Thiruvananthapuram zoo: 554 animal deaths in 5 years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The zoo in the capital city has lost 554 animals in the last five years for various reasons ranging from infighting to freak accidents and from cancer to cannibalism. On an average, 110 animals have died in the city zoo every year between 2018-19 and 2022-23, analysis of death register data of the zoo obtained through RTI showed.
Infighting has been the major reason for animal deaths in the zoo. As many as 25% of total deaths in the zoo in five years happened due to infighting. In 2022-23 the massive outbreak of bovine tuberculosis overshadowed infighting to become the dominant cause of death in the zoo.
Nature of deaths due to infighting has often been gory. It has left animals like spotted deer with deep, penetrating injuries in thorax, fracture of hind limb, traumatic shock, head injuries, rupture of intestine and brain haemorrhage. In one case a Sambar deer died after a severe gore injury pierced its thorax and led to seepage of mud into the internal organ. Sambar deer, spotted deer have often perished in infighting and birds have not been so gentle either in their deaths.
Birds like chukar partridge had died of infighting after sustaining concussion and traumatic head and neck injuries. Deaths due to cannibalism were reported in porcupines and spectacled cobras. "Cannibalism happens in porcupines because whenever they find a member is not compatible within the group, they attack the animal violently. We often dart such animals, separate them to prevent such occurrences. Unlike in forest, they can't escape to safety in case of an attack," said Jacob Alexander, zoo veterinarian.
The zoo authorities have been trying to sterilize the deers to bring down their numbers and decongest the enclosure. High number of animals in an enclosure leads to frequent infighting and rapid spread of a fatal disease in case of an outbreak. There were quiet deaths as well, because of old age or like a Rhea white which died of starvation during incubation of egg.
Accidental deaths and predatory attacks have also claimed lives in the zoo. A lion tailed macaque fell from a tree and died of severe internal bleeding and shock in 2022. A barn owl had died of choking due to aspiration of meat. A viper died after it overfed a prey.
While bone cancer killed a leopard, a black swan died of cancerous growth in the abdomen. Pneumonia has also been a prominent cause of death, especially among the deer species. Twelve percent of total deaths between 2018-19 and 2021-22 happened because of pneumonia. "It happens mostly during the rainy seasons. Though there are shelters in enclosures, deers get exposed to rain and do not stand under the shelter. They catch an infection which worsens and leads to death," the zoo authorities said.
Tuberculosis accounted for 34% of deaths in 2022, the expert committee which probed the incidence of bovine TB in the zoo had reported.