Prosecutors fold tiger shooting into existing zoo investigation

Lithuanian prosecutors will not open a separate pre-trial investigation into the shooting of a tigress at Klaipeda Zoo, instead adding the case to an inquiry already under way, LRT reported.

The ongoing investigation, launched in 2025, concerns possible illegal hunting or fishing, or other unlawful use of wildlife resources by the zoo. Prosecutors said they attached the new material after reviewing a referral received by police on October 5 from the Environmental Protection Department. The referral asked police to assess possible animal cruelty and the illegal killing of protected wildlife.

Department inspectors found the tigress dead at the zoo on September 17 after receiving a report from the institution. The National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute examined the animal and determined that it had died from gunshot wounds.

Zoo director Edvardas Legeckas confirmed to the news website 15min that the animal had been shot, saying the aim was to end its suffering. He said veterinarians had not treated it and that it had been in pain for about two weeks. Legeckas did not say whether he had fired the shot, but said he had the necessary permits and had acted lawfully.

The Environmental Protection Agency has revoked the permit issued to the association Klaipeda Zoo. Legeckas told 15min that the institution would continue operating as a zoological collection. The permit holder has been ordered to close the zoo within no more than eight months and must cover the costs of transferring and treating the animals, while taking responsibility for their care and movement.

The zoo administration previously announced that it had stopped admitting visitors on September 7.