Venezuela crisis: Zoo animals stolen and eaten amid food shortages
Scores of animals also died from starvation at a zoo in June
Zoo animals in Venezuela are being stolen and eaten as the country sinks further into a food shortage crisis, local police have said.
The Zulia Metropolitan Zoological Park in the city of Maracaibo reported that more than ten species of animals had gone missing from the facility in recent weeks.
Officers said they “presumed” the buffalo, tapirs and collared peccaries - small pig-like mammals - had been stolen for food.
Leonard Nunez, the head of the zoo, said he believed the animals had been stolen by drug dealers who later sold them on the black market. “They take everything here,” he told local reporters.
At the end of July it was reported that up to 50 animals had starved to death at Caricuao Zoo in Caracas this year because they had not eaten for weeks.
Staff reportedly fed mangoes and pumpkins to lions and tigers at the zoo to make up for reduced meat rations, and elephants were fed with tropical fruit rather than their usual diet of hay.
Meanwhile Venezuelans are believed to be regularly skipping meals or waiting in line at supermarkets for hours as food stocks continue to dwindle.
In June, more than 400 people were arrested after looters and rioters ran through scores of shops and markets in the capital stealing food.
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1/50 8 May 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the German Parliament Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Council Bundesrat in Germany Dietmar Woidke and the presiding judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court's second senate, Andreas Vosskuhle attend wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Countries in Europe are commemorating the Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day that celebrates Nazi Germany's surrender during World World II on 8 May 1945
EPA
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7/50 2 May 2020
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9/50 30 April 2020
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10/50 29 April 2020
A visitor in a plexiglass lock talks to a resident at Les Jardins d'Astrid, a rest home in Maurage, La Louviere, on April 29, 2020, as the visits to residents of rest homes are possible from today in Wallonia. - Belgium is in its seventh week of confinement in the ongoing corona virus crisis. The government has announced a phased plan to attempt an exit from the lockdown situation in the country, continuing to avoid the spread of Covid-19
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12/50 27 April 2020
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13/50 26 April 2020
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14/50 25 April 2020
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16/50 23 April 2020
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17/50 22 April 2020
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Agencja Gazeta via Reuters
18/50 21 April 2020
Malaysian army personnel set up barbed wire in the locked down area of Selayang wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur
EPA
19/50 20 April 2020
A trader walks inside a pen as he arrives to purchase vegetables and fruits at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee market in Navi Mumbai during the nationwide lockdown
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20/50 19 April 2020
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21/50 18 April 2020
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22/50 17 April 2020
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Parks Australia/Monash University
23/50 16 April 2020
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24/50 15 April 2020
Election officials count after general election voting in Seoul, South Korea
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25/50 14 April 2020
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was damaged in a devastating fire one year ago today
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26/50 13 April 2020
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27/50 12 April 2020
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28/50 11 April 2020
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29/50 10 April 2020
Women queue for distribution of food for those suffering under Kenya's coronavirus-related movement restrictions
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30/50 9 April 2020
Firefighter Sittiporn Singthong, dressed up as Spider-Man, sprays disinfectant at the Wat Tha Mai Buddhist temple in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
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31/50 8 April 2020
Tulip fields in Plomeur, western France
AFP via Getty
32/50 7 April 2020
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33/50 6 April 2020
A man stands in the balcony of his home with the moon in the background in Cali, Colombia
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34/50 5 April 2020
A man holds a traditional lamp from the balcony of his house as torches and candles illuminate houses and high rise residential buildings as Indians mark the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic a suburb of New Delhi, India
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35/50 4 April 2020
Medical staff load an infected patient into an ambulance at the Nimes air base, south of France, during an evacuation operation from the hard-hit east of the country where hospitals are overwhelmed
AFP
36/50 3 April 2020
A man prays inside the closed Moussawi Grand Mosque in Basra
AFP via Getty
37/50 2 April 2020
A City Hall health official wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at the entrance of City One condominium as the residential building was placed under lockdown after 17 cases of COVID-19 were detected, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
EPA
38/50 1 April 2020
Migrant workers wait on marked areas on the ground to maintain social distancing as they queue to receive food packets at an industrial area during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Chennai
AFP via Getty
39/50 31 March 2020
Wedding dress and evening wear designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress with matching protective mask in her store Chiton in Berlin
AFP via Getty
40/50 30 March 2020
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Getty
41/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
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42/50 28 March 2020
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AFP/Getty
43/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
44/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
45/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
46/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Covid-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
47/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
48/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
49/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother's day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother's Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
50/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy's lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
1/50 8 May 2020
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the German Parliament Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Council Bundesrat in Germany Dietmar Woidke and the presiding judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court's second senate, Andreas Vosskuhle attend wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Countries in Europe are commemorating the Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day that celebrates Nazi Germany's surrender during World World II on 8 May 1945
EPA
2/50 7 May 2020
A policeman uses his baton to push a resident breaking rules, during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus in Ahmedabad, India
Reuters
3/50 6 May 2020
A nurse tends to a crying newborn baby wearing a face shield at the National Maternity Hospital in Hanoi
AFP via Getty
4/50 5 May 2020
Bride Janine runs over to her wedding at a Drive-in cinema in Duesseldorf, Germany. The Drive-in theatre started to register official marriages on a stage, allowing all relatives and friends to attend in their cars, as weddings at the registry office are limited due to the coronavirus pandemic
AP
5/50 4 May 2020
Storekeepers asking for the reopening of shops and commercial activities gather for a flashmob protest on Piazza San Marco in Venice, as Italy starts to ease its lockdown
AFP via Getty
6/50 3 May 2020
A street vendor wearing a protective face mask waits for customers in Chinatown, after the government started opening some restaurants outside shopping malls, parks, and barbershops in Bangkok, Thailand
Reuters
7/50 2 May 2020
Two women carry longboards on an esplanade in Barcelona, during the hours allowed by the government to exercise, for the first time since the beginning of a national lockdown. All Spaniards are again allowed to leave their homes since today to walk or play sports after 48 days of very strict confinement to curb the coronavirus pandemic
AFP via Getty
8/50 1 May 2020
A girl, wearing a protective mask, plays with bubbles at a shopping mall in Gimpo, South Korea
Reuters
9/50 30 April 2020
Buddhist monks wearing face masks pray during Buddha's birthday at the Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul, South Korea
AP
10/50 29 April 2020
A visitor in a plexiglass lock talks to a resident at Les Jardins d'Astrid, a rest home in Maurage, La Louviere, on April 29, 2020, as the visits to residents of rest homes are possible from today in Wallonia. - Belgium is in its seventh week of confinement in the ongoing corona virus crisis. The government has announced a phased plan to attempt an exit from the lockdown situation in the country, continuing to avoid the spread of Covid-19
Belga/AFP/Getty
11/50 28 April 2020
A demonstrator is seen near a bank on fire during unrest, as an economic crisis brings demonstrations back onto the streets in Tripoli, Lebanon April 28, 2020
Reuters
12/50 27 April 2020
A medical specialist walks out of a mobile laboratory, which is carrying out coronavirus tests
Reuters
13/50 26 April 2020
People wearing protective face masks practice social distancing as they pray outside a church in Kiev near the memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, on the 34th anniversary of the event
Reuters
14/50 25 April 2020
Surfers walk during a sunrise at Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach, amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Reuters
15/50 24 April 2020
Inmates from Villa Devoto prison take part in a riot demanding measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus after a case was confirmed inside the prison, in Buenos Aires
AFP via Getty
16/50 23 April 2020
The cruise ship Ruby Princess departs from Port Kembla, south of Sydney, , after a few hundred virus-free crew members disembarked to begin the process of repatriation to their home countries
AFP/Getty
17/50 22 April 2020
An activist performs on the roof during Earth Day in Wroclaw, Poland
Agencja Gazeta via Reuters
18/50 21 April 2020
Malaysian army personnel set up barbed wire in the locked down area of Selayang wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur
EPA
19/50 20 April 2020
A trader walks inside a pen as he arrives to purchase vegetables and fruits at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee market in Navi Mumbai during the nationwide lockdown
AFP via Getty
20/50 19 April 2020
A bride, poses for a wedding photographer next to East Lake in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
21/50 18 April 2020
People shout at police officers during a demonstration of conspiracy theorists as other demonstrators protest against the lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Berlin
Reuters
22/50 17 April 2020
A pair of rare morepork owl chicks have become the first in more than a decade to survive on Norfolk Island, in the South Pacific
Parks Australia/Monash University
23/50 16 April 2020
A squirrel runs across a fence as the sun shines in Berlin's Kreuzberg district
AFP via Getty
24/50 15 April 2020
Election officials count after general election voting in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
25/50 14 April 2020
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was damaged in a devastating fire one year ago today
Reuters
26/50 13 April 2020
Wild bluebells, which bloom around mid-April turning the forest blue as they form a carpet, pictured in the Hallerbos in Belgium
Reuters
27/50 12 April 2020
Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi message following Easter Sunday Mass behind closed doors at St Peter's Basilica in The Vatican, during the country's lockdown
Vatican media/AFP via Getty
28/50 11 April 2020
A man watches Krakatau spewing ash during an eruption, in Serang, Indonesia's Banten province
AFP via Getty
29/50 10 April 2020
Women queue for distribution of food for those suffering under Kenya's coronavirus-related movement restrictions
AP
30/50 9 April 2020
Firefighter Sittiporn Singthong, dressed up as Spider-Man, sprays disinfectant at the Wat Tha Mai Buddhist temple in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
EPA
31/50 8 April 2020
Tulip fields in Plomeur, western France
AFP via Getty
32/50 7 April 2020
A employee and a resident of the house for the elderly "De Ravenstein" react as nurses dance and sing in the garden, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Boortmeerbeek, Belgium
Reuters
33/50 6 April 2020
A man stands in the balcony of his home with the moon in the background in Cali, Colombia
AFP via Getty
34/50 5 April 2020
A man holds a traditional lamp from the balcony of his house as torches and candles illuminate houses and high rise residential buildings as Indians mark the country's fight against the coronavirus pandemic a suburb of New Delhi, India
AP
35/50 4 April 2020
Medical staff load an infected patient into an ambulance at the Nimes air base, south of France, during an evacuation operation from the hard-hit east of the country where hospitals are overwhelmed
AFP
36/50 3 April 2020
A man prays inside the closed Moussawi Grand Mosque in Basra
AFP via Getty
37/50 2 April 2020
A City Hall health official wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at the entrance of City One condominium as the residential building was placed under lockdown after 17 cases of COVID-19 were detected, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
EPA
38/50 1 April 2020
Migrant workers wait on marked areas on the ground to maintain social distancing as they queue to receive food packets at an industrial area during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus, in Chennai
AFP via Getty
39/50 31 March 2020
Wedding dress and evening wear designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress with matching protective mask in her store Chiton in Berlin
AFP via Getty
40/50 30 March 2020
A stray dog walks in front of an empty historic India Gate, as nationwide lockdown continues over the coronavirus in New Delhi, India
Getty
41/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
AP
42/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong's skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
43/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Covid-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
44/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
45/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
46/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Covid-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
47/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
48/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
49/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother's day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother's Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
50/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy's lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
Three in four Venezuelan citizens report suffering involuntary weight loss due to the shortages and have lost an average of 19lb, according to a recent report.
President Maduro, who took over from Hugo Chavez after his death in 2013, has blamed the country’s woes on an “economic war” waged by local opposition leaders and the US.
Many Venezuelans have resorted to travelling over the border with Colombia to buy basic supplies.
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