Zoo deaths: Expert committee soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for ST Welfare, Museums and Zoos P K Jayalekshmi said here on Tuesday that the State Government had decided to constitute an expert committee to probe into the mounting deaths of the animals and birds in the city zoo. The committee will be having experts from outside the State and the names of the experts would be announced soon. The expert team, which is expected to conduct the study in July, will be submitting a report to the Government within one month. The Minister said that the decision to appoint a committee comprising experts from outside the State was taken following the observation made by the committee appointed by the government to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the deaths reported in the zoo. This committee had submitted its report to the Government during the last week of May.The members of this committee were Dr H Viswanathan, Chief Disease Investigation Officer of the Department of Animal Husbandry (AHD); Dr Shajahan, Deputy Director, AHD; Dr Sunil Kumar, Forest Veterinary Officer; Dr E K Easwaran, Disease Investigation Officer, Chief Disease Investigation Office (CDIO); Dr Swapna Susan Abraham, Disease Investigation Officer, CDIO; Dr Meera Unwin Antony, Veterinary Surgeon (Microbiology), CDIO; Dr Nandakumar S, Veterinary Surgeon (Pathology), CDIO; Dr Jacob Alexander, Veterinary Surgeon, AHD; and Zoo Superintendent Jayan. This committee had come to the conclusion that there is no immediate cause of worry after a detailed study of the post-mortem reports, revisiting into the previous deaths, examining the feed store and feed ingredients and also after consultations with the Zoo Director, Zoo Superintendent and the zoo keepers.However, it had urged the zoo officials to implement the recommendations on the health-related aspects. The most important of the recommendations was the establishment of an in-house laboratory to carry out routine medical procedures and the purchase of rapid antigen and antibody detection kits for detecting infectious diseases without any time delay.100-Day to-do listAs part of the 100-day programme, the renovation of KCS Panicker Gallery will be undertaken. The footpath inside the Museum will be renovated in such a way that it could be utilised by the visually challenged people. Even facilities for providing wheelchairs will be made here. A digital library to suit research purposes will be set up. Apart from this, the landscape will be given a new look and more drinking water facilities will be provided for the visitors.