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Lion, tiger cubs in the cold at Crimea safari park after power cut off

The park is having problems with its main power generator, which could fail at any moment

MOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. Lion and tiger cubs are in the cold at Crimea’s safari park after the peninsula was cut off from Ukraine’s power supplies, its director said on Thursday.

"The situation is not improving. We have problems with fuel. Yesterday we managed to buy only ten liters of gasoline due to long lines at gas stations," Oleg Zubkov said.

The park is having problems with its main power generator, which could fail at any moment, he said, complaining that meat frozen for predators had started to melt.

"We had to cover lion and tiger cubs and chimpanzees with blankets — we have to take care of them," Zubkov said, adding that none of the inmates had died so far. But things could turn critical if temperatures fall next week, he added.

Four transmission lines were supplying Crimea with electric power from Ukraine until November 20, when two pylons were blown up and a state of emergency declared on the peninsula. In the early hours of November 22, another two pylons were attacked.

On Wednesday, repair teams began work on one of the lines transmitting energy to two districts of the peninsula’s Kherson region.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry has delivered some 600 portable generators and more than 10,000 tons of fuel to Crimea.