Over the past year, the keepers at the Kazkova Dibrova zoo in southern Ukraine battled to safeguard their charges under Russian occupation.
The park surrounding the zoo was mined and access routes blocked, making evacuating the animals impossible. Workers braved bullets from troops firing across the Dnieper River to make their daily trek to feed the animals.
In winter, one of the volunteers took home many animals that couldn't otherwise survive the cold. Farmers and other residents brought vegetables -- cabbage, apples, pears and pumpkins - and hay to feed a menagerie that included two monkeys, Anfisa and Charlie, a pony named Malish, a mule, a parrot, a crow, a groundhog, guinea pigs and ferrets.
Now, the sole survivors after a nearby dam burst on Tuesday are a couple of swans and ducks, the zoo said in a Facebook post.
The zoo, dubbed "Fairytale Dibrova," is in a park on the banks of the Dnieper River, just west of the Kakhovka dam, which ruptured early Tuesday after a reported blast, sending a deluge through surrounding areas.
Workers arrived at the zoo early Tuesday to find it entirely flooded. As many as 300 animals died.
"This is terrible grief, terrible pain," the facility said on Facebook, adding that it had tried its best to save the animals' lives.
The deaths were confirmed by Oleksandr Todorchuk, head of UAnimals -- a rescue group that has helped shelter and rehabilitate animals during the Russian invasion. UAnimals sent rescue crews to the city to help save and feed any animals displaced by the dam's destruction.
Ukraine and Russia traded blame for the damage to the dam, although it wasn't immediately clear who or what caused it. Aerial videos showed heavy structural damage, with the dam appearing to be missing sections measuring hundreds of feet.
Ukraine and Russia have previously accused each other of plotting to destroy the dam, which Russia seized in the opening days of its invasion, allowing it to restart the flow of fresh water to Crimea. After Moscow illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014, Ukraine turned off the tap from Kakhovka.
Officials warn that the deluge unleashed by its destruction will destroy wildlife habitats, imperil communities that depend on the water for drinking and growing crops, and force towns downstream to relocate.
Zoos have been swept up in the conflict across Ukraine. During Russia's attempt to seize Kyiv last year, the animals at the capital's zoo were spooked by air raid sirens and blasts, The Washington Post reported. Zoos in other places, including the eastern city of Kharkiv have been damaged in the fighting.
Video footage showed residents in communities downstream of the dam rescuing animals from the flooding, including a man leading a cow through thigh-high water in the city of Kherson.
Kazkova Dibrova officials received a glimmer of hope late Tuesday -- a baby swan, only five days old and thought to have been swept away in the floods, had been spotted by residents while swimming with its parents.
The zoo suggested on Facebook that it was possible some other animals survived and urged residents to look after them if they came across one.
Infiormation for this article was contributed by Eve Sampson of The Washington Post.