Yerevan councilor says she was denied access to relocated lions, questions decision to sedate animals

A member of the Yerevan City Council says she was denied access to two lions and a tiger relocated from businessman and opposition leader Gagik Tsarukyan's private collection, as criticism grows over the death of an elderly lioness that failed to recover after being sedated during the transfer.

Kristine Vardanyan, a city council member and public health specialist, said she visited Yerevan Zoo on Wednesday to assess the conditions in which the relocated animals are being kept and to seek information about the circumstances surrounding the lioness's death.

According to Vardanyan, zoo officials refused to allow her to see the animals, citing quarantine restrictions. She said the zoo administration told her that photographs and an official statement about the animals would be published on the zoo's Facebook page later in the day.

The zoo director has said the relocated animals are under the supervision of veterinary specialists and are being kept in secure quarantine conditions.

Vardanyan argued that sedating the elderly lioness, given her medical condition, carried significant risks.

"Considering the animal's health problems, sedating her involved an enormous risk," Vardanyan told Panorama.am. "The animals should have remained under 'house arrest' rather than being moved, especially given the lack of specialized equipment such as stretchers and transport devices. They were handled using whatever means were available."

She said the animals experienced considerable stress after awakening in unfamiliar surroundings with different caretakers and argued that the operation exposed them to avoidable risks.

Vardanyan said she had reviewed the lioness's necropsy report and believes the animal's underlying health condition made the intervention particularly dangerous.

"If the animal had first undergone examinations and been briefly sedated with a smaller dose, the outcome might have been different," she said, adding that thorough veterinary assessments should precede such procedures.

While praising the professionalism of Yerevan Zoo's veterinary staff, Vardanyan said she believes the decision to sedate the animals was made by another authority rather than by the zoo itself.

She also argued that relocating the animals has increased costs for the zoo, which must now provide long-term care and feeding.

"The mistake began with the decision itself," she said. "The animal's welfare was not given priority. They could have sealed off the property and left the animals in familiar surroundings, as was reportedly done in the case of crocodiles."

Quoting the medical principle primum non nocere (first, do no harm), Vardanyan said the state had assumed responsibility for the animals' welfare and should now be held accountable for the lioness's death.

Yerevan Zoo confirmed on Tuesday that one of the sedated lions transferred from Tsarukyan's property did not survive the relocation.

In a statement, the zoo said the elderly lioness failed to recover from anesthesia because of her advanced age and multiple pre-existing health conditions documented during a post-mortem examination.

According to the zoo, the necropsy found damage to several organ systems, including the spleen, liver, lungs and heart, as well as signs of cholecystitis, obesity and free fluid in the abdominal cavity, which it attributed to age-related changes.

The death has prompted criticism from animal welfare advocates, environmental activists, journalists and members of the public.

Environmental activist Silvia Adamyan said she plans to file a lawsuit and has appealed to international organizations to support an independent investigation into the lioness's death.

In a public statement, Adamyan called for an immediate, transparent and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the death, publication of the veterinary findings and anesthesia protocol, and disclosure of all documentation related to the relocation.

She also urged authorities to assess whether internationally recognized animal welfare standards and veterinary best practices were followed throughout the operation and to establish national protocols governing the relocation, rescue and seizure of captive wild animals.

"Every animal deserves protection, dignified treatment and humane care," the statement said.