GUWAHATI: The Guwahati-based Chiriyakhana Suraksha Mancha on Thursday staged a protest against the relocation of the Guwahati Zoo animals to the Reliance-built Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The Mancha claimed the animals relocated in four vehicles in the early morning included two rhino calves, nine monkeys of different species and some deer.
The members of the Mancha had tried to put up a resistance after the animals were taken out of the zoo. Zoo Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ashwini Kumar was leading the convoy of vehicles.
"We know animals can be exchanged only between government zoos. So, when we tried to put up a resistance, the DFO misbehaved with us while the security personnel accompanying him threatened to mow us down,” Rajkumar Baishya, general secretary of the Mancha, alleged.
The DFO told The New Indian Express that only two rhinos were relocated.
"We received an order from the Central Zoo Authority. So, this did not happen without permission," Kumar said.
"There is nothing that an animal can be relocated only to a government zoo. The zoo in Jamnagar is a government-recognised zoo. The funding could be private but it is functioning as per government rules," he further said.
Meanwhile, the Mancha appealed to people to come out and stage a protest against the relocation of the animals. It has convened a meeting on December 10 and requested people to attend it.