Attached are a few photos of the Bears having some fun and s close up of 1 of our Raccoon Dogs.
We DESPERATELY need your help. http://goo.gl/PYCpzo
Kherson activists through jealousy, greed and spite have caused our donation box to be removed at the zoo. It did not ever collect much in winter but would have been a huge help in summer. This has now put added pressure on me. The city is supplying the absolute minimum food and have cut security. I provide the extra food needed and I am also paying for security to work on weekends and public holidays. e.g on Friday the Bears only had 7 apples and 2 cabbages each...!!! I purchased more food for them. Weekends and holidays are the busiest times when we need security. It boggles the mind that the city does not understand this.
PLEASE HELP, DONATE here http://goo.gl/PYCpzo & SHARE
Activists are trying everything they can to upset me and hoping I will give up and leave but I wont, it only makes me more determined. I will post a list later in the week of everything they have not done and all the things they accuse me of.

HI Everyone,
Today we start a completely new campaign to give the animals at the Kherson Zoo a chance at a better life. These animals did not choose to be where they are. Us humans put them there and now we need to make sure that they are taken care of. These animals live in what people call a "Zoo", but it is in fact nothing more than a concentration camp. LAEO Ukraine has started a project with the approval of the Mayor of Kherson and his administration to refurbish the current cages and enclosures.
The bears, 5 of them, an adult male of at least 25 years, 2 female adult and their 2 cubs. The females are at least 15 years old (no-one knows for sure because of the lack of documentation) and their 2 cubs are 5 months old. The adult male lives in a steel cage of only 3m x 6m and has been locked in there and never set foot on natural ground since the collapse of the Soviet Union which is 23 years ago and the other 4 bears share an enclosure of 4m x 6m. They do not have adequate running water and no way of cleaning their enclosures. The floor of the enclosures are also made of steel which is rusting and breaking up, the urine, feces and food all fall through these breaks in the floor which creates the most horrific stench.
Apart from the disgusting living conditions, a group of hunters that run a bear baiting station have been trying to aquire the bears to be used to train their dogs to hunt and kill the bears by ripping them to pieces. A circus in Ukraine has also tried to take the bear cubs which would result in them being de-clawed and de-fanged and taught to perform for audiences.
These are just some of the problems we facing.
Check back soon for updates and more information on the Kherson Zoo.

UKRAINE TURMOIL LEAVES ZOO ANIMALS IN DIRE NEED OF FOOD.
LAWRENCE ANTHONY EARTH ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES SUPPORT CAMPAIGN

NIKOLAEV, UKRAINE - March 26, 2014 – Following in the footsteps of Lawrence Anthony’s extraordinary Bagdad Zoo animal rescue mission at the onset of the Iraq War, an entrepreneurial, animal-loving, bush war veteran from South Africa, now Ukraine resident, Lionel de Lange, has taken on a unique cause with the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization (LAEO) to save 6000 plus Ukraine zoo animals from starvation brought on by economic and political strife in the region. 

While international governments are calling for support for the nation’s failing economy and looming debt default, thousands of Russian soldiers are amassing along the border causing fear and speculation among some of the Ukrainian population that Russia will move to take over even more of the region than their current annexation of the Crimea.  In the midst of this economic and political turmoil, thousands of Ukrainian zoo animals are in dire straits because government funding for their food has dried up, leaving the animals to starve if aid is not provided by people of goodwill.

To continue reading.....

Its a mistake, you were not planned but this was the best mistake ever.
I did not set out to start this chapter but now I really want to do it. It all started with a conversation I had with the vet that takes care of my dog. I had heard a rumor that the zoo was in trouble and the animals   were on the brink of going hungry. I felt very bad about this and spoke with my sister in Cape Town and she said why don’t I try to get some help. She told me about Lawrence Anthony and said I should let    them know and maybe they could do something or at least point me in the right direction. Here we are, I'm setting up a chapter and it feels good knowing that we can help. After making contact with Barbara Wiseman, International President of LAEO and collecting the info she needed, the more interested I got. There is also a staggering amount of homeless dogs and cats in Nikolaev and is very close to my heart which is something I'd like to work on at a later stage as soon as we can get the Zoo's out of their crisis.

Now that I have committed myself to being fully involved I would like to build up a long term relationship with the Zoo's, Animal parks and Dolphinariums in Ukraine. My first priority is to make sure the animals   get fed immediately. Produce(vegetables etc.) is not a problem for now as donations from residents are covering that, but getting meat to feed the carnivores is expensive and can only be supplied by registered suppliers with the necessary health certificates. That is number 1 priority at the moment and then to get medical supplies and cleaning materials. Once we are back on track with visitor attendance being good we will be able to cover the feeding problems or at least cover most of that cost. I would then like to get involved with various initiatives and ideas for the zoos to generate extra income over and above the gate takings, concession stands and any payments they may receive from the municipalities. I  intend to build up reserve funds because without assistance from government we are going to have this problem every winter when attendance drops and income dries up. This problem I think will continue for a few years so we need to educate the zoo's on earning their own extra income.

And the new Ukrainian baby is born on the 17 March 2014 @ 8.45am.