BHUBANESWAR: The Nandankanan Zoological Park has turned into a graveyard for all the animals which were gifted by Tel Aviv Zoo of Israel three years back. On Wednesday, an African lion died in the State’s premier zoo. It was only eight years of age. The team of veterinarians which conducted the postmortem declared that the feline died of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE). HGE is characterised by sudden vomiting and bloody diarrhea.
The symptoms are usually severe, and suspected causes include hypersensitivity to food. Why the sudden hypersensitivity to food happened after three years has not been explained by the Nandankanan officials. In fact, the Tel Aviv Zoo had gifted two pairs each of zebras and African lions to Nandankanan in 2015. All the four zebras perished in the City zoo but the Nandankanan officials failed to ascertain the exact reason behind animals’ inability to survive.
The last zebra had died in September last year. Presently, the zoo has no more zebra to exhibit. Of the four lions, one had died on August 10 and the fresh death of another feline from Israel has posed a huge question mark on the Nandankanan authorities’ ability to prevent such deaths. Zoo officials said the lion fell seriously ill on Tuesday and was put under treatment, but it did not survive. After the death of the animal, experts from Centre for Wildlife Health, OUAT conducted a postmortem.
The officials later collected samples to ascertain the reasons behind the lion falling sick. With the recent death, there are only five lions and seven lionesses left in the zoo. “We are taking precautionary measures by strengthening regular disinfection in and around the enclosures of the lions. Besides, hourly observation of the remaining lions is underway,” Zoo Deputy Director Jayant Kumar Das said. In 2015, the African lions and zebras were brought to Nandankanan under an animal gift programme. The average lifespan of a lion living in the wild is between 10 years and 16 years but in captivity, it goes up to 20 years to 25 years.
Authorities clueless
On Wednesday, an African lion died in the zoo. It was only eight years of age. Tel Aviv Zoo had gifted two pairs each of zebras and African lions to Nandankanan in 2015. All the four zebras perished in the City oo but the Nandankanan officials failed to ascertain the exact reason behind animals’ inability to survive.
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