(IN) Zoo's last male bear dies, his mate counts her last days

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Zoo's last male bear dies, his mate counts her last days

 

*By Virat A Singh*

*Posted On Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 02:59:03 AM*

 

Mangal, the Himalayan Black Bear at Byculla zoo, died on Friday. The

35-year-old inmate of the zoo succumbed to multiple organ failure. According

to eyewitnesses, at 11.30 am he went near the pool to drink water and

collapsed.

 

 

“Our staff carried Mangal to the hospital for examination where he was

declared dead,” said a senior zoo official. He added that almost 12 people

were required to lift the 300 kg bear out of the enclosure.

 

Mangal is survived by his mate Jamuna, who is now alone in the enclosure and

the lone bear in the zoo.

 

Both the bears, which are a schedule I animals were brought to Byculla in

February 1993 at the age of around 18 years from Delhi Zoo in exchange for

some rare birds.

 

“Jamuna was on other side when it happened. She was oblivious to the fact

that her mate with whom she lived for almost 17 years here had died. After

we removed Mangal’s corpse she kept looking around for him. We are

monitoring Jamuna’s behaviour round the clock as she is likely to be

disturbed by her mate’s death,” said a veterinarian at the zoo.

 

Mangal always enjoyed playing in the pond (Pic: Deepak Turbhekar)

 

Another concerned senior official admitted that almost all the animals in

the zoo, be it Shiva the rhino, Anita the lioness, Jamuna the bear, two

hyenas, Laxmi the female elephant, several black bucks, deer and even birds

were quite old and could develop terminal illness or die anytime.

 

“Due to their old age, Shiva and Anita are not in good health. We take care

of them as much as we can, but there are limitations. They do not respond to

treatment and begin to look sick and weak, as they lose their appetite. All

this could affect the visitors who do not like to see sickly animals or

empty enclosures,” said an official from zoo.

 

Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) Garden and Zoo, Chandrashekhar Rokde

said, “It is indeed becoming a problem as now even visitors complain about

ageing animals. However this is a problem with most of the zoos in the

country where most animals are old.”

 

He added that there were several proposals pending with the Central Zoo

Authority (CZA), which were not followed up since the 53-acre byculla zoo

was all set for a Rs 434-crore makeover. I will ask the staff to follow up

the matter.”

 

In fact some officials even mentioned that as per the High Court order

following People for Ethical Treatment to Animals (PETA) PIL in October 2004

against Byculla zoo, no animal could be brought in till the enclosures have

proper moats. “This is likely to happen after the zoo undergoes a makeover.”

 

Meanwhile, zoo authorities handed over the skin and the bones of the bear to

Dr Santosh Gaikwad, an associate professor at the Bombay Veterinary College

and India <http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/ads.aspx?adid=4>’s only practicing

taxidermist, for stuffing and preserving it.

 

--

Nilesh Bhanage

+91 9920777536

www.pawsasia.org

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