Mystery animal deaths occur at Kiev Zoo

A NUMBER OF animals have died under mysterious circumstances at a zoo in Kiev.

They include an Indian elephant called Boy, who was described as the pride of the Kiev Zoo, but collapsed and died in his enclosure. Around the same time, Maya the camel succumbed to a digestive illness and Theo the zebra died after crashing into a metal fence.

The animals just keep on dying at the Kiev Zoo, with animal welfare groups saying dozens if not hundreds of animals have died at the zoo in recent years due to malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment — and some suspect that corruption is at the heart of the problem.

Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organisations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.

John Ruane of Naturewatch commented:

The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it’s so far removed from any zoo in Europe.  The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same.

New managers appointed in October said that nearly half of the zoo’s animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors, and a 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.

Some activists suspect that the zoo is being deliberately decimated so it can be closed down and the prime land that it sits on in the center of Kiev can be sold.

The zoo began to deteriorate after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2007 it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of an elderly brown bear named Dinara.

The zoo’s problems grew worse under the leadership of the city’s eccentric mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, who has been widely accused of mismanagement.

Under his appointed zoo director, Svitlana Berzina, about a quarter of the animals died and another quarter disappeared in the two years before she was ousted in October, according to the new zoo director, Oleksiy Tolstoukhov.

When Boy, the biggest Indian elephant in a European zoo, died in April at age 39, Berzina claimed the elephant was poisoned.

Serhiy Hryhoryev, a zoo worker who has set up a group to protect the animals, believes that Boy was killed by a yo-yo diet.

An autopsy was inconclusive.

A month later, Maya the camel died. Hryhoryev said zoo workers failed to treat her for abdominal bloating after a sudden diet change. The zoo, however, blamed the death on a mysterious poisoner, a middle-aged man who just happened to resemble the whistleblower Hryhoryev. He was fired from his job but then reinstated through a court order late last year.

Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management.

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.

The new director said the zoo has not purchased any new animals in recent years due to funding shortages and 60 percent of the zoo’s animals are approaching the end of their natural life span anyway.

Tolstoukhov said the zoo hopes to attract funds to restore existing enclosures and build new ones. The zoo also plans to acquire new animals.

He denied any plans to sell the land the zoo occupies in central Kiev.

- AP