The Cause of Bird Deaths at the Yerevan Zoo Identified

In the eagle enclosure of the Yerevan Zoo, the number of residents has decreased in the past two months. Five eagles have died, four of which are bald eagles. The cause of the deaths of the raptors will be determined by laboratory studies.

“Both the animals and the birds were not eating their prescribed diet. They should have been eating various things, but they were only provided with bone meat,” said Hrant Davoyan, an ecologist at the zoo, in an interview with NEWS.am.

According to Davoyan, the zoo management was aware of the incorrect diet being served to the animals and invited him as an expert to address the issue. He has been working at the zoo for a month now, and he stated that the diet of the animals has changed.

“Rodents, guinea pigs, rabbits, and rats have been added to the diet,” said Davoyan.

About the death of the five eagles, Hraparak.am reported the previous day. According to the site, the acting director of the zoo, Arevik Mkrtchyan, is not fully performing her duties, which has led to chaos in the zoo; there are also claims of abuse and that the animals have not been fed properly, which resulted in their deaths. The zoo has also reported the death of a bear and a mountain goat, but the zoo denies this information.

Due to the situation, there have also been layoffs within the zoo. “That is why this noise has been raised,” noted ecologist Hrant Davoyan.

The former chief veterinarian of the zoo, Harutyun Hovhannisyan, who submitted his resignation earlier this year due to disagreements with the newly appointed acting director Arevik Mkrtchyan, disagrees that the incorrect diet was the cause of the deaths.

“How do they decide what the correct diet is? We mainly followed the feeding regimen of the Moscow Zoo, which was developed by various scientists. In addition, products typical to our region have also been added. The eagles had not eaten anything for 13 to 15 days. Can you imagine so many living beings in one enclosure not eating for that long? Consequently, they become emaciated, and an emaciated animal may develop both parasites and infectious diseases, among other problems. Those eagles have been in the same enclosure for 30 to 40 years and have never been dewormed, as it was not necessary, because their natural immunity is high, and those parasites never cause issues for them. Problems arise when the animal becomes emaciated,” said Hovhannisyan.

He stated that he had written reports about not feeding the birds, but the zoo did not pay attention. When the eagles began to die, the chief veterinarian submitted a resignation letter; after that, he received two warnings for not deworming the birds and was then fired. Hovhannisyan claimed that they tried to place the responsibility for the bird deaths on him.

“For 30 years, those birds had not been dewormed; nothing had happened to them, and suddenly it was decided that due to not being dewormed, five eagles died. I cannot imagine how that works,” noted the former chief veterinarian of the zoo.

According to Hovhannisyan, during the tenure of the new acting director, there have also been recorded incidents of the deaths of a bear, a mountain goat, and deer due to poor management.

Incidentally, Arevik Mkrtchyan was appointed as acting director of the zoo about six months ago. Prior to that, she had worked at the zoo as a specialist in international relations, but the zoo staff were against her appointment. They staged a protest and expressed concern about the zoo's future.