Second fence for Sunder Nagar side
-
05/01/2012
-
Times Of India (New Delhi)
Stray Dog Menace Not New At Zoo; 15 On Guard Till Barrier Is Built
New Delhi: The massacre of four chinkara by two stray dogs at the zoo on Tuesday night has not gone down well with animal rights activists. Even though the outraged activists are against zoological parks in general, they state that if such places have to exist, they should at least ensure the safety of the animals lodged in them.
Delhi’s National Zoological Park, apparently, has had a problem with dogs even earlier and many invading strays have been captured on several occasions.
“Zoos are a relic of a bygone era and an old-fashioned concept, which, as our knowledge of the animal kingdom grows, becomes even more unacceptable,” says Benazir Suraiya of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Referring to the Recognition of Zoo (Amendment) Rules, 2004, in which it is stated that ‘all animal enclosures in a zoo shall be so designed as to fully ensure the safety of animals, caretakers and the visitors,’ Suraiya alleged, “The Delhi zoo chinkara enclosure has failed to ensure the safety of the animals. The confinement of animals in zoos means they cannot escape harm that they would have been able to avoid in their natural environment.”
The National Zoological Park veterinary surgeon, Paneer Selvam, stated that the zoo has “captured a number of dogs on four or five occasions before.” “They had jumped over the fencing on the Sunder Nagar-side of the premises. The last time, about two months ago, we had a large haul — a pack of 8-10 dogs,” Selvam said.
The vet surgeon added that a pack of 20-30 dogs lives in the Sunder Nagar area and have even attacked zoo employees going to the staff quarters on the other side of the campus.
However, many questions have been raised by activists on the claims of zoo officials. Sonia Ghosh of the Citizens for Animal Rights alleges that the security at the zoo is in a mess. “How were stray dogs able to enter the enclosure? You can’t keep blaming the dogs for poor management,” Ghosh said. She added that when her group went for an inspection on Thursday, they found only one dog there, and that too was heavily sedated. Selvam clarified that they had tranquilized the dog before it was handed over to the MCD.
The zoo is now planning a zerotolerance approach to stray dogs. Selvam says that a second line of fencing will be installed within the next 15 days.
The additional director general, union ministry of environment (forestry and wildlife), Jagdish Kishwan, took a round of the zoo on Thursday and “analyzed the factors that led to the incident.” Till the additional fence is erected, a team of 15 persons will roam the zoo capturing any dogs that stray into the campus.