Kyiv mayor asks law enforcers to investigate animal deaths in Kyiv Zoo, its director suspended

Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky has asked law enforcers to investigate the deaths of animals at Kyiv Zoo and find those responsible, with the zoo's director, Svitlana Berzina, being suspended pending an investigation into the animals' deaths.

"I demanded that the Interior Ministry's leadership in Kyiv and the city's prosecutor's office immediately launch proceedings into the deaths of animals in the zoo, and conduct all of the necessary investigations to establish the cause of their deaths, the circumstances, and those guilty of this," reads an official statement by the mayor published on Monday, the press service of Kyiv City State Administration reported.

The mayor also ordered Kyiv City Council's standing commission on law and order, regulations and deputy ethics to initiate the creation of an interim control commission to investigate the causes of animal deaths and submit a draft decision on this issue for consideration by Kyiv City Council at its next meeting on June 3.

"I have decided to suspend Kyiv Zoo Director Svitlana Berzina for the period of the investigation," Chernovetsky said, adding this was needed in order to conduct an unbiased investigation.

He also ordered the development of the scheme for placing special surveillance cameras in the zoo to ensure animal safety.

An elephant, a female camel, and a female bison have died in the Kyiv Zoo over the last two months. There have also been attempts to poison yaks.