive in the wild, but with time and patience, we’ve been able to slowly rehabilitate them,’ explains Natalia Gozak, wildlife rescue officer Ukraine at IFAW. The animals have moved onto a plot of 23 hectares (2 acres) of fenced meadows in Kasova Hora. ‘Here, we should see their natural wild instincts start to flourish so they can truly live as the wild animals that they are. Seeing rewilding in action is always exciting.’
New home for two wolves rescued from captivity in Ukraine
February 22, 2024
IFAW has supported the evacuation of two wolves from Wild Animal Rescue in Ukraine to Arcturos, an environmental centre and animal sanctuary in Greece. The two female wolves, Dora and Venera, were both raised in captivity, but the private owners could no longer care for them.
In the Zhytomyr region, Dora was left alone in a cage after her owners fled the country due to the war. For a while, locals fed her sporadically—once every three days or so. Evacuation was risky due to the abundance of mines in the area, but Wild Animal Rescue manager Natalia Popova was eventually able to rescue her. Upon examination, Dora was found to have rickets in her back legs.
Venera was found in the Kyiv region. Most likely, she had been purchased as a young puppy by owners who mistook her for a domesticated dog. However, as she grew up and started behaving like the wild wolf she is, the owners gave up on caring for her.
After being transported by Wild Animal Rescue from Kyiv to the Poland-Ukraine border, M&M Zoo Service brought the wolves to their final destination in Greece. After arrival, the wolves were placed in separate enclosures, so the Arcturos team can monitor their behavior while they are on their own.
Dora and Venera will soon join a pack of other wolves or establish a new pack of their own in the Agrapidies area of the sanctuary—a large, natural, 70,000-square metre oak forest positioned at an altitude of 650 metres, closely resembling their natural habitat. It will provide a peaceful refuge away from the war zone.
IFAW has been helping animals threatened by the intense conflict in Ukraine since February 2022. Thanks to overwhelming support from people around the world, IFAW’s work and that of our partners continues to make a difference for the animals and people impacted by the war in Ukraine and around the world.
timeline of updates from Ukraine >>
Three lions rescued from Ukraine find forever home in France
January 26, 2024
Missile attack in Kyiv
January 2, 2024
African leopard Brave evacuated safely from Ukraine
November 24, 2023
Support for rescue and release of wild animals
October 31, 2023
Helping animals join families
August 31, 2023
IFAW responds to destruction of Ukraine’s largest dam
June 8, 2023
feeding, bedding, and treating animals in need
May 29, 2023
more than 500 bats rescued in northern Ukraine
April 6, 2023
Ukraine 1 year on: more than 103,000 animals saved
February 22, 2023
20 Ukrainian volunteers receive award for saving animals during the war
February 14, 2023
delivery of feed keeps 150 horses alive in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region
February 3, 2023
keeping animals warm this winter
December 21, 2022
rescued cubs from Ukraine arrive safely at their forever home
October 27, 2022
bat rescue and rehabilitation continue despite war
October 10, 2022
veterinary surgeon who treated pets of refugees during Ukraine war joins ifaw
October 3, 2022
free vaccinations for 20,000 pets
September 26, 2022
ifaw has helped more than 75,000 animals in Ukraine over the past six months
September 9, 2022
how ifaw helped feed Dobby and other animals
August 30, 2022
'We’re helping people through animals. That’s what we’re doing'
July 9, 2022
Our "blue tent" closes, but the work continues
May 31, 2021
ifaw on CNN International's "First Move with Julia Chatterley"
May 10, 2022
A testimonial from Viktoria
April 27, 2022
Helping refugees and pets at the "blue tent"
April 26, 2022
Supporting a bat rehabilitation center
April 13, 2022
Alina's story
April 6, 2022
Managing an animal service station at the border
April 1, 2022
Refugee stories from the border
March 25, 2022
Helping Ukrainian refugees and animals at the Ukraine-Poland border
March 19, 2022
Shelter destruction in Berdyansk
March 17, 2022
IFAW deploys to Poland
March 13, 2022
Supporting a bear rehabilitation center
March 8, 2022
Caring for wildlife at the Poznań Zoo
March 4, 2022
A grant to World Central Kitchen
March 3, 2022
Shelter partners in Ukraine receive emergency funds
March 2, 2022
Shelter damage in Gorlovka
February 28, 2022
Preparing to rush emergency aid to Ukrainian shelter partners
February 25, 2022
2015 footage: IFAW supports Shelter Pif in Donetsk
IFAW is committed to providing several months of animal food and veterinary supplies, and our emergency grant will also support operational costs for staff and volunteers as they continue to care for their shelter dogs.
IFAW first developed close partnerships with these shelters in 2014 when Russian troops invaded the eastern region of the country. We partnered with each shelter to provide critical support as they slowly rebuilt their homes, shelters and lives.
All too often, animals are the voiceless victims of conflict, and these shelters need our support now more than ever.
To see a list of resources for families fleeing Ukraine with their pets, click here.
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