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Two deer die in Nandankanan zoo

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneshwar

Two deer died within 12 hours of each other at the Nandankanan zoo in Orissa.

The deaths come on the heels of the slaughter of a Caimen species crocodile in its enclosure and the death of a rare white tiger at the zoo. One of the deer was a rare Manipuri deer that was brought to Nandankanan from the Delhi zoo last year; the other deer was a spotted deer.

"This rare deer, known as the 'Thamin' deer, is found only in Manipur. It is smaller than the spotted deer and bred only in captivity. It was sick and being treated," says S K Patnaik, chief conservator of forests. Zoo vet Dr Bikash Das said, "The post mortem report says the deer died of haemorrhagic gastro-enteritis.The other deer died of tuberculosis."

The ailing Thaimen deer died within five minutes of being administered an injection. After its death, there are two such deer -- one female and one male -- at the zoo.

Some zoo employees allege that though tuberculosis is cited as the reason for the death of many deer at the zoo, contaminated feed is actually responsible for the deaths. "The feed comes once a fortnight and is of poor quality. The feed is not sent to the laboratory at Bhubaneswar for quality checks and is prepared in the absence of a vet. The composition of the feed is not correct since almost half of it is husk against the prescribed 20 per cent. No wonder, the deer fall ill and die," alleges an employee who used to be in charge of the deer enclosure earlier.

Thaimen deer usually live for 15 to 20 years.

The zoo authorities, however, deny that contaminated feed was responsible for the deer's death.

Contaminated meat, incidentally, was cited as a reason for the 12 tigers dying of 'trypanosomiasis' at the zoo earlier this month.

Even as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asked the state crime branch to look at the zoo's security, the arrest of two men in connection with the crocodile's death made it clear there is hardly any security at Nandankandan.

One of the arrested men had been shifted earlier from the crocodile enclosure and thus could not sell part of the fish coming in as crocodile feed to a restaurant outside the zoo. He allegedly killed the crocodile as an act of vengeance.

More than the security, it is the hygiene at the zoo that bothers wildlife enthusiasts. Says Manoj Mohanty, a young wildlife activist, "The animals are not taken good care of and it is certain there is something terribly wrong with the feed given to them."

'Liver and renal failure' says the post-mortem report on the 12-year-old white tiger, Sukanta, who died at Nandankanan on Friday night. Dr A T Rao, professor and head of the pathology department at the Orissa Veterinary College, interestingly ruled out 'trypanosomiasis' which killed 12 tigers in the first week of July, as the cause of death. Sukanta was one of the 17 tigers injected with Barenil, fearing 'trypanosomiasis'. He died in the enclosure adjacent to the two enclosures where the 12 tigers had died.

"It will take at least a week to ascertain the actual reason of the hepato-renal failure which could be due to toxin caused by bacteria, virus, chemical or organ substances or even contaminated feed," said Dr Rao.

Says Zoo Director Vinod Kumar, who has had a stormy beginning to his tenure after he took charge on July 27, "This was a healthy and normal tiger and had developed no symptoms of illness till Friday evening when it was given its feed."

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