Top predator of the zoo

The director of the menagerie sold the meat of his pets

Wildlife lovers, as well as many of its defenders in Germany, are in shock. Recently it became known that the director of the East German Erfurt Zoo, Norbert Neuschultz, was too free with certain contingents of animals entrusted to him. Some of them, mainly those that turned out to be in abundance in his hectic household, he shot and sold the meat. Investigators investigating this non-trivial criminal case have so far only been able to obtain reliable information that the butcher director’s clients were only private individuals. So say officials of the city government of Erfurt, the capital of the free state of Thuringia, as this federal state is traditionally called. However, there are also testimonies from anonymous witnesses who claim that the exotic meat was sent to restaurants far beyond the borders of Thuringia.

In the conditions of the Erfurt Zoo, the local game - deer, roe deer, wild boar - by all indications felt quite good. From time to time, “extra” specimens began to form among the animals. Most zoos face this problem. After all, the animals here have no problems with food, and the natural selection that exists in the wild is completely absent. So, too many males have accumulated in Erfurt in packs of animals that form their social-family relationships on the principles of a harem. As experts say, antelopes especially suffered from this - they lacked “ladies” to realize their natural instinct of polygamy. Director Neuschultz acted as a natural regulator of this problem, selecting victims according to his literally own taste.

The fact that the director of the zoo was selling the meat of his pets became known to the general public quite by accident. One of the attendants simply spilled the beans. Following this, the city fathers of Erfurt immediately removed Neuschultz from office. The indignation of city authorities, as well as numerous lovers of wild and domestic animals, was not even caused by the very fact of the sale of meat from the zoo. This is in principle allowed, but in the most exceptional cases. After all, as the head of the Dresden Zoo, Hubert Lücker, noted in the heat of discussion on this matter, “zoos do not breed animals so that they end up on our plates.” In Germany, there are special legal acts that require the veterinary authority to first give permission for slaughter and then for consumption of this meat. As it became known, for several years this requirement was ignored at the Erfurt Zoo.

The outraged leadership of the Animal Welfare Union in Bonn demanded the complete resignation of the zoo management. Bonn is confident that only the tip of the iceberg has appeared on the surface. To which the press secretary of the Erfurt city government, Inga Hettstedt, suggested waiting for the findings of the prosecutor's office. This week they must decide to what extent all the available evidence supports a full-scale criminal case.

However, for the now ex-director Neuschultz himself, the matter in any case takes an unpleasant turn. The city authorities have already presented him with the first claims regarding financial “inconsistencies.” In addition, Neuschultz was reminded of the subjectivity during the construction of the savannah site for lions; it, according to experts, was built with gross violations of the rules for keeping animals. The investigation also became interested in the activities of the zoo veterinarian Dietmar Kulka, who allegedly made a number of medical errors that led to the death of a number of zoo residents. One of the current employees reported to the investigation about a completely egregious case: veterinarian Kulka, it turns out, fed a sick, but already recovering snake to striped mongooses.

But that's not all. During the analysis of violations in the Erfurt animal farm, it turned out that the zoo could not find two small monkeys, which, due to their shaggy hair, similar to the hairstyle of the famous composer, are called Liszt’s monkeys. Upon closer examination of the issue, it turned out that not long ago director Neuschultz sold primates to an amateur collector from Berlin. The scandal with monkeys could significantly worsen if it is proven that among those who were illegally alienated were List's monkeys, which was taken into personal custody by Prime Minister of Thuringia Dieter Althaus by his decision of March 22, 2005. From his hard-earned private finances, the head of government allocated 250 euros for food to his chosen monkey for 12 months.

Yuri Shpakov, Berlin