Banging their heads against the wall in despair and peering forlornly through the bars of their godforsaken cages, these are the inmates of the world’s saddest zoo.
The planet’s worst animal park is probably also its smallest.
Left to rot: One of the starving bears who has been abandoned inside the world’s worst zoo once owned by an Armenian oligarch who bought them as entertainment to parade before his friends in themed jungle parties before vanishing while reportedly fleeing mobsters
One of the lions bangs his head against his cage wall, displaying all the signs of a creature being driven mad by their unnatural existence
The zoo is in the Armenian town of Gyumri – the place where the family of Armenian-American reality stars the Kardashians hails from – but it has been over two years since it saw a paying guest.
The ragged, hungry and bewildered tenants – lioness Mary, seven, and her cubs Geeta, four, and Zita, two, along with bears Masha, four, and Grisha, nine – are cared for by an elderly couple who simply stumbled upon them one day.
Sad sight: A bear stares forlornly through the bars of its tiny cage in the desperate hope food may eventually come its way
Forlorn: The ragged, hungry and bewildered tenants – lioness Mary, seven, and her cubs Geeta, four, and Zita, two, along with bears Masha, four, and Grisha, nine – are cared for by an elderly couple who simply stumbled upon them one day
Starving: The animals scrape along on a diet of slaughterhouse scraps brought to them by an elderly couple fighting to keep them alive
In Limbo: The civic authorities refuse to take on any responsibility for the animal and the whereabouts of their former owner is unknown
Occasionally a vet may pop in to examine the animals from outside the cages. But no-one has any money to pay for a proper examination
Desperate for scraps: The animals are looked after by an elderly couple who barely have enough money for themselves
The civic authorities refuse to take on any responsibility for them and the whereabouts of their former owner is unknown.
It is left to a dirt-poor pair of pensioners named Hovhamnes and Alvina Madoyan to care for them.
Hovhamnes said: ‘I lost my job. I had nothing, my wife and I were walking by the deserted zoo when we heard these terrible cries of animals in torment.
A bear reaches out to grab a fish held by two pensioners who have taken it upon themselves to feed the starving animals
‘God’s creatures in pain’: Pensioners Hovhamnes and Alvina Madoyan try their best to care for the animals after they were abandoned
He added: ‘They are sad and lonely and, when they can be bothered, pace up and down their cages, showing the signs of being driven mad by boredom and inactivity.
‘We cannot get anyone to help them. The previous owner was stuck in some kind of feud with local mobsters, the government doesn’t want to get involved and it is the animals who suffer.’
Ramshackle: Pensioners Hovhamnes and Alvina Madoyan outside the zoo in the Armenian town of Gyumri
Life in danger: There are fears that the harsh winter might prove lethal for the lion cubs at the zoo in Armenia
Once in a while, a vet might pop in to examine the animals from outside the cages. But no-one has any money to pay for a proper examination.