NEW DELHI: The Delhi zoo administration has found five of its employees guilty of negligence in the death of a female gharial last month, according to the findings of an inquiry report.The gharial had died on April 24 and its putrefied carcass was found three days later.
“The opinion of experts that the carcass was three days’ old was supported by collateral and scientific evidence of observation of maggots in the carcass, its putrefaction and the foul smell emanating from it,” a three-member inquiry panel said in its report.
The panel found five employees of the zoo — Assistant Keepers Deep Kumar and Vinod Kumar, Head Keeper Rajbir Singh, Biological Assistant Manoj Kumar and Veterinary Officer Abhijit Bhawal — guilty of “negligence and dereliction of duty”.
Former CZA member secretary D N Singh said it was a major lapse on the part of all zoo staff responsible for care and upkeep of animals.“Everyday, all of them are mandated to personally observe each and every wild animal in the zoo. It is their duty to see whether each animal has taken its entire feed offered, whether it is displaying normal behaviour, etc,” he said.
The zoo has been in the headlines recently over a large number of animal deaths. According to a census, the Delhi zoo recorded 245 deaths from April 2018 to June 2019 ‘ the second-highest mortality figure in five years.
With agency inputs