Gloom engulfs wildlife officials
S. P. Sharma
Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 9
Gloom has engulfed wildlife officials here following the sudden death of "Rozy" who belonged to the endangered species of snow leopard. It is learnt that she had shown some abnormality on Wednesday last when she started limping.
Veterinary doctors were sent to the Himalayan Nature Park at Kufri to examine her and she is claimed to have responded to their treatment and appeared well during the next three days. But she mysteriously died on Sunday.
Park officials say they did not observe any abnormality in her behaviour except on Sunday morning when she collapsed twice and seemed struggling for breath.
With the wildlife law providing legal protection to the extinct snow leopard, her death has put the forest officials in Himachal Pradesh in a tight spot although "Rozy" is stated to have died because of renal failure caused due to muscular degeneration.
Shekhar, who looked after "Rozy" since October, 1998, when she was brought to Kufri as a four-month-old cub, was visibly upset over her death. She had consumed the 2.5 kg of goat meat which was served to her the evening before her death. There was fresh excreta lying near the nightshed inside the enclosure for "Rozy" and no foul play was suspected.
"Rozy" was the most-visited and photographed inmate of the park. She was the star possession of the Wildlife Department as Himachal Pradesh was the only place after Darjeeling which had a snow leopard in captivity.
It is learnt the upkeep of animals in the park is not up to the mark as is evident from the dried up water containers in enclosures where leopards and deer are kept.
The state of other nature parks and zoos in the state is equally poor. Animals are facing the problem of inbreeding. A lion died at the Renuka safari recently soon after it was sterilised to prevent further inbreeding. Two cubs escaped from the safari some time ago as the fence was broken at some places.
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