Two tigresses with an atypical course arrived at the end of last week at the Refuge de l’Arche (Mayenne), this zoo not like the others since it specializes in the reception of wild animals in captivity. The two felines, named Magnolia and Uvalisa, were indeed urgently evacuated from Ukraine, where they were indirectly victims of the war launched by Russia.
Their story is little known but, according to the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which has been helping to coordinate the rescue operation since March 2022, the two tigresses “were rescued from the street where they were used by unscrupulous people to carry out photographs”. They were then temporarily transferred to a zoo in Poznan (Poland). They will now be cared for by the experienced teams of the French refuge located in Château-Gontier. They should be able to be presented to the public in the coming days.
The first of a long list?
“By acting as quickly as possible, with the help of the French State services, we are fighting against the worrying trafficking of animals, particularly wild animals, which countries at war suffer”, reports the Refuge de l’Arche. . The transport was financed by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and comedian Raphaël Mezrahi. The latter was also present in Mayenne for the arrival of the felines.
“Any warlike conflict is imbued with great injustice and if it is legitimate to think of human victims, how can we ignore the dramatic fate of animals in Ukraine? asks the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.
In the future, the Refuge de l’Arche, which houses a thousand residents with stories often
complicated, “would like to welcome other animals from Ukraine”