MUMBAI, June 8: The death of Guru the hippopotamus on Saturday, was the re-enactment of a similar tragedy that took place 20 days ago when another hippo died in similar circumstances at the Veermata Jeejabai Udyan, Byculla.According to an employee who refused to be identified, the first death occurred on May 15 when two hippos had fallen into the moat of which one died some time later. Each hippo costs nearly Rs 10 lakh.While admitting the death of the hippos, Deputy Superintendent (Zoo) Dr M V Wani denied the death on May 15 was due to any accident. "According to the post mortem report the death occurred due to respiratory infection resulting in pneumonia," he added. While contacted for his commented, Superintendent of Gardens, K L Velodi reiterated Dr Wani's claim.The recent accident, however, was one waiting to happen. The hippos are put in a three partitioned enclosure with a five feet deep and two metre wide moat which is fed with water by two narrow pipes. On the other side is a railing whichforms the visitors' watchpoint. There is no barricade to prevent the animals from jumping into the moat. One of the water pipes across the moat is fitted high enough for a small hippo to pass through, which apparently was what Guru did, disclosed the zoo employee.On Friday, Guru and a larger male hippo Chhotu got into a fight in the moat. Guru was thrown either over or under the water pipe causing grievous injury and slumped in the narrow space.A security guard stationed nearby apparently did not hear the sound of the slugging hippos. Rescue operations took over seven hours till Guru finally succumbed to exhaustion and internal haemorrhage.Dr Wani confirmed that the massive injuries sustained by Guru meant that the two hippopotamuses must have been slugging it out for quite some time.On the missing barricades, Dr Wani said that in usual circumstances animals do not jump into the moat and if they do, they certainly get hurt but the fall does not lead to death. The official said that such incidentsoccurred in all zoos and this was not the first case of an animal jumping into a moat.Acknowledging the need for better safety measures, the senior zoo official said that wire meshes would be inserted between the pipes to prevent the animals from crossing over. Barricades in the form of boulders, logs or railings in the enclosures to prevent the animals from jumping out would also be built. Work on the meshes would start tomorrow morning, he further stated.
