The government and the media have convinced the majority of Americans that the oil spilled from last year’s BP oil disaster simply disappeared.  The devastating effects the oil has had on the environment have been largely ignored.  Dead sea turtles are the most recent casualty of the growing number of fish, animals, and birds that have begun washing up on the Gulf coast in recent weeks.

Shirley Tillman, a resident of coastal Mississippi, says that a trip to the beach is no longer relaxing.  “It’s very upsetting,” says Shirley, a grandmother.  “I have never found anything like this until after the oil spill. It used to be if you found a dead dolphin or turtle it was front page news around here. Now it’s no big deal.”

Along with the record number of dead dolphins, Gulfport’s Institute for Marine Mammal Studies reports it has collected 38 dead or stranded turtles in Mississippi this year, most in the past few weeks. The turtle tissue samples are turned over to the The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which does necropsies and further testing.

NMFS is investigating the deaths of these turtles and has increased surveillance, according to Blair Mase-Guthrie, a southeast regional stranding coordinator. “We are treating this very seriously,” she said. Possible causes could range from infectious disease, sudden shifts in water temperature, biotoxins such as red tide or the impact from the BP oil that polluted the area. “We’re not ruling out any factor.”

An NMFS spokeswoman in Washington stated that turtle strandings tend to happen in the spring.  NMFS records show that there have been 13 turtle strandings in Mississippi so far and that number will likely rise as databases are updated.  Even 13 dead turtles are an unusually high number for March.  In the past three years, there were no turtles stranded in Mississippi until the beginning of April.  In Texas, the situation is even grimmer.  There have been 48 turtle deaths on shore this year, more than twice the number in 2009.  After the BP blowout, the total number of on-shore turtle deaths in the Gulf shot up to 248, five times the number from the previous year.

Meanwhile coastal residents are becoming frustrated at the lack of response from their community. “I’m really mad. I’m finding dead turtles, birds, giant fish and other animals all over the beach. No one comes by to clean them up right away and people come down here and let their kids play next to them,” Tillman said.  “And the water looks like chicken broth.”

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The Kiev Zoo in the Ukraine has seen dozens of otherwise healthy animals die in recent years.  Animal welfare groups suggest that malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment are to blame for the widespread deaths.

The Kiev Zoo has been described as an unkempt warehouse for those with fur and feathers.  Some animal advocates suspect that corruption is the main problem at the zoo which recently saw an elephant drop dead, perhaps from a poor died, Maya the camel died of a digestive illness that could have been prevented and Theo the zebra was killed after crashing into a metal fence trying to reach his female companions that he had been separated from.

Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.  “The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it’s so far removed from any zoo in Europe,” said John Ruane of Naturewatch. “The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same.”

New managers that took over last October have said that nearly half of the zoo’s animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors.  A recent government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared. Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.

Even with the management change, animals are still dying.  The Kiev zoo was once a favorite tourist attraction for families but began to deteriorate after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.  The zoo then gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of a female bear.

Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species.  Oleksandr Mazurchak, deputy head of the Kiev city administration, said about 250 animals died due to “problems” during two years under Berzina. The government audit last year also found that 131 other animals were missing.

Tamara Tarnavska of the Kiev-based SOS animal rights group believes the zoo must be closed to protect its animals from further abuse.  “The zoo is in such a condition that it’s no longer a zoo, it’s a concentration camp,” Tarnavska said. “When I look those animals in the eyes, I am ashamed to be a human being.”

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