Chain of good intentions

Users’ activity has increased several times during the “apocalyptic weekend,” as it often happens in emergency situations. People posted photographs of cars stuck in traffic jams and people walking in waist-deep snow, wrote about different situations both positive and not so positive, they also reported about those who needed help. In this array of information there was a note stating that “giraffes were freezing near Kyiv.” The report contained the phone numbers of the drivers. Exotic animals were on their way to Berdiansk Zoo, but the vehicle got stuck on the road. Facebook users began reposting the information and some of them did not limit their actions only by posts on social networks and by doing so rescued the animals.

Hanna Lesiuk, participant of the event, wrote on her Facebook page that due to bad weather she had to stay at home and monitor the situation through social networks. There she saw the information about the truck with African animals that got stuck near Kyiv. “And then I saw a post made by the director of Mykolaiv Zoo that they needed an English speaking assistant because a truck with African animals from the Czech Republic got stuck in a traffic jam on Zhytomyr-Kyiv highway. The assistant would have to call the drivers and find out where they are, what is their situation and what are the possible ways to help them out. I called but Czech drivers didn’t answer my calls. There was a panic already – there was no way to save the freezing animals! The entire group of volunteers led by coordinator Andrii Medvedko [coordinator of a group initiated by the all-Ukrainian Union ‘Svoboda’ ‘Save Kyiv without Popov.’ – Ed.] were looking for a way to get in touch with the truck drivers,” wrote Lesiuk.

Veronika Chepeleva, director of Kyiv restaurant “Tiubeteika,” also took active part in the animal rescue campaign. “Director of Mykolaiv Zoo posted information that animals are stuck and already spent 20 hours near Kyiv, near the village of Kalynivka. It turned out that there are few villages with the same name around Kyiv. Young men from ‘Svoboda’ organized themselves in groups and were ready to go on their jeeps to dig them from snow but they did not know where to go,” Chepeleva told The Day. “It was an emergency situation and there was no sense in going over all Kalynivkas around Kyiv. We needed to urgently find the director of Mykolaiv zoo. It was Sunday around 10 p.m. We found the telephone number of the zoo and thought that maybe someone on duty would answer the call but nobody did. I searched for a phone number of Mykolaiv mayor on the Internet and got the number of the City Hall. I called them, told my name and explained that I urgently needed to get in touch with the director of the zoo because he was the only person who knew for sure where the truck was. In less then five minutes they called me back, gave the phone number of the director and told me that he already expected my call.”

This is how the activists found out the exact location of the truck on Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway. Then, through the advertising department of the chain of restaurants “Kozyrna Karta,” which includes “Tiubeteika,” it became known which of their restaurants is the closest to the alleged location. “We called the administrator of this restaurant and she right away began asking the visitors whether anyone might have seen this truck somewhere nearby. Head of Sviatoshyn Raion State Administration was one of the visitors of the restaurant that night and he organized the rest of the actions: the car was found, dug out of snow, and the animals were taken to a safe place,” said Chepeleva.

It is incredible how many people got involved in this rescue campaign. Facebook users that made first calls, found out about what was happening, and passed the information on, volunteers, who searched for car on the highway and dug it out from snow, administrator of “Autogrill Myslyvets” Oksana Yasko, who spoke with the guests of the restaurant, head of Sviatoshyn Raion State Administration, activists from “Svoboda,” director of Mykolaiv Zoo Volodymyr Topchii, and many others. “Everyone helped a lot – in just a few hours after the information was posted online the giraffes were escorted to Kyiv,” Lesiuk wrote on her Facebook page. Today, the animals are already in warmth and comfort in Berdiansk Zoo after 27 hours they spent in snowdrifts and cold. “They are doing fine and are eating their dinner at the moment,” zoo employee told The Day.

P.S. However, there were also some negative moments in this situation. Activists, who rescued animals, reported that Kyiv Zoo refused to help the animals – they wouldn’t agree to provide a place to stay for the animals and food. But the administration of Kyiv Zoo denied this information and reported that right after they learned about the emergency situation they “urgently prepared premises for animals, appropriate food, and also a place to accommodate the attendants. Staff had been waiting for the Czech guests with animals until the early morning but they never came to the zoo.” Apparently, the well organized communication chain broke on this link.