The Hindu 01.12.2014
Coimbatore Corporation Zoo witnessing animal deaths
The civic body has placed the zoo under the care of officials from health wing
Nine sambar deer, six spotted deer, a silver pheasant and more than 20 snakes have died at the Coimbatore Corporation Zoo in the past couple of months.
According to sources, the latest to die was a sambar deer, a few days ago.
The civic body officials said that the deaths had to do with old-age and illness but knowledgeable sources alleged that there was more to it. The animals, particularly the snakes, starved, there was shortage of medicines as well and that there was none to treat the animals.
The zoo is without a director as the civic body relieved K. Asokan more than a month or so ago to enable him to join his parent organisation, the Animal Husbandry Department.
The sources alleged that in a few cases, the zoo staff did not inform the authorities concerned of the deaths and that delayed post-mortem, which ought to have been conducted mandatorily within 24 hours. The staff also fudged the registers to change the death of animals.
The standard of maintenance, too, had come down.
Following the repatriation of Mr. Asokan, the Corporation administration placed the zoo under the care of officials from the health wing. The health wing officials said that there were “a few deaths but those were due to old-age”.
But, there seemed to be a campaign to create a controversy out of the animals’ death, which was unwarranted.
Visit
The issue forced the Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan to visit the zoo a couple of days ago.
He had asked officials to keep stock of necessary medicines, improve the upkeep, install closed circuit television cameras, and immediately take steps to obtain licence from the Central Zoo Authority.
Dr. Karthikeyan said that he would be writing to the Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, for the appointment of a new director as well.