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Journalism of Courage
The animals at Nandankanan Zoo have had a diet change. Instead of the 800 kg of beef they usually eat, they ate chicken, only 20 kg of it. The acting chairman of the National Commission on Cattle, Justice Guman Mal Lodha, on Wednesday staged a sit-in protest against cow slaughter at Jadupur village on the city outskirts, prompting the diet change.
Police arrested the zoo’s meat supplier after Justice Lodha’s hour-long dharna in Jadupur, where cows are reportedly slaughtered on a large scale. As many as 16 of the supplier’s cows were seized and sent to a gosala in Cuttack. As a result, the daily supply of nearly 8 quintals of beef came to a halt. So, the zoo went shopping for chicken. Then the chicken fell short, and guinea pig meat was taken out of zoo storage to appease the animals. Authorities said there was no crisis as the animals could survive on little food for at least a week.
They added they chose chicken meat as even small quantities contained enough protein to make up for nutrition deficiency to a great extent. Justice Lodha said he sat on a dharna when he heard more than 20 cows are killed daily in the village to supply the zoo.
