MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. Police officers have arrested a suspect who attempted to poison animals at the Moscow Zoo, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk wrote on her Telegram channel.

"My colleagues from Moscow's Presnensky district apprehended a suspect guilty of high-profile wrongdoing on the territory of the Moscow Zoo. They found the 43-year-old, a resident of the capital. He was taken to the police station, an investigation is underway," she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Moscow Zoo’s director, Svetlana Akulova, reported that zoo attendants "spotted scattered pills of unknown origin" while making a regular inspection of the lynx and leopard enclosures. In her words, this was not an "accident or some kind of prank," but a "deliberate, cold-blooded attempt to kill the animals" kept at the zoo.

The zoo employees are now conducting an expert examination of the detected substances and will additionally examine the animals. Security measures on the territory of the zoo will be reinforced, Akulova added.

"The suspect resides in the west of Moscow. According to preliminary data, he is registered in the psychoneurological dispensary and diagnosed with schizophrenia," law enforcement officers specified. The attacker was detained thanks to CCTV cameras which caught footage of the man throwing the pills over the fences. "Preliminary tests show the planted pills contain valerian," officers told TASS.

The police said that they are taking measures to determine the motives for the actions of the arrested man. The Presnensky Inter-District Prosecutor's Office has taken control of clarifying the circumstances of the incident.