Heartbreaking pictures show battle to rescue stranded bears from flooded Russian zoo

Several animals are already believed to have died at Zelyony Ostrov Park Zoo in Ussuriysk, Russia, following the incident late on Sunday.

Shocking pictures from the zoo show desperate brown bears climbing to the top of their cages in a bid to escape the rising water.

Others show rescue workers in boats attempting to feed the trapped, cold and wet creatures with bread and sugar wedged on a stick and shoved through the bars of their cages.

The private zoo was hit by rising flood waters after a river in the far eastern city of Ussuriysk burst its banks.

But several animals have already drowned in their cages while many were forced to stand upright for hours on end in order to keep their heads above the murky brown water.

Animals including a wolf, a lynx and the city's mascot, a female bear named Masyanya, all drowned in their cages on Sunday

The newspaper said goats at the zoo are reported to have been drowned, while wolves, boar and deer have been rescued.

But the 14 brown bears and a lion remain trapped in their half-submerged cages today.

Video broadcast on Russian state television showed the bears standing on their hind legs and clinging to the bars with their front paws to keep their heads above the muddy water.

Vera Blishch, identified in the TV report as a bear trainer, checked on their condition from a boat Monday and said they were suffering from cold and exhaustion.

She told Sky News: 'The animals could [have been] evacuated, their cages have wheels. I was calling the owner of the zoo, I was begging him to help, but no one listened.

'I wanted to get Masyanya bear out of her cage, she could have been saved, but they didn't let me.'

Different sources claim the reason the bears cannot be saved is either because the cages are sealed or because the keys have been lost in the flood.

The deluge of dirty river water which swept through the private zoo is believed to have been caused by Typhoon Goni.

An RIA Novosti news agency report showed volunteers gathering food and medicine for the surviving animals.

They will remain trapped in their cages until at east tomorrow morning. 

(dailymail.co.uk)