Etawah, Sep 3 : The death of yet another leopard in Etawah Lion Safari — ninth since July 18 – has left wildlife experts flummoxed.
Six lion cubs died between July 18 and August 14, a bear Kuno died on August 12, a leopard died on August 19 and another on August 31.
Experts now suspect there is something wrong with the place where these animals were housed.
Rahul Shukla, former (honorary) wildlife warden at Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and member State Wildlife Advisory Board said, “The deaths occurred at one place only, where the animals were made to stay.This clearly indicates there is something wrong at this place.”
“A post mortem examination will not reveal if there is a virus at the place where these rescued animals were kept.Basically, it is a ghetto where the animals are kept, hence a microbiologist should be brought in and proper lab test should be conducted at the earliest,” he said.
He heads the Society for Conservation of Nature (SCON) that he founded a decade ago.
The forest department has rushed a senior official from the headquarters in Lucknow to Etawah.
Shukla categorically ruled out four major reasons for the deaths, including poisoning, poor diet, infighting and geriatric issues.
Another possible reason suggested was worm infestation via food served.”It is characteristic of the tapeworm that it reaches the brain via food.If the food, which is mostly meat, has not been checked for freshness and presence of worms, this practice should be started immediately to stop further deaths,” said Shukla.
Forest officials agree that “There is immediate need of a biologist who stays on the campus permanently, as forest staff is unable to tackle issues related to infections.”
Experts said a key factor to analyse was the origin of these Asiatic Lions.Records say they are from Gir Forest in Gujarat.The fact is their gene is the same as they originate from the same Gir where only a little over two-dozen Asiatic Lions were left and gradually their number increased.
“The same is happening in Etawah Lion Safari where lions have similar chromosomes as their counterparts in Gir.This issue can be tackled with long distance breeding which is now possible.India has Asiatic Lions at four places, including Chandigarh and Nandankanan in Orissa.
Experts feel that reproductive decline could be linked to inbreeding depression.Hence, high quality genome would help in conservation efforts for Asiatic Lion.
Following the deaths , the forest department had formed a four-member committee, including chief conservator of forest, eco-development Neeraj Kumar, director of Etawah Lion Safari Deeksha Bhandari, Dr Yogesh Pratap Singh of Gorakhpur Zoo and, chief conservator of forest, wildlife (west) Shesh Narayan Mishra.The committee was supposed to file its report by July end but it is yet to do so.
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