A private zoo in Siem Reap province has been ordered to close down following the death or disappearance of about 50 of its 250 animals, Vann Sophanna, director of the Forestry Administration’s Northern Tonle Sap Lake Inspection, said Monday.
Vann Sophanna said he went to close Siem Reap district’s Angkor Zoo on Friday, citing alleged sub-standard living and feeding conditions for the animals at the zoo, located in Slor Kram commune’s Mondol Bei village.
“There was not enough food, no veterinarian,” Vann Sophanna alleged. “The zoo’s owner never reported about the [zoo’s] activities, and there was a lack of hygiene.”
Vann Sophanna said his officials had become suspicious after three yearly inspections of the zoo found some of the animals were missing.
“When we went to check…the skinny ones were missing. When we asked them, [zoo workers] said they had died,” he said, adding that the zoo should have reported the animals’ deaths to the Forestry Administration.
Vann Sophanna said two rare species of leopard had died. Two deer and a marabou stork—a large, long-necked bird—were also missing, though their fate remained unclear, he said. Vann Sophanna identified the zoo’s owner as Seng Chhoeun.
Seng Chhoeun, however, said he gave the zoo away to a 30-member committee of local villagers several months ago, adding that all the missing animals are dead of natural causes.
Asked about Vann Sophanna’s claims that the animals were not properly fed and kept in unhygienic circumstances, Seng Chhoeun responded that it is normal for animals to fall sick and die, adding that he loves wildlife.
Nearly all of the remaining animals will go to the Phnom Tamao Zoological Garden and Wildlife Rescue Center, said Nick Marx, animal husbandry specialist for the NGO Wildlife Alliance at the center.
