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BANGKOK: A senior zoo official in Thailand was killed by a veterinarian in a murder-suicide, police said on Saturday (Oct. 3), while the disappearance of a rare deer was being investigated.
Last week, Thailand’s Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa ordered an investigation into the animal’s disappearance, after rejecting the zoo’s explanation that a python ate it.
Authorities are examining whether the rare albino barking deer, last seen eight months ago, was stolen.
Suriya Sangpong, director general of the Thailand Zoo Organization, was in charge of the research and traveled from Bangkok to Songkhla Zoo to meet with staff on Saturday.
The 58-year-old man was shot at around 11:30 a.m. at the zoo office, Songkhla police said.
Officers said the attacker, Phuvadol Suwanna, a veterinarian who also lived at the zoo, was stressed because he had been ordered to transfer him to another post while the investigation was underway.
They said he committed suicide an hour after shooting the director.
“The gunman was a friend (of the director) for a long time, both were from the southern provinces,” Jatuporn Buruspat, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, told AFP.
The organization said it would continue to investigate the deer’s disappearance.
The rare animal, named Snow, was born last December and was related to a deer that was presented to the Queen Mother of Thailand as a gift.
Barking deer, or muntjacs, are known for the sound they make, which acts as a warning when they encounter a threat.
