A blind bear has been locked in a cage for 30 years, and miserable monkeys shrouded in darkness, at the "world's saddest zoo ".
Animal welfare groups are attempting to get the centre - nicknamed "Salvation Park" - closed down.
When officials encountered the zoo in Armenia, they found dozens of other animals, including a lioness and monkeys, in a ramshackle dark barn.
It's thought the owner rescued animals from traffickers and hunters, yet one UK charity told The Sun that conditions were "shocking and among the worst we’ve seen".
Now the Armenian government is being pressurised to shut down the park entirely.
One especially tragic situation saw a blind bear, called Nelson, housed in a dirty cage, with no exercise room for three decades, with rotting teeth and poor eyesight, which could be salvaged with surgery.
Campaigners also revealed that a 13-year-old lioness called Sara, had been trapped in a space equivalent to a garden shed for seven years.
There's also a group of monkeys, captive in a rotting barn with no daylight, and an eagle who is unable to stretch its wings in a small cage.
An Armenian goat constantly charges the bars of its ramshackle pen.
An animal welfare bill, which would see the zoo closed down, is currently being debated.
The UK-based International Animal Rescue (IAR) has been trying to save Nelson the bear, but the owner Armen Tadevosyan, 71, refuses to hand him over.
He claims his animals are well looked after at the zoo in Armavir, which is a small town 25 miles west of Armenia’s capital, Yerevan.
IAR president, Alan Knight OBE, said: "The conditions these poor animals are living in are nothing short of hell on earth.
"The cages are small, filthy and dilapidated to say the least, and the animals have no choice but to stand in the squalor with nothing to break their boredom and frustration.
"The idea that members of the public would choose to pay money to see these captive animals suffering behind bars is just laughable.
"We’ve been trying to rescue the bear, who we called Nelson, for months now with no success, but clearly all the animals in so-called Salvation Park are in urgent need of proper care and attention.
"As an animal welfare organisation, we are ready and willing to help ensure they get it."
IAR has a bear rescue centre in Armenia and has so far saved 30 animals.
Alan Knight added: "It’s a stain on the international reputation of Armenia that it allows sentient creatures to suffer such cruelty and neglect.
"I urge the government to step in right away and force the closure of the park so that the animals can be given proper food and care for the first time in years.
"There is no excuse for such cruelty and neglect and I know there will be a public outcry when people read about it.
"Hopefully public pressure will persuade the government to close the park and start the animals on the road to a better, happier
life.
"That is the only humane and compassionate course of action."
