The exhibition WHY? opened at World Animal Day in Warsaw. The theme of the art exhibition is animals that suffered in the war in Ukraine. The author of the paintings is Ukrainian artist Igor Pavlyuk, brother of the director of the Rivne Zoo.

At the opening of the exhibition WHY? the director of the Warsaw Zoo, Andrzej G. Kruszewicz, told how the zoo in the Polish capital has been helping Ukrainian colleagues since the first days of the war. 

We know it’s a marathon. Ukrainian zoos need long-term support. And even after the victory of Ukraine, they will need to be restored.

Andrzej G. Kruszewicz, Director of the Warsaw Zoo

Vice-President of the Fundacja PANDA Jakub Krzemiński told the audience about the fundraising for Ukrainian zoos.

Cargoes come from Poland to the Rivne Zoo, from where they are distributed to other zoos in Ukraine. The amount of aid collected by the Warsaw Zoo together with the Fundacja PANDA is about PLN 290,000 and almost EUR 118,000. 

The opening ceremony was attended by the chairman of AZU, the director of the Cherkassy Zoo Yevhen Van and the director of the Rivne Zoo Oleg Pavlyuk. Guests from Ukraine spoke about the situation in the zoos of Ukraine and the support provided by colleagues from abroad.

Earlier, we talked about the speech of the president of AZU, Volodymyr Topchyi, at the conference of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA).