15 spotted deer at PMC-owned Rajiv Gandhi zoo die of illness

He said the zoo is taking precautions to ensure that there are no more casualties and affected animals are treated as per the need.

Zoo Director Rajkumar Jadhav said there are 99 spotted deer in the facility, and 15 of them have died between July 7 and 12. “This is kind of an outbreak, but it seems to be in control now, as there have been no mortalities in the last three days. However, the outbreaks have happened in the past, too,” he said.

The post-mortem of the deceased animals was carried out in the zoo as the carcasses cannot be taken out, Jadhav said. “The samples of all blood, urine have been sent to various government laboratories and the veterinary college for finding the details. It is after the laboratory reports and symptoms shown by the animal are studied to find the exact cause of death.” The samples have been sent to Barely based National Referral Centre for Wildlife Diseases Monitoring and Prevention, Bhubaneshwar based National Institute of Foot and Mouth Diseases, Bhopal based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Nagpur based Wildlife Research and Training Centre and along with city based laboratories for finding the exact cause of death by corelating the reports with symptoms in animals.

The zoo in charge informed that there was bleeding in the internal organs of the animals as per postmortem, which is a sign of an infection, and then there was sudden death due to failure of organs. “The remaining herd of spotted deer is being closely watched. There have been no deaths over the last three days, so it means the situation is under control and the animals, if affected, are in the recovery stage,” said Jadhav, adding the zoo administration will continue to keep watch on the animals as per recommendations of experts in various government institutes.

State government experts visited the zoo on Tuesday to assess the situation, he said the enclosures are disinfected and health of other animals is also been monitored and preventive measures have been initiated.

In 2021, four blackbucks died of shock in the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park after stray dogs attacked them, and the zoo authority had to repair the damaged fence of the park.