Lions trapped in a zoo in Kharkiv are now safe in Odesa

Two lions that were trapped at the zoo in Kharkiv as fighting raged in the region have begun a new life hundreds of miles away in the zoo at Odesa.

The manager of Odesa zoo, Ihor Beliakov, said he and his deputy had driven to Kharkiv to collect the lions.

They drove all night to get to Kharkiv, loaded the lions into their van at 7 a.m. and then drove all the way back to Odesa — an 18-hour trip as they avoided the frontlines.

“The lions were silent during the trip. There were no incidents on the way, we were not shelled, nothing like that,” Beliakov said.

They only had to refuel once, and perhaps unsurprisingly there were no lines.

The lions are now recovering in Odesa.

They have been renamed after characters in ” The Lion King” — Mufasa and Nala.

Beliakov said the workers at the Kharkiv Eco-Park were heroes for getting so many of the animals there to safety.

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