Pregnant zebra dies of shock at Bannerughatta Biological Park
Bengaluru: In a tragic turn of events at Bannerughatta Biological Park (BBP) on Tuesday, a three-year-old pregnant Plains Zebra named Kavya died of shock and capture myopathy (metabolic disease that causes muscle damage and associated complications resulting usually from stress).
According to BBP officials, Kavya injured herself inside the enclosure and eventually, succumbed to shock. Appalled by the unnatural death, forest minister Eshwar Khandre has asked officials to ascertain the reason for death and submit a report.
A senior official at BBP told TOI that Kavya injured herself after crashing into the chain link mesh of the enclosure and succumbed to shock. "Preliminary investigation suggest external stress from other male zebras or other wild predator entry into zoo premises.
We are ascertaining both the facts by investigating further. Kavya was pregnant and expecting a foal in a few months," the BBP official said.
Zebras have a gestation period of 12 to 13 months.
Born on April 4, 2022, in Bengaluru, Kavya was one among the seven zebras at BBP, including two males and seven females. "Accidents like this are difficult to predict and have always been challenging while working with animals. Sometimes, the reasons for these accidents are also very complex with multiple factors," an official clarified. The forest minister instructed the officials to put safety measures in place to prevent any unnatural deaths of animals under captivity.
A few years ago, a three-year-old zebra named Hemavathi, who was brought from Tel Aviv, Israel, also died of shock after falling into a pit within the enclosure.
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