Central Zoo Authority seeks info on staff pattern at vet hospital

Tribune News Service

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Bathinda, October 2

Taking a note of a news report published in Bathinda Tribune that had highlighted the issue of the absence of a doctor at the veterinary hospital in the Bir Talab zoo, the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi, has shot a letter to the state Forest Department, seeking information on the current status of staffing pattern in the zoo hospital.

In its letter to the department, the Central Zoo Authority has pointed out the information highlighted in the news alleging that “fully equipped zoo hospital of the Mini zoo-cum-Deer Safari with isolation and quarantine wars lying locked for over a year”. It has also pointed out that treatment of sick animals or birds in the zoo is being done with the help of a veterinary hospital situated in the city.

It further stated (carried in news) that a blackbuck had died two years ago as proper timely treatment could not be administered and the veterinary officer of the zoo was not appointed by the zoo operator.

Notably, a news report carried in these columns in June 2019 had also highlighted that the veterinary hospital that houses five spacious rooms, including an office, a meeting hall, an isolation and quarantine ward and a post-operative care room, is not fully operational in the absence of a permanent doctor.

The veterinary hospital at the Bir Talab zoo has been locked for over a year. As a result, whenever any animals and birds require treatment, the zoo authorities have to take the help of other veterinary hospitals situated in the city.

The zoo houses approximately 400 animals of 14 different species and problems arise when animals get injured, fall sick and at the time of breeding.

An executive member of a city-based NGO said, “If the Wildlife and Forest Department has invested a huge amount to establish and maintain the facility, it must not ignore the medical needs of the animals kept in the zoo. On a number of occasions, animals get injured after they fight with each other. In such a situation, they often writhe in pain as they bleed. It takes time to contact a veterinary doctor in the city who then covers a distance of approximately 10 km to reach the zoo.”

The zoo authorities have intimated the Divisional Forest Department authorities regarding the staff pattern situation at Bir Talab zoo.