“The paths were littered with animal carcasses”: war destroyed part of Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv region
11 March 18:04
YOUTUBE
The full-scale war has caused massive losses not only to people but also to nature conservation sites. One of the most affected sites was Feldman Ecopark, where a large number of animals died at the beginning of the hostilities.
This was reported by Oleksandr Feldman, Member of Parliament and founder of the park, in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“All the paths were littered with animal carcasses. A lot of birds died, many simply fought in their cages. A lot of little lives were lost to fear,” he said.
According to Feldman, the shelling and panic among the animals led to mass deaths, some of which occurred even without direct shelling, due to stress and shock.
The death of unique primates
Among the losses were rare and beloved inhabitants of the eco-park. In particular, a chimpanzee, which was one of the main “stars” of the visitors, died. Two female orangutans, born in captivity, also died, which is a great rarity even for European zoos.
“It is unique when orangutans are born in a zoo. Not every zoo in Europe can boast of this. It happened here — and we lost them,” he said.
Human casualties during the evacuation
The tragedy affected not only animals. Six volunteers died during the evacuation of the park’s inhabitants. According to him, there are plans to create a memorial on the territory of the eco-park in honor of the people who rescued animals during the hostilities. A separate memorial area will be dedicated to the animals that died, with photos of the park’s inhabitants who did not survive the war.
Before the full-scale war began, there were plans to create a large memorial complex in the eco-park dedicated to the role of animals in human history.
“I wanted to make a composition of two steles. One would feature animals that helped humanity in wars: dogs, horses, camels, donkeys, dolphins. The other would feature animals that helped humanity survive thanks to research,” Feldman said.
At the same time, he supports the international trend away from animal testing.
“I am glad that many countries are banning animal research. People need to understand that we are not separate from them — we are together,” he said.
It is worth mentioning that the events surrounding the evacuation of animals from the eco-park attracted the attention of the international community. American documentary filmmakers made a film about the rescue operation. It is a documentary called Checkpoint Zoo, dedicated to the story of volunteers and employees who tried to save the park’s inhabitants under fire.
Thus, the story of Feldman Ecopark has become another dimension of the tragedy of war — along with human losses, it has shown the scale of damage caused to nature and animals. The death of rare species, the destruction of breeding programs, and the death of volunteers have turned the park into a symbol of how war destroys years of scientific and conservation work.
