During WWII, the city of Leningrad was besieged by the German army for 872 days. Before the siege began, the zoo employees moved 80 animals to another city. These included black panthers, tigers, polar bears, a tapir, and a rhino. The crocodile was released into the river and never seen again. During the siege, the whole city was without electricity, water, and sewage due to constant bombing. The large predators had to be shot to prevent their getting out of their damaged cages and roaming the city. Over 160 animals were left including a bison, a deer, a trained bear, foxes, a seal, donkeys, monkeys, ostriches, and many small animals. Betty the elephant was killed by shrapnel from a bomb, but Beauty the hippo survived to live many more years. Her survival was due to the efforts of Yevdokia Ivanova. Yevdokia would bring 40 kilograms of water from the river in a barrel on a sled to soak Beauty’s skin to keep her alive. Food was a problem for the animals so vegetables were grown throughout the zoo grounds. That solved the herbivore problem, but for the carnivores meat was scarce. The caretakers had to get creative. Rabbit carcasses stuffed with grass, cabbage leaves, etc. were fed to the predators. Rats were caught for food. The zoo closed only for the winter of 1941-42, but otherwise stayed open to keep the morale of the citizens up. People continued to visit in spite of the terrible conditions. After the war, sixteen of the zoo workers were given the “Defense of Leningrad” medal.
Categories: Anecdote
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