A bear rescued from a bombed-out zoo in Ukraine has arrived at his new home in Scotland. Yampil, a 12-year-old Asiatic black bear, quickly took to a meal of cucumbers and watermelon when he arrived at the zoo outside Edinburgh.

An unlikely refugee from the war in Ukraine — a rare Asiatic black bear — arrived at his new home in Scotland on Friday and quickly took to a meal of cucumbers and watermelon.

The 12-year-old Yampil was named for a village in the Donetsk region where he was one of the few survivors found by Ukrainian troops in the remains of a bombed-out private zoo.

Yampil, who had previously been called Borya, was discovered by soldiers who recaptured the devastated city of Lyman during the Kharkiv counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, said Yegor Yakovlev of Save Wild, who was among the first of many people who led the bear to a new life.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    16·
    10 months ago

    “The bear miraculously survived,” said Yakovlev, also director of the White Rock Bear Shelter, where the bear recovered. “Our fighters did not know what … to do with him, so they started looking for rescue.”

    I mean, there’s the obvious idea, but, uh, I’m glad they took this path.

    • SaucySnake@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      10 months ago

      Animals who spend significant amounts of times in zoos can’t survive in the wilderness, if that’s what you meant. Ones that are taken in for rehabilitation are kept in specific environments so as to not get used to captivity and for as short a time as possible so they don’t get used to it.

      • GBU_28@lemm.eeEnglish
        131·
        10 months ago

        The “obvious” thing for soldiers in a warzone would be to euthanize an animal with more complicated needs. They went above and beyond to get the creature out.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        10 months ago

        “Recruit Yampil, we do not eat the Russians. DO NOT EAT THE RUSSIANS! … it’s junk food.”

        animals shouldn’t be used for warfare… so I’m glad he got moved. but I am going to amuse myself with instructions specific to the bear all the same. (also, that sounds like an “interesting” van ride they had there.)

        Edit : or….
        “Bear?”
        “Check.”
        “Bear armor?”
        “Check.”
        “Chain gun?”
        “Check.”
        “Grenade launcher?”
        “Check.”
        “Advanced turret mount with automatic eye tracking and bear-adapted Voice Attack profiles?”
        “Check.”
        “Russian targets?”
        “…uh…”
        “Russian targets?”
        “They seem to be fleeing, sir.”
        “That the fourth time! How are we gonna test project Ursa if they keep running away? You know those drone guys got another warship? Right?!”

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        10 months ago

        (The correct answer is to step back, leave it an escape, and call someone that does know what to do. This is usually true of all large or dangerous animals.)(alternatively, take a selfie with it!)

        In any case they went to a lot of effort to get that bear safe. They’re good people.