The Lion Kim: Russia gifts animals to North Korea zoo

Vladimir Putin has gifted dozens of animals including a lion and two bears to a zoo in North Korea, the latest in a series of exchanges as Russia relies on Pyongyang’s artillery and troops to bolster its invasion of Ukraine.

- STEFFIE BANATVALA

More than 70 animals, including an African lion and two brown bears, were sent by plane with veterinarians from Moscow’s zoo to be transferred to a zoo in Pyongyang.

The animals were “a gift from Vladimir Putin to the Korean people”, the Russian government said.

Local officials treated Russian natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov, who oversaw the exchange, to a tour of the Korean zoo.

It is not the first time Russia has given animals to North Korea, as the two most heavily sanctioned and isolated governments have forged closer ties in recent months.