Moscow Zoo Incident: Man Throws Pills Into Enclosure, Caught on CCTV

An unidentified man attempted to poison lynxes and leopards at the Moscow Zoo, according to the zoo's director general, Svetlana Akulova, who shared the incident on her Telegram channel.

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Moscow Zoo

The man reportedly threw tablets directly into the animals' enclosure. Zoo staff noticed the foreign objects in time and removed them. The suspect was caught on surveillance cameras, and authorities are now searching for him.

"This was no accident or prank-it was a deliberate, cold-blooded attempt on the lives of animals under our protection. We will do everything possible to ensure the perpetrator is found and brought to justice,” Akulova emphasized.

The man who attempted to poison the animals later explained his actions. According to media reports, he claimed he wanted to "calm the animals down” and had purchased valerian tablets from a pharmacy with the intention of giving them to the lynxes and leopards. The tablets have been sent for forensic analysis.

Akulova added that the zoo is now conducting additional inspections of its enclosures.

According to REN TV, the suspect is a 43-year-old Moscow resident diagnosed with schizophrenia and is registered at a psychiatric clinic. He also has a criminal history, having previously been convicted twice-once for illegal trafficking of semi-precious stones and once for the illegal possession, storage, or transportation of weapons.

Details

The Moscow Zoo or Moskovsky Zoopark is a 21.5-hectare (53-acre) zoo, the largest in Russia. The Moscow Zoo was founded in 1864 by professor-biologists, K.F. Rulje, S.A. Usov and A.P. Bogdanov, from the Moscow State University. In 1919, the zoo was nationalized. In 1922, the ownership was transferred to the Government of Moscow and has remained under their control ever since. The zoo had an area of 10 hectares (25 acres) when it first opened, with 286 animals. In 1926, the zoo was expanded to adjacent lands, increasing the area to 18 hectares (44 acres).