Care bear bunch

Zoo aims to adopt animal rescued from war

- STUART MacDONALD

A BLACK bear found close to death in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine is to be adopted by a Scots zoo.

Yampil – a 12-year-old Asiatic black bear – was rescued from an abandoned zoo in Donetsk when Ukrainian forces liberated a village there in October 2022.

He was one of the only animals left alive in the park. Rescuers said he was starving, filthy and close to death.

The bear was named Yampil after the village where he was rescued.

He is now set to be given a new home at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, West Lothian.