Cause of death for fourth zebra linked to Orbán's friend revealed

They had no permit for keeping the zebra, they failed to report its death on time, and they simply threw the animal’s carcass into a carcass pit and buried it—it has now been revealed with regard to the fourth zebra, which probably died in February of last year and which belonged to the Vál Valley Hunting Association, which is linked to Viktor Orbán’s friend, Lőrinc Mészáros.

The zebra in question is one of the animals which had previously been spotted on the land adjacent to the controversial Hatvanpuszta property and manor house, which the previous Hungarian PM has claimed belongs to his father.

In response to a query from Telex, the Fejér County Government Office explained that if someone intends to keep this kind of moderately dangerous animal in Hungary, they must request prior permission from the nature conservation authority, but the hunting association “had failed to obtain such a permit for the fourth zebra.” “The county government office only learned about the animal’s existence from a veterinary report sent by the Vál Valley Hunting Association on June 24, 2026, which noted in a comment that the animal had died in February 2025,” they wrote.

Telex was the first to report in July that four of the hunting association's zebras had died: three had practically frozen to death, while the cause of the fourth animal’s death was still under investigation at that time. It has since come to light that the nine-year-old male zebra died of a malignant tumor—at least according to the hunting association. Since so much time has passed, the government agency has no choice but to rely on this explanation, since the zebra’s remains—like those of the other three animals—were buried in a disposal pit created for African swine fever instead of being handed over to a licensed animal by-product disposal facility.

Because of this, a food chain supervision proceeding was initiated in the case, and a fine of 105,000 forints (€287) was imposed for the violation. In addition, the hunting association must pay a nature conservation fine of 1.6 million forints (€4370) for keeping the fourth zebra without a permit and failing to report its death in a timely manner.

The police had already ordered an investigation against an unknown perpetrator on suspicion of a criminal offense involving the violation of regulations related to the keeping of dangerous animals or dangerous dogs, even before László Gajdos, Minister for the Living Environment announced in mid-July that the ministry had begun investigating the case of the zebras in Hatvanpuszta. At that time, they concluded that a total of seventeen zebras had turned up in the area between 2024 and 2026, but the authorities had no information whatsoever about five of them.

“There is no proof of origin for most of them; the majority of the paperwork was drawn up retroactively. The owners should have applied for a permit for keeping dangerous animals in advance, however, these were obtained after the fact, and there are some animals we know nothing about—there is no paperwork for them at all.”

– László Gajdos said in a Facebook video about the zebras at the time, adding that they do not even know where the zebra named Tihamér comes from. He added that the equine registry system “lists perhaps ten animals, […] currently there are ten adults and three offspring at the property.”

As for the fourth zebra that died, all that is known is that it was born in May 2016; however, it remains unclear when it came into the hunting association's possession, since its equine passport was not issued until January 23, 2025.

The grounds on which the exotic animals of the Vál Valley Hunting Association—which belongs to the Mészáros Group—graze are located near the Hatvanpuszta estate, which the former Hungarian PM has insisted was built by his father and is just a farming estate, not a luxury mansion. Among others, there are antelopes, bison, and the zebras whose very existence Fidesz tried so hard to deny throughout the entire election campaign, despite the multiple videos of the animals, which were also clearly visible in Telex’s drone video of Hatvanpuszta too.

Earlier this year, the controversy surrounding the zebras escalated to the point of forcing the Mészáros Group to issue an official statement on behalf of the Vál Valley Hunting Association at the end of March. In it, among other things, they stated that all the animals are ones who have been rehabilitated: “We assumed responsibility for the care of rescued animals that had previously been kept in very poor, confined conditions and were in poor health, such as:unhealthy physical condition due to poor feeding; deteriorated health due to untreated illnesses resulting from a lack of veterinary screenings; underdeveloped skeletal muscles due to limited space; and overgrown hooves due to lack of care, which resulted in musculoskeletal problems.”

The sighting and subsequent disappearance of the zebras on the privately owned land so close to the Orbán family's property didn't only attract attention in Hungary. In an interview with Telex earlier this year, even Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that he would very much like to know what happened to the zebras.

We have reached out to the hunting association with our questions and will inform our readers, should we receive a substantive response.