TBILISI, Georgia - If the two half-starved, frozen lionesses knew they were devouring one of their mates they certainly did not show it, as they hungrily ripped apart the skinned carcass of Tbilisi zoo's last male lion.
According to Neil Trent of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, who recently paid a flying visit to Tbilisi: "more than half the animals at the zoo have died of starvation or cold in the last two years".
With a kilogram of meat on Tbilisi's markets costing more than an average monthly salary, zoo officials have been forced to feed the dead animals to the surviving carnivores.
In response to Trent's visit, Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze has set up a special parliamentary commission commenting that "the situation at the zoo must not be allowed to continue".
At its peak in the 1970s, Tbilisi zoo had more than 1, 000 animals and more than half a million visitors a year. The number of animals dwindled over the 1980s as money became tight.
Now the dire economic situation in post-Soviet, war-racked, anarchic Georgia means there is little money in the state budget for luxuries like the zoo.
There are now just 162 animals left. There are no longer any giraffes, hippos or zebras. The birds of prey are down from 48 to six. The two Siberian tigers - an endangered species - died recently.
The zoo's budget has also been decimated by the plunge in value of the Georgian coupon, now the weakest currency in the former Soviet Union. The deputy mayor of Tbilisi, Shalva Ogbaidze, has put forward a new budget proposal of 250 million coupons, the first part of which Trent expects to start flowing into the zoo's coffers this week.
"We think that although children are dying of hunger, still we should try to do more to help the zoo", said Ogbaidze. Last Monday his new proposed annual budget was worth $4, 545. But given the current rate of hyperinflation, in a month's time it will be worth about half that.
Lack of money is not the only problem bedeviling the zoo. In recent months there have been reports of visitors, many of whom are drunk, attacking the animals. One tiger died after being hit over the head repeatedly with an iron bar.
Trent flew to Tbilisi in response to a plea for help from Mary Ellen Chatwin, a Swiss-American researcher working in Georgia.
"When I saw the state of the tigers I was so shocked, I couldn't believe Tbilisi zoo was so tragic a place", she said. "I sent a photo to the WSPA, like a bottle into the sea, but it was just like writing to Santa Claus because they wrote back immediately and a month later here they are".
Trent has put forward a host of proposals for alleviating the suffering of the animals. He is especially concerned about the remaining carnivores.
"Apart from the fact that they do not have enough meat, the main problem is that they are open to the elements", he said.
"They need wooden boxes with straw. They're wasting the food they are getting, trying to maintain body warmth".
"If the polar bear went into her pool she would die of cold", he said. "She's down to about half her normal body weight".
According to Neil Trent of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, who recently paid a flying visit to Tbilisi: "more than half the animals at the zoo have died of starvation or cold in the last two years".
With a kilogram of meat on Tbilisi's markets costing more than an average monthly salary, zoo officials have been forced to feed the dead animals to the surviving carnivores.
In response to Trent's visit, Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze has set up a special parliamentary commission commenting that "the situation at the zoo must not be allowed to continue".
At its peak in the 1970s, Tbilisi zoo had more than 1, 000 animals and more than half a million visitors a year. The number of animals dwindled over the 1980s as money became tight.
Now the dire economic situation in post-Soviet, war-racked, anarchic Georgia means there is little money in the state budget for luxuries like the zoo.
There are now just 162 animals left. There are no longer any giraffes, hippos or zebras. The birds of prey are down from 48 to six. The two Siberian tigers - an endangered species - died recently.
The zoo's budget has also been decimated by the plunge in value of the Georgian coupon, now the weakest currency in the former Soviet Union. The deputy mayor of Tbilisi, Shalva Ogbaidze, has put forward a new budget proposal of 250 million coupons, the first part of which Trent expects to start flowing into the zoo's coffers this week.
"We think that although children are dying of hunger, still we should try to do more to help the zoo", said Ogbaidze. Last Monday his new proposed annual budget was worth $4, 545. But given the current rate of hyperinflation, in a month's time it will be worth about half that.
Lack of money is not the only problem bedeviling the zoo. In recent months there have been reports of visitors, many of whom are drunk, attacking the animals. One tiger died after being hit over the head repeatedly with an iron bar.
Trent flew to Tbilisi in response to a plea for help from Mary Ellen Chatwin, a Swiss-American researcher working in Georgia.
"When I saw the state of the tigers I was so shocked, I couldn't believe Tbilisi zoo was so tragic a place", she said. "I sent a photo to the WSPA, like a bottle into the sea, but it was just like writing to Santa Claus because they wrote back immediately and a month later here they are".
Trent has put forward a host of proposals for alleviating the suffering of the animals. He is especially concerned about the remaining carnivores.
"Apart from the fact that they do not have enough meat, the main problem is that they are open to the elements", he said.
"They need wooden boxes with straw. They're wasting the food they are getting, trying to maintain body warmth".
"If the polar bear went into her pool she would die of cold", he said. "She's down to about half her normal body weight".