Ornithologist Vladimir Romanov, head of the Association of Bird Lovers, told Gazeta.ru that the vulture Kuzya from the Moscow Zoo, whom staff found lying in a bowl of water during convulsions, may have been deliberately poisoned by visitors. According to Romanov, the bird has a very selective diet and developed receptors, so you can only give it poisonous food by deception.
“The vulture has a very picky diet. It eats rats, meat products, beef. That is, from these products it will not be poisoned even at the first freshness. They are scavengers in themselves, therefore there is a fairly wide range of products for them and, relatively speaking, completely unsuitable. In zoos, of course, although they feed on fresh produce. If a visitor launches something other than the first freshness, this is not a contraindication for the species, as for a vulture, as for a bird. If he still decides to eat it, you understand the question because their sense of smell is well developed, their taste buds are also well developed “So they can only be deceived, they can shift specially poisoned products there. They don’t eat bread, they don’t eat sweets, that’s nonsense,” he said.
Romanov added that there have been cases of deliberate poisoning in zoos before. He suggested that the Condor might have thrown poison for rats or cockroaches.
“This is just deliberate poisoning, so it seems to me there will be a criminal case. If we talk about poisoning by a visitor, then this is a criminal case. If the goal is to poison the bird, then it can be any poison. We cannot predict what kind of poison they can expel from cockroaches or mice, but such facts exist. Visitors poison animals in cages. Different people, vandals, go and poison it,” he explained.
Svetlana Akulova, former director of the Moscow Zoo knowledgeableA few days ago, the zoologists on duty found the vulture Kuzya lying in a water bowl. She didn’t look up and she twitched with contractions. According to him, one of the visitors may have poisoned the vulture, as staff often notice people trying to put food on the birds through the railings.
“The zoologists delivered the condor to the veterinary building, and there he was immediately given first aid: gastroscopy, gastric lavage and dropper. Now Kuzya’s condition is serious and she has a long course of treatment ahead. In response, the zoo security guards tried to find out the identities of those involved. watching footage from security cameras.”