Pune: Environmentalists and animal lovers demanded that the PMC should fix the responsibility for the death of 15 spotted deer at Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Katraj. Anwar Husain Shaikh of Miss Farha Charitable Foundation said the cause of the animals’ deaths should be announced as early as possible. Strict action should be taken against officials showing negligence, he said. “This incident is not just about animal deaths, but an administrative failure. There should be a thorough and independent inquiry into the entire incident. The report should be published by the animal husbandry and wildlife department,” he said. Fifteen spotted deer died at the zoo over six days from July 7 to 12. The report about the exact cause of their death was awaited till Monday, around a week after samples of these animals were taken for investigation. “The report is expected in the next couple of days, after which the responsibility will be fixed. The administration has not closed the zoo as of Monday. The PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) will check the directives of the wildlife institutes for the future course of action,” said Ashok Ghorpade, the head of the PMC’s garden department.Animal lovers said factors like noise pollution, water pollution and air pollution had adverse effects on the health of animals in zoos. Special precautions are a must to keep the animals disease-free. Hill cutting on a large scale in the vicinity of Katraj was adding to their problems, they stressed.Vaishali Patkar, an environmentalist, said, “The humans are encroaching on the land and habitat of the wildlife because of rapid urbanisation. It is causing health issues for animals. If proper care is not taken of animals in zoos, it may cause more trouble to them than relief.”Zoo officials said the samples of dead animals had been sent to the National Referral Centre for Wildlife Diseases Monitoring and Prevention at Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, ICAR’s National Institute on Foot and Mouth Disease, Bhubaneswar, National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, Regional Disease Investigation Laboratory, Pune, and the laboratory at Regional Wildlife Research and Training Centre, Gorewada, Nagpur.The officials said the area around the remaining spotted deer enclosure had been disinfected. The animals are being monitored by the zoo’s veterinary department’s employees. Necessary biosecurity measures had been implemented, they added.
