3 tigers poisoned in Itanagar zoo

[ Tuesday, February 21, 2006 12:08:16 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

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ITANAGAR: Three tigers and a leopard were poisoned by miscreants at Itanagar Zoo in Arunachal Pradesh.

The incident which took place on Sunday night has shocked zoo and forest officials who are doing their best to save the animals.

“The condition of one tiger is critical,” said principal chief conservator of forest M B Lal here on Monday. “The leopard and the two other tigers have shown symptoms of recovery,” he said.

Delhi Zoo veterinarian Paneer Silbam has been contacted to treat the poisoned animals, while Ram Krishna Medical Hospital’s pharmacy here has volunteered to provide medicines.

Preliminary investigations revealed that miscreants sneaked into the zoo after the night watchman left his post at 12.30 am on Monday and apparently threw beef laced with zinc sulphate or phosphorous into the cages.

Some leftover meat was recovered on Monday morning and sent to a laboratory for tests.

CM Gegong Apang, environment & forest minister Newlai Tingkhatra and rural development minister Tanga Byaling visited the zoo to take stock of the situation.

“Apang has directed zoo authorities to take all possible steps to protect the animals and asked the police to bring the culprits to book,” said chief wildlife warden C Ramlona.

“Security has been tightened inside the zoo. Four to five watchmen will be on round-the-clock duty from Tuesday and we are planning to put more lightposts to monitor the movement of criminals.

The main problem is lack of a fencing around the campus,” said Lal.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1421964,curpg-3.cms

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