14 deer die at Kanpur zoo in one night

Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly and the forensic laboratory of the police department,seven zoo employees have been suspended for reporting the death only on Saturday morning.

The authorities are not ruling out the possibility of presence of high nitrate levels in the fodder as the cause of the death.

“The deer died on Friday night but the incident came to light only on Saturday morning. We suspended the concerned zoo officials because of their irresponsible behaviour. We have sent the viscera of the deer and the report is expected in the next 15 days,” said BK Patnaik,the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state.

A show-cause,meanwhile, has been issued by the state Forest department to the director of the Kanpur zoo.

Among those suspended are a forest sub-inspector,a keeper,four security guards and a forest guard.

A four-member committee headed by Mohammad Ahsan,the additional chief wildlife conservator,will probe the incident and present the report in the next 15 days. Instructions,meanwhile,have been issued to stop the fodder supply from the rural areas of Kanpur.

“We get around 20 quintals of fodder daily for the animals here. It could be possible that due to sudden rainfall,the level of nitrate shot up in the fodder. In such a scenario,the fodder pulls heavy nitrate from the ground. We,however,cannot confirm it as 250 other deer also had the same fodder. We have asked our staff to look for other agricultural areas from where the fodder can be brought in for now,” said Praveen Rao,the zoo’s director.

A year ago,five blackbucks had died in the same zoo. “It was due to the infection from fodder. But,in the earlier incident,all the blackbucks died in an hour after the feed. We are looking into that possibility as well,” said Patnaik.

The zoo authorities have decided on constant monitoring of all animals in Kanpur and Lucknow zoos for the next 48 hours.

“Instructions to report any unusual symptoms in the animals have been issued. Also,the area will be completely sanitised as well. During monsoon,diseases can precipitate in multiple conditions.

So,we are not ruling out any possibility,” said Patnaik. While there are around 500 deer in Kanpur zoo,the Lucknow zoo has 200.