TB deaths at Deer Park

July 22, 2009

TB deaths at Deer Park worries officials
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 21
Wildlife authorities are worried about the reoccurrence of tuberculosis (TB) among the animals in the deer park here where more than 50 black bucks have died due to the disease during the past three years. The zoo authorities have segregated 35 black bucks that were still diagnosed to be infected with TB.

The disease was first detected in 2006 when the highest number of 37 deaths, including those of 34 black bucks and three female sambars, were recorded.

Divisional Forest Officer Anandh Kumar, who also looks after the affairs of the deer park, said today that the situation has stabilised as only two of the three deaths of black bucks this financial year were due to TB.

The disease persists despite the authorities having disinfected the enclosures and treating the soil. They believed the disease to have disappeared following the initial 90 days course of Direct Observation Treatment (DOT) that was administered by doctors from the Chhat Bir Zoo. However, the alarm bells rang again in December last when the post-mortem examination of two black bucks indicated that they had been suffering from TB. Their lungs were found infected.

A deer is reported to have died about a fortnight ago.

Kumar said the animals were under constant observation of the zoo staff. A proposal to construct another enclosure for the black bucks has been sent to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to enable decongestion in the existing two enclosures.

The park at present has 75 black bucks, 19 spotted deer, three half deer and nine sambars besides various species of birds.

According to the data available with the CZA, 24 male and 10 female black bucks besides three female sambars died in the deer park during 2005-06. Four male and two female black bucks and a male spotted deer died during 2006-07. As many as two black bucks, a sambar and a deer hog died during 2007-08.