Ukraine’s Mykolaiv Zoo, also known as the Nikolaev Zoo, is fundraising to feed its animals during Russia’s invasion of the country by asking the public to buy tickets online.
People from across the globe have been buying tickets to the Mykolaiv Zoo, which closed to visitors on February 25, as its animal residents are not getting enough food.
Volodymyr Topchyi, director of Mykolaiv Zoo, wrote on Facebook: “Thanks to everyone who has supported us financially. We really need it at this time.”
“The Nikolaev Zoo managed to recover the site after the enemy attack,” he said on March 11. “Now everyone who wants to buy tickets on our website and help the zoo can visit the links provided.”
Tickets to the zoo can be purchased here. The website is in Ukrainian but can be translated using Google Translate in a Chrome browser. At the time of writing, tickets are available to buy from 4 April 2022.
Nikolaev Zoo closed due to Ukraine war
“Many thanks to everyone who provided invaluable assistance to the Nikolaev Zoo by purchasing entrance tickets on the zoo’s website,” Topchyi said. “Your money will go towards keeping the animals. Money regularly arrives, the site works.”
Elsewhere, the Kharkiv Art Museum is working to save its valuable collection of artworks, many of which are by Russian artists.
In response to the war in Ukraine, the Hermitage Amsterdam, a museum of Russian art in the Netherlands, has cut ties with Russia’s State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
In the UK, Science Museum Group director Sir Ian Blatchford is returning a Russian medal that was awarded to him by Vladimir Putin in 2015.
“I know I speak for all my colleagues in the Science Museum Group, when I say we stand united in opposition to this conflict and in support of all those impacted by Russia’s invasion,” Blatchford said.
The Science Museum Group’s National Railway Museum has also decided not to proceed with its upcoming Russian exhibition, ‘Trans-Siberian: The World’s Longest Railway’.
Images: Mykolaiv Zoo
