The tragedy happened on March 31: Kuzya, an Andean condor and a representative of the largest flying birds on the planet, was found lying in his drinking trough – he was not raising his head and was twitching in convulsions.
«We suspect that one of the visitors poisoned him, – said Svetlana Akulova, director of the Moscow Zoo, on her Telegram channel. – Our staff have repeatedly noticed people trying to push some kind of food to the birds through the bars».
The condor was given first aid: gastroscopy, a stomach flush, IV drips. But Kuzya's condition was assessed as serious. Despite all the doctors' efforts, Kuzya kept getting worse. The veterinarians, who did not leave his side for a minute, relieved the convulsions several times and once literally pulled him back from the dead. But the second time, resuscitation no longer helped. On the night of April 1 to 2, Kuzya died.
The zoo is now reviewing footage from the surveillance cameras to figure out who is involved in this tragedy. Meanwhile, the staff of the menagerie remind everyone: feeding the animals on the zoo's grounds is strictly forbidden, with the exception of the petting area (there are vending machines with feed there).
Kuzya was born in the wild, but lived at the zoo for almost 38 years – since 1985. He arrived together with a mate, and in 1994 they had their first chick.
«Condors form very strong pairs, in which the partners often stay faithful to each other throughout their lives, – the zoo has said more than once. – That is why, when Kuzya's mate died in 2003, he lived alone for a long time. It was difficult to find him a second wife».
In October 2014 a female named Mildred was brought from Great Britain, in whom Kuzya showed interest, and the keepers hoped they would be able to unite them into a pair. But now Mildred is left alone.
