‘This is their only shot,’ says Peter de Haan of Stichting AAP, an international animal welfare organisation based in the Netherlands that has rehomed several rescued wild animals that were kept as pets in Ukraine.
AAP takes in rescued animals kept as exotic pets throughout Europe, as well as advocating for better legislation to prevent animal suffering. They have a rescue centre in the Netherlands and Spain; and recently had their hands full as wild animals kept in captivity find themselves caught in the tide of war.
READ: ‘We stay to help the animals’, says Ukrainian conservationist
When it comes to war, the innocent bystanders are not just humans, animals are in danger too. What’s even worse, is that many animals are recklessly abandoned when people leave their homes.
Exotic pets in Ukraine
Ukraine has rather lax regulations when it comes to exotic pets and some restaurants, clubs and shopping malls will keep ‘luxury pets’ for visitors to take a picture with. Europe is one of the largest markets for exotic pets, according to AAP as some EU countries have no problem with keeping ‘exotic’ wild animals in their homes.
‘The people who usually adopt these animals, tend to be animal lovers. It is rather a case that they are misinformed when it comes to keeping an exotic animal as a pet,’ Peter says.
It was only in August of 2021 that the Ukrainian government signed a law banning the use of animals for photos and begging, as well as the captivity of wild animals in restaurants.
Zair, an African wild dog rescued from Ukraine has severe cataracts in its eye and will likely require surgery.
But this didn’t limit individuals from trading them, where before the war, anyone with a few thousand US dollars to spare could buy a leopard, lion, or monkey from sites such as zakupka.com as easily as ordering takeout.
‘We often refer to them as Porsche pets,’ Peter says, where AAP was involved in the rescue of Ukranian lions kept in captivity. One of those lions, Gyz was kept in a cage in a mall in Kyiv as amusement and fed expired meat. Another lion, Nila, was passed around in a nightclub as a cub for the bemusement of guests to take pictures.
‘These are the only ones we can save’
Tomac, a pig-tailed macaque, on his way to the rescue centre in Spain.
AAP only has enough space for so many animals and didn’t have the capacity to take in Nila and Gyi after they were taken in by Ukrainian Wild Animal Rescue before the war broke out.
But as Russian forces got closer to Kyiv, another request was made, and this being their only shot at survival, AAP agreed to take them in if Animal Rescue got them to the Polish Border.
So, thanks to the brave volunteers of Ukrainian Wild Animal Rescue, Nila And Gyiz, along with four other lions, two caracals and an African wild dog were taken to the Polish border.
The volunteers had to bypass a blockade of Russian tanks and were even held at gunpoint before successfully transporting the animals. Once at the border, they were taken to Poznan Zoo, and from there to AAP’s haven in Spain.
‘The animals were medically examined at the zoo, and although their health condition was alarming, they were fit enough to travel to our Spanish rescue centre,’ Peter adds.
A strenuous journey
The four young lions had a terrible start to life. Other than Nila and Gyz, another cat named Flori grew up in an apartment and was fed cat food. Because of the incorrect diet, Flori’s bones are poorly developed and as a result, she likely has osteoporosis.
When AAP when to collect the animals to be rescued, there was also an African wild dog named Zaire. ‘All we know about the African wild dog Zair is that he can hardly see because of juvenile cataracts and needs eye surgery,’ Peter comments.
Zair is playful but likely grew up alone. African wild dogs are extremely social animals, and currently, Zair is the only wild dog in AAP’s care.
Tomac with his owner before the war.
One of AAP’s most recent rescues from Ukraine was a pig-tailed macaque called Tomac. Tomac spent most of his life entertaining people in a circus and formed a strong attachment with his owner.
His owner went off to fight in the war and died, and his wife fled the country. Tomac is 20 years old and undergoing quarantine at the AAP rescue centre in Spain, where they hope to introduce him to a group of lampoon monkeys and live out his final days in peace.
Sunlight at last
Gyz and Kiara were two rescued lions from Ukraine both at AAP’s rescue centre in Spain.
One of the lions rescued, Ruru, saw sunlight for the first time in years after a long and strenuous journey from Ukraine.
Ruru grew up in a dirty, dark shed in a small town outside of Kyiv, where it spent its days alone. When war broke out, its owner fled and the house was shelled, engulfing the house in flames.
The owner also had a collection of peacocks and turtles that were rescued from the blaze by a nearby shelter, but the keys to Ruru’s enclosure were missing.
The owner of the shelter, Asya Serpinska – who had remained behind to look after the abandoned animals – fed Ruru for weeks and even bribed Russian soldiers with cigarettes to remove mines around Ruru’s shed. Ukrainian soldiers eventually recaptured the town, and Ruru could be rescued and taken to the border.
Nila was kept in a club and passed around for pictures before being rescued by Wildlife Services at the rescue centre in Spain.
Ruru was then taken to the Polish border and later taken to Spain. After this ordeal, Peter says he is enjoying the sun and fresh air he has been deprived of his whole life.
Peter says it is unlikely that these animals can be returned back to the wild, and they might end up in zoos or other sanctuaries.
As Peter and I finish up our call, he is getting updates of an escaped clouded leopard roaming the countryside of the Netherlands, and he is off once again to fight for the freedom of another wild animal.
For more information or to find out how you can support AAP, visit: https://en.aap.eu/support-aap/
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