TAMPA, Fla. — Nearly one month into the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the images and stories only get worse.
The human toll is heartbreaking, enraging, and even hard to fully comprehend.
Families ripped apart as men are forced to fight and some children and pregnant women are killed by blasts and bombings.
The stories of courage and patriotism are equally as shocking.
In the initial days of the war, the director of a zoo in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, stayed with a small group of colleagues to care for the animals. They call themselves the "zoo military commune."
They take care of approximately 4,000 animals, so it would have been logistically impossible to find transportation and proper shelter for all of them. Evacuating was not an option.
Stories like this caught the attention of zoos around the world including staff at ZooTampa at Lowry Park.
"We can’t begin to imagine what those animals are going through. The staff I’m sure, they’re terrified but their dedication to those animals, it’s amazing. Brave doesn’t begin to describe it," said Tiffany Burns, Director of Conservation, Research, and Behavior at ZooTampa.
ZooTampa is coordinating with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) and its European counterpart to send money, food for the animals, and other necessary supplies to zoos caught in the crossfire.
"We know what it takes to care for these animals," added Burns. "We want to make sure they don’t have to worry about it. They can continue to care for those animals without the stress of the financial burden, supplies if we can but that gets harder."
An AZA news release said until the group knows more about specific needs, individuals or organizations can consider donations to support EAZA relief efforts.
Staff at ZooTampa is familiar with sheltering animals during stressful times as they have protocols in place for hurricanes and other severe weather.
"Them staying with their animals doesn’t surprise us at all. We are very familiar to that, especially here in Florida. Every time we have major hurricanes, our first thing is making sure the animals are secure," said Burns.
When hurricanes roll through the area, ZooTampa staff moves all animals into their hurricane-resistant night houses and a small group of people stay behind to make sure the animals are safe and fed.
"One of our biggest jobs is to have that relationship with these animals. Every animal is different but for some of those complex, intelligent, relationship-driven animals, it’s important to have that comfort and see those people they know."