YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Zoo director Ruben Khachatryan claims the poisoning of a zebra that died earlier was done intentionally and he has doubts on who the suspected perpetrator is. However, he declined to give out names because an investigation is underway.

“Unfortunately the doubts that the zebra was poisoned were confirmed,” he said at a news conference today.

“An autopsy was performed by authorized bodies and it revealed that the zebra’s blood contained a quantity of arsenic. This is an inadmissible occurrence – certain people are capable to doing something like this for personal issues,” he said, adding that police are investigation the incident.

Asked is employees of the zoo are suspected in poisoning the animal, he said: “I can’t say if the employees are involved or not, but the fact that it was done intentionally is certain.”

The zebra died November 13.

The zoo initially contacted police November 10, claiming they have reasons to believe that the zebra has been deliberately poisoned. A large quantity of arsenic was detected in the animal’s blood and urine. Veterinarians attempted to save the animal and an international expert consultation was held. However, it died.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan