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Death: Lions to be shifted from Jharkhand zoo
Ranchi: Lions from Jharkhand zoo are being moved to an animal rescue centre in Andhra Pradesh to save them from a killer malaria-like disease that has already claimed five tigers, officials said on Sunday. Five tigers and one leopard have died at the park over the past fortnight due to a disease identified as Babesiosis. Officials said five healthy lions and one tiger were being shifted to the Visakhapatanam Rescue Centre. "Actually, Central zoo authority directed us to shift the big cats because we had a lot of them, it was getting overcrowded. But it is also true that since animals got afflicted with the disease, many measures were taken and this is one of them," said Deepak Singh, director of the Ranchi zoo.
Babesiosis
is an infectious disease caused by a parasitic single-celled microorganism.
The disease is transmitted by the bites of ticks that have picked up the
parasite from infected animals such as rodents and horses. The zoo authorities
claimed that currently none of the animals showed symptoms of the disease.
Singh further clarified that Jyotsna, an eight-year-old tigress that died
on Wednesday did not suffer from Babesiosis. "At this moment, no animals
are showing symptoms of the disease. Since 20th July or even before that
we have not seen symptoms in animals. Jyotsana did not die of the disease,"
he said. In 2000, Babesiosis had claimed the lives of 10 Royal Bengal
tigers in Orissa zoo. Over the past year, Indian officials, including
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have expressed alarm at reports of a dramatic
fall in the wild tiger population because of rampant poaching and human
encroachment on leading sanctuaries. According to official estimates,
there are now barely 3,600 tigers in India, and some wildlife experts
say the true figure could be less than 2,000.
-Aug 13, 2006
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