Wild Animals Programmes
CLICK ON THE SECTIONS ABOVE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH PROGRAMME
Wild animals kept in captivity, including substandard zoos, dolphinaria, circuses, petting zoos and various forms of private ownership, most of the time are victims of abuse and neglect, caused by a number of reasons: from lack of knowledge and awareness of the people keeping them to greed and ineffective legislation.
Living conditions in most captive facilities do not resemble natural habitats at the slightest and can be summed up as solitary confinement in small, often filthy cages, inadequate diet and little to no enrichment. Many display severe stereotypic behaviour, such as pacing and swaying, biting on the cage, hurting themselves. Most of them receive no medical care and suffer from injuries and diseases that are left untreated, causing them severe pain and distress.
Whilst after years of lobbying , Russia has gotten slightly improved legislation, there are very few facilities able to take in abused wildlife. Facilities, where they can be either rehabilitated and released back to the wild or those that cant be released are housed free from human contact and abuse. There are two rehabilitation facilities, both founded and run by families of scientists that we proudly support. These people have the knowledge on how to effectively rehabilitate wild animals:
- UTYOS – rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned bear cubs, Amur tigers and other wildlife in Khabarovsk region
- ABCR Lynx – rehabilitating this rare and elusive wild cat in Vladimir Oblast
Learn more about the work they do and how we support them by clicking on the links above.
Other Wildlife shelters we have supported in the past and hope to support again (donations permitting) :
Chertog Volka – the only wolf shelter in Russia
Bird Island – rehabilitation facility for different wildlife species