Kyiv Zoo: animals die of… corruption
The 25,000 dollar deal with a private businessman was signed by the Zoo director who was later sacked for money laundering. Experts claim it’s not the first case and recently the Zoo has been actively involved in local political games.
The Zoo will hardly get its money back while the birds have been allegedly smuggled to Ukraine as neither of them is ringed which is a common practice for official breeders.
This is not the first animal smuggling case at the Kyiv Zoo, says the head of SOS Animal Rescue, Tamara Tarnavskaya.
“This is 100% about money-making. The same happened last year when the Zoo bought a very pricey smuggled monkey who died pretty soon but even after its death, the Zoo asked for funds on food and medicines for the animal. The birds are now on quarantine waiting for a court decision.”
The scandal arose in the run-up to the forthcoming elections of Kyiv’s Mayor which are due in spring 2013. The Zoo has become the favorite weapon in the information war led by local campaigners, says Ukrainian analyst Yuri Ruban.
“The Zoo case is not only about the birds’ color it’s about creating a negative or positive image of the Kyiv government. Currently, we have no Mayor but a bunch of politicians who would like to take the chair and are using the Zoo in their battles.”
Political battles are leading to animal deaths. In 2006, the Kyiv Zoo was excluded from the European Association of Zoos for abusing animals when a bear died of trauma in a new cage and didn’t receive any help. According to local media, half of the Zoo’s inhabitants have died in the last five years while the Zoo is eyed by monkey businessmen, says Yuri.
“The thing is that the Zoo is located in the city center where the land costs a lot and many want to get rid of animals and take the plot. Another problem is that the Zoo is becoming a business. Some say they trade animal skins there.”
In a week, the Zoo which is now among the world’s five worst zoos is to see a new director- either from local staff or regional zoos. They all pledge to make the animals’ life better but experts told the Voice for Russia that the repair of the cages alone will cost over 5 mln euro which neither the Zoo nor the city authorities have.