In the aftermath of the four deer deaths at the Kanpur Zoo the authorities have made arrangements in the face of the prevailing inclement weather. Director Kanpur Zoo K Thomas while talking to “The Pioneer” said that there were no more deer deaths and they had made arrangements for the cold conditions. The Kanpur Zoo death saw death of one deer on January 17, two on January 18 and the death of one Thamin deer on January 19.
Thomas said that the three free ranging deers that had died had come from the wild side of the Kanpur Zoo. “The enclosure has almost 300 spotted deers and these three free ranging deers that died came from this side of the Zoo. The death was because of cold and we have made arrangements for some bonfires on the wildside of the Zoo besides making provision for the bonfires near the cages of the Kanpur Zoo” said the Director Kanpur Zoo.
Regarding the death of the Thamin deer, the Director said that the deer had died because of old age. “It was a very old deer and its death was because of old age as it was fifteen years old” he said. Regarding the free ranging deers he said that some deers had escaped from the Kanpur Zoo in the past which had multiplied and thus increased their tribe. “There is a fence which divides them from the regular zoo area. We do not provide food for them but sometimes we supplement their food. It is not possible to cover the entire wild area but we have put bonfires in some portions” said Thomas.
Deer deaths have been a cause of concern for the forest department. The lucknow Zoo recently lost over 22 black bucks because of the presence of HCN in the fodder and the Kanpur Zoo has lost in the recent past several deers because of a wild dog chase.