59 animals dead in Brazil zoo murder mystery

What could anyone possibly have against porcupines?

Nearly 60 animals have been killed at the Sao Paulo Zoo
since last month and police expect to track down the suspected killers
soon, a Brazilian official said on Friday. Laboratory tests have shown
the animals were killed with a rat poison banned in Brazil. Joao Carlos
Meirelles, a Sao Paulo state minister, said investigators had ruled out
the deaths being an accident, mainly because the dose was so high in
most of the dead animals. The 59 victims so far include an elephant,
dromedaries, monkeys and porcupines. "We can say with almost total
certainty that the suspects will be identified by next week, give or
take," Meirelles said The zoo management has put 15 workers on leave
while they are under investigation. It has also ordered all staff to
work in pairs. The latest victims have been the porcupines. In all, 36
were killed, of which six were ready to be donated to another zoo. "If
it's someone from inside of the zoo, I can't understand what is going
through this person's mind," said a security guard, who asked to be
identified only by his first name, Ronaldo.

Posted by flow Frazao on February 27, 2004 at 09:21 PM | Permalink