Lion hearts
FOR a group of blind orphans hearing lions roar was an emotional moment because both they and the big cats are escapees from war-ravaged Ukraine.
The refugee students aged 15 to 21, like the lions, were saved from Russian warmonger Vladimir Putin’s rockets.
Listening to the beasts at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Yelizoete Terletsko, 18, said: “I was really upset they had to leave our home in Ukraine, the same as me. But I’m really grateful that people helped them like they did me and we are all in a safe place now.”
Later she squealed in delight as a giraffe grabbed a branch from her and said: “They’re so strong.”
Yelizoete recalled her sister phoning her to say the war had started.
The school for the blind in the northern city of Kharkiv was one of the first buildings to be bombed. The students, many of whom are orphans, were evacuated to Poland a day before it was virtually destroyed.
Yelizoete said: “I thought ‘how can there be war in the 21st century? How can that happen? When the bombing began I was worried I wouldn’t survive.
“Because we’re blind we can hear differently. You can hear more and you feel the noises in your body.
I hope the visit brings smiles to their faces. They have experienced appalling trauma
DUCHESS OF YORK WHO HELPED ORGANISE THE WILDLIFE TRIP
RATS
“It was a horrible experience and I hope it all finishes soon because I never want to hear the bombs again.”
Initially, the 70-year-old headmaster decided everyone should hide in the school’s basement, with staff securing the school’s windows with mattresses to protect against rocket attacks.
The students were traumatised by both the rats in the basement, and the rocket attacks outside.
Deputy head teacher Marzena Bialas said: “They’re really excited about the lions in Yorkshire. They didn’t know they had been shipped over to the UK.
When we told them about it they googled the Mirror. They also phoned their old head teacher to tell him they were visiting lions from Ukraine.”
The head teacher from the Polish school, Violetta Trzcina, said the 14 students had now been with them for two years.
She said: “We can’t thank everyone enough for this trip as it is helping not only kids but blind adults to forget about the tragic situation in Ukraine.”
The students have been supported by the Duchess of York, who helped to arrange the wildlife visit and the Thomas Pocklington Trust and the RNIB who funded their trip to the UK.
Sarah, Duchess of York told the Mirror she had met the students a number of times and it was “wonderful” they’d been able to visit Yorkshire. She said: “I hope the visit brings smiles to their faces – for me the smile of a child has always been the most important thing.
“They have been through unimaginable trauma, separated from their families, broken apart by the dreadful Russian invasion. It is just the most appalling situation.
“I first met the group in Poland at the onset of the war, where my charity has worked for many years. I was humbled to hear their story of survival and determination, and we have remained in touch ever since. It is an honour for me to call them my friends.”
The group were also taken behind the scenes at the Park, near Doncaster, and listened to some of the “most vocal mammals on the planet”, the sea lions.
Then they had a private audience in the lion enclosure where Aysa and her three cubs, Santa, Emi and Teddi, are
settling in. The big cats roared as the youngsters were told about their journey by the ranger.
The small pride arrived last week thanks to help from the park’s Wildlife Foundation who funded the trip.
Pregnant Aysa was first moved from a private zoo in Donetsk, Ukraine, to the country’s capital Kyiv.
She gave birth to the cubs there, and the family went to Poznan in Poland, where they were safe but unable to see the sky for nine months.
After crossing six countries and travelling more than 2,000 miles they finally arrived at their safe haven in Auckley last Thursday.
Within days, they had settled so much, the rangers felt able to remove the steel panel between their mum’s pen and theirs so they are now separated by see-through mesh.
The rangers say all have been head rubbing and “showing really positive signs”, with Emi lying next to her mum by the mesh all day long.
As we watch, Emi won’t leave the mesh, and appears to be trying to touch her mum with her paw resting in the space between the pens.
HORRIBLE
The rangers are planning to let them have access into an area which overlooks their huge eight acre enclosure, where they will live eventually.
As they roared at the visitors, Bohdan Ustiianskyi, 18, told us: “I feel emotional that I can be here. I never dreamed I would travel so much.
“It was a big surprise to find out about the lions from Ukraine, it’s similar to our story.”
He told how he woke to hear shouting about the war starting and a tank parked outside their school. They did not know if it was Ukrainian or Russian. He said: “It was horrible.
It was an old building and the walls were shaking, the bombing was so close to us in the centre of Kharkiv.
“We stayed in the basement only going upstairs to brush our teeth. I was scared. We didn’t understand what was going on because we could not see it. Some kids were picked up by their parents but those of us who did not have anyone to pick us up, were left in the school.
“It was chaotic, the alarms were going off all the time and we heard blood was needed and they were looking for donors and people were queuing at the ATMs.
“We were told there was an evacuation plan in a month’s time but the next day we were simply told to jump in a bus.”
As we talked the group joke about feeding their head teacher to the lions. Head of carnivores, Bex Brown, 34, told them they had been thrilled with how the lions had settled in.
She said: “Emi has shown the most interest in Mum. When they first saw each other they were cautious but left them to it and they started showing some really nice behaviour, including head rubbing.
“We’ve given them some toys and at first they were a bit nervous, I don’t think they had toys before. But they were soon playing with the wood, the tubes and fire hose we gave them.
“They are so intrigued about everything that is going on. It’s amazing how war can affect humans and animals together. But this shows how everyone can make a difference by coming together.”
The co-founder of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Cheryl Williams, said; “I could not believe it when I had the phone call from the Duchess of York’s office asking if their group of young people could visit us.
“Their journey was such a parallel to the lions, starting out in Ukraine but moved because of the bombs and then going to Poland.
“Then by some sheer fluke they have ended up in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.”
It was a surprise to find out about the lions. I’m feeling emotional being here
BOHDAN USTIIANSKYI STUDENT IS MOVED MEETING FELLOW ESCAPEES