Famous cat Matilda killed by dogs at zoo

The famous cat Matilda, who lived at the Chita Zoo and was popular among residents of nearby areas, was killed by a pack of dogs. The zoo«s deputy director Natalya Byankina told a correspondent of Chita.Ru on February 4.

“Unfortunately, stray dogs tore her apart when she went out for a walk,” said Natalya Byankina.

It happened last autumn.

In November 2023, Chita.Ru published an article about Matilda. At that time, she had been living at the zoo for about four years and was already quite famous. The article about Matilda was read by more than 50,000 people. We reported that she freely roamed the grounds and even ventured on “reconnaissance” to the nearby Pioneers Park. Sometimes she was mistaken for an escaped Pallas«s cat, or more often, simply for a lost cat. She was not accustomed to living in apartments — there she would start meowing loudly and try to escape.

In December 2024, zoo staff reported her disappearance. They were confident that Matilda could not have left on her own and that someone had taken her in.

Six months later, on June 2, a Chita resident named Ulyana found Matilda on Bogomyagkova Street — not far from the zoo. The girl wrote to the Telegram bot of Chita.Ru. We contacted a zoo employee who recognized Matilda from a photo. Immediately after, the girl took the cat back to the zoo.

“I was walking from Novositi and listening to music on headphones. And I saw her — sitting on the stone bench of a private old house. I immediately recognized her by her ears as a lost cat. I wrote to you, and while waiting for a reply, I sat with her and petted her. Then she climbed onto my shoulder, so I had to walk to the zoo like that. At the ticket office, they immediately recognized her and ran to feed her,” the girl said.