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Lack of Money Forces Russian Zoo to Switch Off Tiger-Goat Live Stream

The administration of the Primorye Safari-Park in Russia's Far East — home to famous friends Timur the goat and Amur the tiger — have temporarily suspended online streams of the animals, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

“Running a web cam for five days in January cost 69,900 rubles ($914). We had to pay an extra 227,000 rubles ($2,970) to cover the costs of the high level of online traffic in January,” according to the park's site.

In February, the park ran nine web cameras, meaning the animals could be observed at any time, anywhere in Russia.

The site says the park has enough funds to pay for its operating costs, for monthly donations to the Center for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Endangered Animals and to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the reintroduction of Far Eastern leopards to the Lazovsky district.

“There are no longer funds available to pay for the web streams,” the site claimed, Interfax reported.

However, the park plans to begin the streams again if money becomes available.

The streams began on Dec. 30, 2015 at the request of visitors to the park.

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