A criminal case was opened in the Leningrad region after the mass death of parrots.

A criminal case has been opened in the Leningrad Region over the mass death of birds in a private petting zoo, where more than 50 parrots died as a result of poisoning with an unknown substance. This was announced on April 8 by the Regional Investigative Committee (IC).

"Investigative actions are being carried out aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime and the persons who committed it," the message says in the Mach messenger.

Mikhail Goloyad, the chief doctor of the veterinary clinic and a veterinarian ornithologist, told Izvestia that the health of the surviving individuals is not in danger now.

"Four parrots were in a very serious condition, lying at the bottom of the cage, could hardly sit up. Unfortunately, one corella bird died last night," the specialist said.

According to Holoyad, the cause of the death of the birds was a sprayed substance that spread through the air. The doctor ruled out the possibility of food poisoning.

"All who survived were the birds sitting at the top of the aviary. Perhaps something was spreading on the ground, like some kind of gas," the ornithologist suggested.

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Pavel Germanov, the owner of the restaurant, said that the incident could have been a planned attack. According to him, he had previously received threats: unknown people extorted money and tried to take over a cockatoo parrot that took part in filming.

In turn, Irina, a former partner of the entrepreneur and the head of the zoo in Okhta Park, denied the accusations of involvement in the incident. In an interview with Izvestia, she said that she was ready to undergo a polygraph test together with the staff.

"I'm not an animal, I'm not some kind of creature to destroy and maim a living being. On the contrary, I am ready to provide financial and moral support to Pavel and everyone around him... I want everyone who was involved in this to be punished," she stressed.

Irina also expressed bewilderment about the technical malfunction of the surveillance system in Germanov's establishment. According to her, two months ago, the cameras and the hard drive were working properly, but three days before the incident, the equipment failed.

She called on the zoo owner to undergo a lie detector to establish all the circumstances of the incident.

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On the same day, the 78 TV channel reported that in the Leningrad region, unidentified people gassed about 70 parrots in a private zoo in Kudrovo, killing 35 birds, including a famous cockatoo who took part in the filming of films. Two zoo staff members were also injured during the incident and had to be hospitalized. One of the injured girls named Ulyana told Izvestia that the tragedy happened when the first visitors came to the zoo — families with children.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.