A day after the shocking incident, in which a seven-year-old white tiger, Vijay, mauled a youth to death in its enclosure, the crowded Delhi Zoo bore a deserted look on Wednesday. Footfall in the National Zoological Park dropped by over half of what it witnesses on a weekday on Wednesday. Waking up to the incident, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has set up a two-member enquiry committee to investigate the matter. Besides, veterinarians at the zoo confirmed that Vijay was doing fine and was not showing any abnormal behaviour after the spine-chilling episode.
The usual chatter and happiness was missing from the zoo as people gave it a miss on Wednesday. The footfall for the whole day remained only at 2,998 against the average 6,000 visitors on a weekday. “The number of people visiting the zoo has been a bit less today (Wednesday). On Tuesday, we had shut entry 1 pm onward and the footfall was 1,583,” said RA Khan, curator (Education), Delhi Zoo.
Rising up to the horrific death, which stunned people across the world and raised questions about the credibility of the zoo authority’s rescue team, officials of the Ministry of Environment & Forests and CZA inspected the Delhi Zoo to initiate a formal enquiry on the death of 20-year-old Maqsood. An enquiry is underway into the circumstances in which a young man with mental health problems was killed by a white tiger as it emerged zoo officials took more than 15 minutes to reach the scene of the incident.
Teams from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and CZA reviewed the safety measures for visitors at the facility. The teams will submit a report to top MoEF and Central Zoo authorities about Tuesday’s incident, its circumstances and the way the tragedy could have been averted. “Teams from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and Central Zoo Authority have visited the zoo and they will submit a report in this regard to top Government officials in this regard,” Khan said.
The seven-year-old tiger Vijay was not released from its enclosure on Wednesday and will be kept under observation for two-three days. The white tiger, born in the zoo in 2007 is behaving normally now and ate his normal diet of 10 kg buffalo meat at 4.30 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday as well, the curator said. Zoo doctors who examined him found him absolutely normal and the big cat did not seem to be in any kind of stress. “He is behaving normally and he ate his food as per his daily routine. Zoo doctors have confirmed that he does not require any medicines,” Khan said.
Meanwhile, another 2.25-minute video surfaced on Wednesday which showed the youth scrounging himself against a wall as the feline stood in front of him looking visibly confused. For about 1 minute 20 seconds in the video, the tiger is seen patting the youth several times with his paw while his handlers are heard calling his name to divert his attention.
At about 1 minute 25 second, the tiger finally pounces on 20-year-old Maqsood after he was irritated by the visitors who were screaming, shouting and throwing objects at the big cat. Khan also said that had visitors not raised din, they would have brought the tiger back into his cage by striking it which signals that his food has been served. “The tiger would have returned to his cage without harming the youth. People are saying that we could have tranquilised the tiger but they should know that it takes 15 minutes for the animal to get unconscious after he is traquilised while the incident took place within five minutes. “It is being said that we had 10 or 15 minutes to respond but the latest video shows that it all happened in 2.25 minutes,” said Khan. He also said that all security measures laid by Central Zoo authority were followed by Delhi Zoo, so there is no security lapse from their side.
“Maqsood himself and the crowd who provoked the tiger were responsible for this incident, not us. We cannot control the public as they don’t listen to our guards. If the tiger had escaped from the enclosure and attacked him, then it would have been our responsibility but here the man had entered tiger’s territory,” he said.