Barbecued raccoon anyone?
2003-07-08 19:47
London - A zoo owner is being investigated over allegations he ate his own wild animals.
It is suspected Joerg Schlechte may have used the zoo as his personal larder.
He has already been fined for roasting pot-bellied pigs during a drunken barbeque.
But now police in Germany are looking into the fate of a host of missing animals.
They include a small buffalo, rabbits, donkeys, goats, raccoons, parrots, a wild boar and even three Shetland ponies.
The animals were found missing when the zoo in Meissen, eastern Germany, was taken over by new owners.
Schlechte claims he gave the animals to female helpers who had looked after them.
But witnesses have told police they ate chunks of suspicious meat at Schlechte's BBQs, according to the German newspaper Das Bild.
"The suspicion is monstrous. Was the zoo also his personal larder?" the newspaper asked.
Schlechte has already been fined £1 500 after admitting to eating the pigs.
He could be jailed for up to two years if the other animals cannot be traced.