The relationship between Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the rogue state dictatorship of North Korea has deepened after Mad Vlad donated some animals to a bleak zoo.
An African lion and two brown bears were among 70 animals donated from Moscow to a zoo in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The Russian government said the animals were “a gift from (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to the Korean people”.
A unsuspecting white cockatoo was seen travelling in a crate in some images while Alexander Kozlov, Russia’s natural resources minister received a tour from North Korean officials.
Pictures of the zoo look a bit bleak, with one image showing a duck surrounded in a small pen by bemused tourists.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Think Regent’s Park Zoo, but without any of the nice bits.
Previous reports about the zoo have alarmed conservationists. An Asia Times report in 2006 said a film about staged fights between caged animals accused park keepers of being complicit in goading the animals to scrap.
(Image: Rowan Griffiths)
The zoo, which has hundreds of animals including elephants, also became known in 2016 for its chimp Azalea, which was taught to chain smoke.
There is also a “dog pavilion” containing different breeds and in 2003, The Telegraph said there was a parrot that could squawk “Long live the Great Leader, Comrade Kim Il Sung”. Talk about parroting the party line.
(Image: Getty Images)
A Mirror article in 2018 showed an “alarming scene” from the zoo where a keeper can be seen “throwing a turtle around by its tail”. A huge tiger’s mouth, meanwhile, marks the entrance to the zoo.
Other images show: a forlorn bear scratching the walls; murky-looking fish tanks and sneaky-seeming turtles.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
It is not the first time Russia has donated to the zoo, despite the recent recent military agreement between the Putin and dictator chum Kim Jong-un that brought the two closer together.
In April, a shipment included 24 Orlov Trotters – that’s ‘trotters’ not Trotskyists – which are pure bred horses known for their white coats.
(Image: Russia’s natural resources minis)
The delivery of animals is unlikely to alarm the West, which will be more concerned about thousands of North Korean troops now engaged on the front lines in Ukraine.
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