The ban on illegal slaughter houses in the State is set to affect the Zoo inmates in Jharkhand as they are likely to suffer a major meat crisis from Friday, March 31 as the deadline to close the illegal slaughterhouses ended on March 30. The carnivorous animals, including lions, tigers, leopards, crocodiles , hyena among others in Ranchi and Jamshedpur Zoo are mainly dependent on buffalo meat that is supplied from local markets.
Though the Tata Steel Zoological Park (TSZP) claims to get buffalo meat supply from Odisha and West Bengal and transported daily to Jamshedpur, zoo insiders revealed that meat is purchased from a vendor in the city. There are 24 carnivores at the Tata zoo, who on an average consume 80 Kgs of buffalo meat daily, which would be hard to arrange from Friday.
At the Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Ranchi the crisis is even more serious as the carnivorous animals here get the buffalo meat from a local vendor. And, none of the vendors has a slaughterhouse license here in the city. The vendor’s license had expired in 2005 itself and awaiting renewal.
“We get it (buffalo meat) through a local vendor through tender process every year. Now when the crisis has arisen suddenly we will contact the Municipal Corporation for the solution. We will write to the Municipal Commissioner to help us arrange food for the animals so that they do not suffer. The district administration also has to ensure that the animals do not lack their food,” said Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park Director Ashok Kumar.
Veterinary Doctor at the Zoo Ajay Kumar said that they were unsure of what to feed the carnivorous animals in the next 2-3 days. “We require about 90 Kg of buffalo meat for about 40 carnivores at the Zoo. They cannot be fed goat or lamb; they need meat of big animals. Till today we got supplies but cannot say about tomorrow. We will have to immediately search for some alternative,” he added.
Concerned over the situation, the Tata zoo authorities have also approached the State government and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to find a middle path to overcome the problem. “We are concerned over the situation. We have also written letters to the State government and CZA for finding a solution. We are hopeful to get solution to the crisis soon,” zoo director Bipul Chakravarty.
He pointed out that the CZA has issued a directive to them for maintaining the daily supply of buffalo meat. “We work under the guidelines of CZA and are required to follow its directives. So, we have requested the State government to help us out,” Chakravarty added.
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) inspector Ashok Kumar Dubey said Tata zoo authorities can procure buffalo meat from other states but permission for procuring the same from the local market will not be permitted at any cost.
