Animal deaths show sorry state of Bangladesh's largest safari park

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The recent deaths of over a dozen animals over a short period of time in a Bangladeshi safari park have laid bare authorities' negligence and poor management.

At least 13 animals, including 11 zebras and a tiger brought from South Africa, died between Jan. 2-29 at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in the central city of Gazipur. An African lioness also died in the park on Feb. 3.

Similarly, another tiger and lion at the safari park fell ill, according to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Inaugurated in 2013, the park is spread over 3,810 acres (1,542 hectares) of the Sal forest. It is the largest safari park in Asia and one of the largest in the world.

Medical examinations revealed high nitrite readings in the animals' bodies, along with pneumonia, anthrax bacteria, and signs of other animals' attacks on the zebras. All the animals, which had been brought from South Africa, had suddenly gotten sick and died.

On allegations of negligence, three senior park officials, including the top post of project director, were suspended in the aftermath of a government investigation.

- Bacterial infection, heavy metal, injuries

Md. Abu Hadi Noor Ali Khan, a pathologist at the Bangladesh Agricultural University in the northern part of the country and head of one of the expert teams that conducted the investigation, told Anadolu Agency that they found high levels of nitrite bacteria in the grass that had been given to the dead zebras.

"We also found pneumonia bacteria and breathing complexities in samples from eight zebras," said Khan, adding that they had also observed major injury marks from external sources -- possibly predators -- on some of the animals.

"Three of the zebras' guts and stomach had come out due to such attacks," he said.

"We also recently found anthrax bacteria as a confirmed cause of death for one tiger, and tuberculosis to be the primary cause of death for a lioness at the safari park."

The dead zebras appeared to have caught a cold due to roaming in the open fields, Khan explained.

"The immune systems of zebras in the safari park seem to have been getting weak due to inbreeding. Most of the zebras were inbred here at the park."

Lead, a dangerous heavy metal, was also found in the grass that the zebras ate. "Now, we can also examine the dead animals' samples for any such heavy metals," Khan said.

He pointed out that hardly any academic research had been done on the lifestyle of the animals at the park. This, he said, posed a challenge not only in further investigating their deaths but also in running major animal captivity facilities in Bangladesh.

- Regular medical, food surveillance

Mohammad Firoj Jaman, a zoologist at the University of Dhaka in the capital, said the medical team also uncovered anthrax bacteria in one of the animals' body samples, which he said was a worrying sign.

A large quantity of domestic livestock like cows and goats had recently died from bacterial infection in Bangladesh. "So, we have to ensure strong surveillance to know whether the bacteria intrudes through uncooked meat for the tiger or lion," he underlined

Jaman, also an animal rights activist, urged authorities to look into allegations of slow, deliberate poisoning of the animals in the safari park.

"There were holes in the stomachs of the dead zebras, which is quite mysterious. Zebras are social animals and they don't engage in infighting like ferocious beasts," he said.

The zoologist also emphasized the need for an examination into the source of grass supplied to the zebras to check for any poison and heavy metals, recommending that experts conduct regular medical examinations on the animals in any safari park so "any sort of infection or possible outbreak of any disease can be traced immediately."

Tapan Kumar Dey, the general secretary of the Zoological Society of Bangladesh and former project director of the safari park in Gazipur, told Anadolu Agency that the bacterial infection had occurred through the grass supplied to the zebras.

Dey, who also served at the Forest Department for over three decades, was certainly worried over the surveillance in the park and management capacity despite having qualified and skilled manpower.

"Earlier (during my tenure) we used to bring grass from the government dairy farm in (central city of) Savar that ensured a quality standard. But now, we're concerned over the quality of food supplied in the Gazipur Safari Park," he said.

Underlining that the animals' deaths were a big loss, he said that, "besides a strong surveillance system and management capacity in animal captivity, the park needs more skilled manpower and training."

- Government efforts to prevent deaths

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, the head of the government probe committee, said that in their investigation into the deaths, authorities were taking all the allegations into account.

"Our investigation is going on and it will take more than a week to be completed. We will investigate all the allegations of negligence and mismanagement with proper guides and recommendations so we can avoid any such untoward situation in the future," said Bhowmik.

He added: "We also sent the medical report abroad, as well as to local top veterinary institutions and animal experts, to examine the samples and glean the real picture of what happened at the park."