Anthrax kills 22 spotted deer in Chhattisgarh zoo

Raipur, January 15

As many as 22 female spotted deer died of anthrax infection in Kanan Pendari Zoo, situated near Sakri, some ten km from Bilaspur city in Chhattisgarh on January 15. The doctors who collected blood samples of dead deer and examined in veterinary laboratory too confirmed that the animals died of anthrax infection. As a preventive measure, the zoo has been closed for one week during which all the animals would be vaccinated and administered antibiotic doses.

DFO Hemant Pandey informed that there were 53 spotted deer in the zoo – 18 male and 35 female. The age of eight out of 22 dead deer was below six months while that of remaining 14 was from 1-5 years.

Some of the zoo employees think that the deer died not because of anthrax infection, but due to overdose of anesthesia. They informed that anesthesia was administered in the form of tablets to the deer at night on January 14 as forest department had planned to shift them elsewhere.

Kanan Pendari is a small zoo with limited space for deer. According to information, the forest officials were concerned of rising population of spotted deer in the zoo. In 2009, the officials had planned to shift large number of deer from Kanan Pendari Zoo to Aachanakmar Tiger Reserve, located some 60 km sway from Bilaspur city. However, shifting could not be done during the scheduled period December 2009-January 2010 as some deer died due overdose of anesthesia.

Kanan Pendari Zoo came into limelight few months ago when a tigress delivered four cubs, but three became victim of some mysterious disease and died after sometime. At that time, the animal rights activists had blamed the zoo administration for not providing adequate treatment facilities to the cubs. Later, the zoo’s veterinary doctor PK Chandan had admitted that the cubs died due to viral or some other infection as they were not vaccinated timely.

IN BOX

What is anthrax?

Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by bacterium Bacillus anthracis which form dormant spores that can survive for years. It fatally infects both humans and animals through contact on broken skin and through the food chain. The infection usually occurs either during inhalation or intake of spores in any form, or when broken skin comes into contact with Bacillus anthracis and attacks pulmonary, gastrointestinal or cutaneous organs. Anthrax was once widespread across the world but now prevalent mainly in developing countries. The first effective vaccine for anthrax was developed by French scientist Louis Pasteur in 1881.