Our friends of the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center in Kharkiv need your help!
The bat rehabilitation center in the Feldman Ecopark (Bat Rehab Center) in the Ukrainian city of Charkiw/Kharkiv is probably the largest care station for bats and one of the most important and largest bat rescue, research and education projects in Eastern Europe. Every year, thousands of bats are rescued, rehabilitated and finally released into the wild. Nevertheless, the employees, as well as some volunteers, carry out a high degree of public relations work about bat protection on national and international level. In addition, there is a very committed cooperation with numerous international cooperation partners and a variety of ecological research projects are carried out, e.g. with partners in Germany.
The current war in Ukraine also affects this bat centre, which is so unique in Europe, and all its dedicated staff in Kharkiv, and ultimately has far-reaching effects on this unprecedented international cooperation.
Not only the actual buildings, in which the offices and the rehabilitation station are located, have been severely affected in recent days and weeks. The zoo surrounding the center (Feldman Ecopark), to which the Bat Rehab Center belongs, has already been partially destroyed, some zoo animals were killed in the attacks and the rest walk around freely or suffer, as feeding by employees has become difficult or almost impossible due to the nearby fighting.
The destruction of important local state-owned infrastructures and networks, which have ensured the independent financing of the center so far, ultimately means that financial resources and support for the Bat Rehab Center or the employees will probably no longer be possible for a longer period of time. Some of the employees, especially those with small children, have now been able to leave the city and are on the run.
It is therefore important that we help our friends and cooperation partners in this dire situation.
Even in the current exceptional situation in Kharkiv, the employees who remain on site continue their work in an unprecedented and extraordinarily committed manner despite the daily life-threatening situation: the numerous foster animals continue to be cared for on site, but in particular the many biological samples that are so valuable for research and international bat protection are currently being secured – as best as possible under the current circumstances. Contact with international partners and friends is maintained and enables information to be passed on and exchanged.
We are long-standing friends and supporters of the bat center in Kharkiv and are in close personal contact with those affected.
We try to provide direct help in this way through donations. The funds collected will benefit the Bat Center and its employees in full.
On the one hand, direct assistance is to be made possible to the refugee employees with their families, and on the other hand to the employees remaining in Kharkiv. In addition, we would like to support the continuation of the work and, if necessary, the reconstruction of the center.
We are grateful for every small donation and will update this page regularly to inform you about the progress of the fundraiser.
There are various ways to donate. For example, you can donate once via betterplace.me:
https://www.betterplace.me/ueberlebenshilfe-fuer-bat-center-in-ukraine-oder-kharkiv
or directly via Paypal using this email adress: bat.kharkov@gmail.com
There is also the possibility to become a permanent supporter and help monthly:
https://www.patreon.com/batsukraine
More information can be found on the official homepage of the Bat Rehab Center http://www.bat-kharkov.in.ua/en/
or the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BatsUkraine
Thank you very much for your support!
