Flooding in Russia prompts evacuation of zoo animals via helicopter

15 animals, including 11 bears, were rescued by a helicopter from a flooded zoo in Russia‘s Far East on Wednesday.

Three more bears were awaiting evacuation, local media reported.

The operation followed floods that swept through the Green Island Zoo in Ussuriysk on Sunday, trapping 14 brown bears and a lion in their half-submerged cages.

One bear at the zoo drowned after a river burst its banks following a deluge caused by Typhoon Goni, the state RIA Novosti news agency reported.