The death of a pair of zebra in Lucknow zoo last month has thrown up some disturbing facts.
The death of a pair of zebra in Lucknow zoo last month has thrown up some disturbing facts.
The post mortem report of the zebra pair reveals that stones stuck in the junction of their small and large intestines were responsible for their deaths. Three stones weighing 1,800 grams were taken out of female zebra Sanskriti’s intestine, while a stone of 600 grams was found in the male zebra Bankit’s intestine.
The stones, according to sources, were similar to those that had been brought into the zoo for construction work.
Dr Utkarsh Shukla, the deputy director and vet officer at the Lucknow zoo, said, “The zebra is a huge animal with a huge stomach and intestines. The stones would have been in the lower part of the stomach somewhere. We are speculating that because of Diwali firecrackers, the animals got irritated and started running helter-skelter in their enclosure for hours and the stones in their system got displaced”.
The zoo officials are tight-lipped about how the stones reached into the system of the zebras where none were found in their enclosure.
“It is possible that some visitors picked up the stones and threw them into the enclosures and the zebras swallowed it. We should have been more careful about the construction material that is kept inside the zoo because several animals are extremely vulnerable. Visitors do not realise the harm they do by throwing things at animals,” said another zoo official.
It may be recalled that the seven-year-old lone male zebra at zoo, Bankit, had died on November 27 and a week later, the female zebra, Sanskriti also died.
The Lucknow zoo auth-orities had earlier said that though Bankit died because of cardio respiratory failure, the emotional setback of losing its partner was the actual reason why Sanskriti could not survive for long.
The zebra pair had been together since December 2013, when Bankit was brought to city zoo from Kanpur. The pair remained in one enclosure and enjoyed each other’s company. No action has yet been taken against the zoo officials in this regard.
