The Rivne Zoo has confirmed that a lioness found at a waste disposal plant died last week. The zoo has a contract with the Kostopil Sanitary Plant for the disposal of animals, deputy director Iryna Oliferuk told Suspilne , reports UNN.
According to the deputy director, a lioness who was 20 years old died.
“Lions don't live much longer. By human standards, she was 95 years old. She was dying quietly before our eyes, and now it's hard to look at all these posts on social media. Our driver took the lioness to the plant, and we have all the documents and the autopsy report. Now the plant is not working at full capacity, so they accepted her and kept her at the landfill. This is a closed area, so it's strange that someone took such a photo,” Oliferuk said.
According to her, there is no other way to dispose of dead animals in the zoo. She pointed out that their mass burial could pose a threat to the environment.
The deputy director added that other dead animals were brought to the plant along with the lion. Among them could have been a swan or a stork, but the monkeys have not died in the zoo recently.
Earlier it was reported that a dead lion was found on the territory of the Kostopil plant in Rivne region. Preliminary investigators found that the animal died as a result of cancer.