Thursday, March 6, 2014

Help save Kharkov's zoo!


The Kharkov Zoo has always been one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon. Hidden in the heart of the city, bordered by Karazina University, Shevchenko Park, and a busy side street, this place has a certain charm that lures us back over and over again. (Or rather, it lures me and then I drag a reluctant D along with the promise of a beer.)


*Update on the zoo situation (things are looking much, much better for the animals!!): http://8monthsinukraine.blogspot.com/2014/03/kharkov-zoo-update.html*


The following letter appeared today on the zoo's website.


Dear Kharkovians and Guests of Our City!

Spring has come. Nature awakens. The sun gently shines. What better reasons are there to visit your beloved zoo? Come explore the wonderful and unique world of nature and its inhabitants. Our zoo is more than a century old and is the hallmark of the city. In the history of this zoo- the oldest zoo in Ukraine- there have been victories and catastrophes. Along with the entire country, we lived through two world wars, revolutions, the difficult postwar years, and perestroika. The zoo survived because of the kind hearts and souls of our citizens: loving, appreciating and understanding animals, and true patriots of our city.


Unfortunately, the zoo is now again suffering along with the entire country. It has never before been so difficult for us. We currently face a huge problem - an almost complete lack of funding. If urgent measures are not taken, next week innocent animals will die. Our animal friends are not fighting for power nor do they share someone's political views - THEY JUST WANT TO LIVE.


Every single citizen can help save the animals. To do this, just come to the zoo and buy a ticket. Together we can save our animal friends.

 
Don't let the pride of Ukraine- one of the best zoos in Europe- be destroyed.

Published March 6th, 2014. 12:41 PM.


Within hours of being published, I saw this letter shared several times on the vk social network. I hope it will encourage people to step up and help out. Understandably, people have been tightening their belts as of late. Even the demand for English has fallen- enrollment is down at local schools, fewer people are requesting private lessons. Life's little extras are being replaced by bigger, more worrisome concerns.

They are right; the zoo has survived tough times before. It was partially destroyed during WWII, when German soldiers occupied the city. It was during this two-year occupation that three monkeys escaped and found shelter within the neighboring Derzhprom buildings. The monkeys spent several years in these buildings, living off handouts from the locals, until the Red Army retook the city in 1943 and the monkeys were recaptured and brought back to what was left of the zoo.

"Any forms of help will be greatly appreciated."

In case you're up for a visit this weekend, the zoo administration has sweetened the deal-

This March 8th (International Women's Day), the Kharkov zoo offers a gift to all who wish to visit this beautiful area in the city center: half-price entrance.  
Tickets prices this day will be:
     for adults - 20 UAH;
     for children 5-13 years - 10 UAH;
     for children under 5 years - free.

Please come out and visit.

By purchasing a ticket, you will financially support the zoo. Zoo inhabitants will welcome you during this period that's been so
difficult for all of us.




What do you say- see you at the zoo on Saturday?

Update on the zoo situation (things are looking much, much better for the animals!!): http://8monthsinukraine.blogspot.com/2014/03/kharkov-zoo-update.html

49 comments:

  1. You are amazing to write about this! Is there a place to donate online? I would like to contribute.

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    1. Thank for for reading about it and caring about it, J : ) You have a big heart! I'm not sure yet how people abroad can help provide for the animals- more info in the comment below...

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    2. I'm in Mexico, Want to donate. Please provide a paypal account.
      Lets all fight for the survival of the zoo and its beloved inhabitants.
      HERIBERTO SANCHEZ PESCADOR

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    3. We all want to help...I am trying to get our local businesses interested and all people to donate...give me some advice and an account to pay into...

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    4. Click this link and you can donate to the Zoo via a "GoFundMe" account: http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo?preview=1

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    5. Hi Everyone - if you'd like to donate you need to copy and paste the link to a new window (you can't just click on the link): http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo?preview=1

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    6. Hello there, I found today how to do donation from USA.I live in Chicago for 35 years, I am from Kharkov and want to donate to Kharkov Zoo.
      Bank where you transfer money: account 16006022126586.840
      JSC Bank Golden Gate
      Kharkov, Ukraine SWIFT: GGJC UA 2K
      Beneficiary
      26003020046897
      Kharkov Zoo
      Sumskaya St.,35, Kharkov 61022
      Phone (057) 705-44-90
      I try to do through Fidelity but they did not help me, tomorrow i will go to my local bank. Bank Golden Gate is in many large city with zoo and bank will make transfer of your money to zoo.

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  2. Replies
    1. Hi asd! If you're in Ukraine, you can donate to their account (I've taken this info from the zoo website):

      Коммунальная организация "Харьковский зоологический парк"
      р/счет 26002010046897 в АТ "Банк Золотые ворота" г. Харькова
      МФО 351931
      Код ЕГРПОУ: 02220881

      If you're outside of Ukraine, I'm not sure yet. I'll check into it and see if there are other options (paypal, etc).

      Thanks! : )

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    2. Please let us know if there are other options to donate!! I want to help! I'm in America, and if we could just get a link or a place to donate, I know a lot of people who would love to help! Can you help us figure this out!? Time seems to be of the essence!!

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  3. Please help us donate money to the zoo. I am ready to do it right now! Animals should not pay such heavy price for humans' stupidity.

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  4. and yes, paypal would work. Just give us the correct account number.

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  5. I did check on the zoo website. I am in US. Not sure if I can donate in euros or rubles.

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    1. Hi Anonymous! I'm going to the zoo tomorrow and will talk to one of the administrators there. Hopefully they've got something like paypal because that would make it a lot easier to get donations to them. At the very least, we have a paypal account and could then withdraw the money from a local ATM and give it to them in person. I'll post more after our visit to the zoo. Thanks for wanting to help!

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    2. thank you! Please keep us posted about this!!

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    3. Keep us (in Australia) in the loop..If I can get details..I will try and raise what I can.....

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  6. Thank you so much :)

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  7. Hi, from Latvia!

    I was reading about this in Daily mail, it's so sad.You do good job, waiting for info how to donate!

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  8. Yes please talk to them I have also been searching how I can donate monies, best would be setting up something like just giving page or similar, this is urgent

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    Replies
    1. Great idea! Please set up a 'Just Giving' page. Also, maybe advise the zoo to get on Facebook (unless they already are) and publicise the 'Just Giving' page?

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  9. Please let us know how we can help. We're in the U.S. and would like to be able to directly support since we can't visit!

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    1. Hi Kira and all kind-hearted anonymous people!

      Thank you very much for your comments and willingness to help! We're going to the zoo tomorrow afternoon and will track down someone in admin there. The zoo currently says you can donate via a SWIFT transfer to a bank in Belgium, but I know most readers are from the US and paypal would be the most convenient (hopefully also for readers from other countries too).

      One bit of good news: there have already been some positive returns from their plea for help yesterday. Today they received cash donations of almost $10,000 and a decent amount of food (oranges, grains, pumpkins, bran, bread, etc). It's in Russian but the article is here: http://www.zoo.kharkov.ua/news/5695.htm

      Also, the company D works for has been encouraging its employees to go to the zoo tomorrow, saying they'll reimburse all tickets on Monday. I'd like to think other companies here are doing the same thing.

      Thanks again! I'll post here and on FB tomorrow with more info!

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    2. I've been so worried ever since I heard about this zoo running out of food and I'm very happy to learn that people from the Ukraine are stepping up to help save the animals. If the zoo could set up a donation link on their website, I'm sure donations will start coming in from all over the world.

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    3. I think Ukraine is not fully linked into the Paypal network, i.e. you can transfer money FROM Ukraine but not INTO Ukraine.

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  10. I came across your blog while searching for ways to donate, please please please let us know, if everyone contributes just a little bit we can make a huge difference!

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    1. I also found this article by looking up how to donate, if there's any way for people outside of the Ukraine (UK in my case) to give money I'd love to know about it too!

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  11. Hello, I write you from Belgium. Can you write down this belgian account number? Would love to help.

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  12. I too would like to donate. There are so many in the world who I am sure would like to help! Maybe something can be set up through www.causes.com or a website that's similar?

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  13. Hi I would like to donate to the zoo to saved the animals. I'm in the UK. How can I donate?

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  14. URGENT. PLEASE PROVIDE US FOREIGNERS WITH A PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO DONATE

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  15. Im In Canada-Please set up a paypal account as soon as possible so I can make a donation

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  16. Hi - Please get paypal details asap from the zoo. Loads of people outside of the country would love to help!! Time is limited and we need to start the donations now.

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  17. I'm from Australia and will happily donate. I will share donation details on my Animal Welfare page and others. As soon as there is a method to donate please let me know. Possible reach through Facebook and Twitter of several thousand people who could donate. You can contact me direct on bobbaker_causes@bigpond.com

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    1. Bob, Im a Scot living in Aussie land also...Will try and collect as much money as I can....my email address is ciaran64@bigpond.com...TELL ME WHAT IS NEEDED AND i WILL TRY...

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  18. I've found an email address for the zoo so have emailed them asking how we can all donate and help. Hopefully we'll get something soon and we can all help - conscious of time being against us.....want to help them so much!!

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  19. I am from Canada, and am standing by waiting on a Pay Pal page too! I will be sharing with hundreds as soon as we can get the page!!!

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  20. From London
    The zoo do not even have Facebook page, ... also wonder who or how can one set up a Pay Pal account for them. HELP HELP HELP PLS

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  21. Hey there! From Switzerland, will gladly donate if they set up paypal or the like! Otherwise I will try to donate money on monday via their bank accounts! Thanks for telling us about this issue!

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  22. Hi to everyone! Thank you so much for your responses and offers of help. We are headed out the door right now to go to the zoo and talk with someone there. In the meantime, I've set up this FB page: https://www.facebook.com/KharkivZooFriends. As a previous commenter mentioned, the Zoo doesn't have their own FB page so we can use this to better coordinate our efforts. Thank you again!

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  23. Hi there I'm from Malaysia. I read about this news on Daily Mail UK and obviously devastated about these animals suffering from the foolish acts of humans. I have read about similar news about the zoo animals that were butchered in Syria because there was not enough food for the people there and I felt really bad being unable to do anything. I'm an internet marketer by profession and would like to offer my help in spreading the news on Google and the Facebook page that you have created. I have invited my friends to like your page and asked them to donate at this link : http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo?preview=1. My email is dek_jon@hotmail.com. Looking forward to your reply to communicate to see how I can contribute to help these animals. Cheers.

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  24. Hi Crazy about Ukraine, please let us foreigners know. I will redericet my friends to the fb link that you provided. Paypal would be totally cool, but I think Ukraine is not yet part of the Paypal web. You can use Paypal for transfers inside Ukraine or out of Ukraine, but not into Ukraine. I live in Germany, I support the Chance Animal Asylum in Chersones, and they can receive donations by me fastest via Western Union: For that purpose one needs a personal recepient (you personally? someone from the zoo?) to pick up the cash at a Western Union office in Ukraine. Send me PM via Facebook (I am Christina Menova) if you need to know more. Good luck!!

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  25. http://www.crowdrise.com/UkrainianKharkivZoo/fundraiser/freyasnow

    From London

    Whilst searching how donations can be made I came across this site which I will use to donate. I do not have a FB set up, but perhaps those of you who have can publish the link,? Many thanks. This, hopefully is a good start.

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  26. Update on the zoo situation (things are looking much, much better for the animals!!): http://8monthsinukraine.blogspot.com/2014/03/kharkov-zoo-update.html

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  27. Any updates about how we can donate from the UK or elsewhere? Did you manage to speak to the zoo?

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  28. Please use this link to donate to the Ukrainian zoo animals emergency food fund!

    http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo?preview=1

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  29. http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo?preview=1

    Found this through the facebook page that has been set up.

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  30. Hi all! Thank you for your comments! The link to http://www.gofundme.com/7duseo is correct- we're gathering donations via GoFundMe, then transferring them per the bank's instructions. Or it's always possible to donate independently on your own via a wire transfer (see zoo's website for more info). - Katherine

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  31. If you really want to help the animals in the Ukraine zoos, help the organization that is effectively getting food and medical supplies to them. The Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) has already delivered 13 tons of food just in the past 2 weeks. They are the only ones on the ground there working with the zoo officials to get this handled. They’re ensuring that over 10,000 animals in these zoos survive, and they’re making sure the money goes where it is supposed to. Please help them at: https://www.causes.com/actions/1769110-donate-to-earth-organization.

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