Environmental agency plans to revoke Klaipėda Zoo permit Monday
Sunday 4th October 2026 on 12:00 in
Lithuania
Lithuania’s Environmental Protection Agency plans to revoke Klaipėda Zoo’s permit on October 5, the agency told news agency ELTA, according to LRT. The zoo’s owner will be responsible for finding new homes for the animals that remain there.
The agency issued a warning about revoking the permit on September 3. Under the law, it can be cancelled 30 days after the warning, with October 5 set as the planned date, agency spokesperson Vaidotas Norkus told ELTA.
The zoo announced that it would close to visitors from September 7. Although its main gates are now shut, tigers, birds and other wild animals remain in enclosures at the zoo near Jonušai village in Klaipėda district.
In September, the Environmental Protection Department removed four animals under a court order: a lion, a red-necked wallaby, a golden pheasant and a bar-headed goose. Officials also found three dead animals: a lynx, a budgerigar and a peacock.
The department said the zoo’s owner, Edvardas Legeckas, must arrange new homes for the other animals. If the permit is revoked, the transfer to other keepers must be completed within eight months. Animals that are not subject to seizure or confiscation remain their keeper’s property, the department said.
Specialists at the Wild Animal Care Centre examined the four seized animals and provided veterinary treatment. All had health problems: the lion was suffering from exhaustion and anaemia; the wallaby had an injury to a hind leg and was lethargic; the goose was suspected of having arthritis; and the pheasant had a badly healed fracture in its right leg.
The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences said on Thursday that the lion, named Irisiukas, was gradually recovering. Its coat was growing back, it was finding it easier to stand on its hind legs and it was gaining weight. The zoo owner has denied neglecting the animal and said its appearance was due to old age.
The Environmental Protection Department sought revocation of the zoo’s permit after finding that previously identified violations had not been corrected within a year.