A fire broke out in the occupied Dzharylgach nature reserve – ecologists

A fire broke out in the Dzharylgatsky National Nature Park, ecologists from the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group report.

For 5 days, the most valuable steppe area on the island of Dzharylgach burns.

“The area that is burning is a zone of absolute protection in the national park, where even human visits are limited,” ecologists say.

After all, the main part of all steppe ecosystems of the island is concentrated on it. The rest of the territory is swamped or flooded to varying degrees. But it is in this area that the populations of all rare animals live.

The largest number of ungulates is also concentrated in this part.

This part of the island received the protection status as a reserve back in 1974 – 35 years before the creation of the national park.

According to ecologists, no one is trying to extinguish the fire and it will bring colossal losses to the island’s biodiversity.

Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, Dzharylgach has been under occupation. The administration is powerless against the Russians and cannot save the national park.

The tiger cub, which the Russians stole from the zoo in the temporarily captured Mariupol, died in a circus on the territory of the aggressor country of Russia. The Mariupol City Council reports this: “In May 2023, a three-month-old tiger cub was taken to a Moscow circus, where it was going to be trained by Edgard Zapashny, who supports Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and actively spreads Kremlin propaganda. The trainer himself stated that the animal died.

“According to him, the animal had congenital kidney problems. But why then she was not returned to the zoo, but taken to the circus, he did not finish the work,” the city council wrote.

The city council previously included that the tiger cub was born in the zoo, but the tigress did not want to feed it and a local shepherd took care of it.