When ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in February, he left behind a nation, a mansion and a pristine 343-acre zoo.

The zoo's animals and its employees were left to find food and money themselves, and the interim government hasn't been able to help it, given Ukraine's economy is struggling to survive. For now, officials say there's not enough funding to support Yanukovych's former zoo and several others throughout the country that have sought donations to prevent animal starvation, such as the zoo in Nikolaev.

"The [Nikolaev] zoo still aesthetically looks good," said Lionel de Lange, who helped coordinate emergency supplies for Yanukovych's zoo and the one in Nikolaev. "We were able to get the animals a lot of food and medicine in the nick of the moment."

De Lange, a South African man who has lived in Ukraine for years, told Mashable that he wasn't looking to get involved in the effort to save Ukraine's zoos, until three weeks ago, when he read about the starving animals at the Nikolaev zoo, which is close to where he lives.

He immediately thought of fellow South African Lawrence Anthony, the famous conservationist who rushed in to save what animals he could from the Baghdad Zoo after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. De Lange reached out to the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, and was soon on the phone up to seven times a day with the group's president, Barbara Wiseman, discussing how they could save Ukraine's zoo creatures.

Image: Barbara Wiseman

The two coordinated a shipment of food to the zoo two days before the carnivores would have run out, according to Wiseman. Now, they have to figure out how they're going to keep feeding the 6,000 animals at Nikolaev and the 2,000 who call Yanukovych's zoo home — not to mention all the other zoos around the country.

“We were able to avert the disaster, but it’s very, very tenuous right now," Wiseman said.

Through donations and by coordinating with vendors—some that provide food specifically for exotic creatures, while others are more like big-butcher shops—Wiseman's organization has stockpiled enough money for about one month's worth of food for the 8,000 animals now ostensibly in its care. The goal is to quickly accumulate a four months' supply, which Wiseman estimated would cost about $500,000. That will give them time to come up with a more longterm plan.

Some Ukrainian zoos have already made desperate calls for help. In early March, the Kharkiv Zoo rallied locals to provide table scraps to animals there because they had run out of food. Wiseman said the Earth Organization is "in discussions" with Kharkiv but hasn't starting shipping supplies. Animals are already sick from some of the food people provided — certain species can't eat the same foods as humans — and Wiseman worries that the situation will deteriorate further.

Image: Barbara Wiseman

“While well-intended, that’s not the solution," Wiseman said. "A longterm solution’s got to be put in place.”

De Lange is in talks with other zoos about providing help, but he and the Earth Organization are moving carefully. They don't want to make promises that are impossible to keep, and Wiseman is wary that funds her group provides to people may not result in food for the animals.

“You have to make sure the money that is going there is really going to the animals," Wiseman said.

Plus, the situation at Yanukovych's zoo is far from stable. Staff members there haven't been paid in months, and some have left. There aren't enough employees to maintain the 343 animal-filled acres.

"If they went home, the animals would get poached or stolen," de Lange said of the zoo's staff. "They do night patrol. They literally lock the gates."

There are already reports of stolen animals as looters continue to sift through what's left of Yanukovych's former life. The interim government has said it will provide money for employees there, according to Wiseman, but nothing's happened so far. Ideally, the government would step in and help run the zoos, but no one is in a position to think that far ahead just yet.

"That's what we're going to try to work on next," de Lange said.

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