Flood at Russian zoo kills 1 bear, traps 14 others in cages

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

MOSCOW (AP) — A flood has swept through a private zoo in Russia's Far East, trapping 14 brown bears and a lion in their half-submerged cages.

Video broadcast on Russian state television showed the bears standing on their hind legs and clinging to the bars with their front paws to keep their heads above the muddy water.

Vera Blishch, identified in the TV report as a bear trainer, checked on their condition from a boat Monday and said they were suffering from cold and lack of sleep.

One other bear at the Green Island zoo in Ussuriysk already drowned after a river burst its banks Sunday following a deluge caused by Typhoon Goni, the state RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/65fcdb3332424fd3bfe056398b488861/flood-russian-zoo-kills-1-bear-traps-14-others-cages

[The Stranger]

1. Did he get them out of the cages and to higher ground?

Or is he leaving them to being submerged alive?

Holy fuck, what is wrong with people?

[red dog 1]

2. Thanks for posting this, Omaha Steve

Those bears shouldn't be in cages.

They should have large open outdoor-indoor areas, the way zoos around the world have.

Or, at least large indoor enclosed areas, with trees or man-made apparatus for them to play with, but keeping them in small cages is just plain wrong.

[Judi Lynn]

3. So damned sad. Hideous. n/t

[secondwind]

4. the article doesn't say if they have removed the bears... they are suffering from lack of sleep and

food

DO SOMETHING!

[maxsolomon]

5. It's Russia

Not that we're perfect, but life is cheaper there, and they are less sentimental about animals. The bears and lions are screwed unless the water recedes.

Here's hoping it does.

[AtomicKitten]

6. Poor things. War and natural disasters are brutal on zoos in 3rd word countries.