No lack of animal care in the city zoo

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The expert committee to probe into the death of animals in the city zoo, constituted by Minister for Museums and Zoos P K Jayalekshmi with members from outside the State, has given a clean chit to the zoo authorities as far as animal care is concerned.Dr Mathew C John, retired professor and head of the department of Wildlife Veterinary Medicine, Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Science, Chennai, who chaired the committee, said that the mortality rate at the city zoo was way lower than the rate permitted by the Central Zoo Authority.Dr A Manimozhy, animal biologist at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandaloor, near Chennai, and a member of the expert committee, said that the mortality rate for the whole population was calculated to be 4.9 per cent, which is less than the 10 per cent allowed. The committee calculated the mortality for birds as 7 per cent, reptiles as 3.36 per cent and other animals as 8 per cent.Dr Suresh Kumar, assistant director (veterinary) of the Mysore Zoo, said that deaths in zoos are often a seasonal phenomenon. While in some zoos, the animals are vulnerable in the summer season, in others like the Mysore zoo, mortality rates are seen to go up during the monsoon. So also, variations occur on a yearly basis. While Mysore zoo had only 18 deaths among 1,500 animals in the last three months, last year it was much more.An earlier state-level investigation had also said that there was nothing abnormal in the deaths of animals at the zoo. It had come to the conclusion after a detailed study of the post-mortem reports, revisiting into previous deaths, examining the feed ingredients and consultations with the employees.The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology had also ruled out the chances of a viral attack among the birds in the zoo after examining samples from the dead birds. However, the expert committee said the route of infection among the birds could be through the feed. One cockatoo was found to have died of fright.The expert committee in its report to the State Government will also suggest setting up a quarantine station for the zoo away from the city so as to detect any infection before the birds come into contact with other birds at the zoo.Dr Mathew C John said that among that animals that died in the zoo, age has been a factor. The lion, which died, was over 16 years of age. The life expectancy of a lion in captivity is just about 20 years, while in the wild it is much less, he said. The deer were around 11- 12 years of age, the black buck was eight years old, hippopotamus was 15 and the cappuccino monkey was 21 years old.The present committee, which came to the capital city on July 6, had conducted an intensive examination of the post-mortem reports and consultations with the caretakers of the zoo, the veterinarian and the zoo director. The findings will now be submitted to the government.