Bhubaneswar: A two-and-a-half-year old male zebra died at the Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) here Tuesday noon.
According to NZP authorities, the zebra had earlier fallen sick last year for around three weeks and had recovered after thorough treatment. However, the zebra again fell ill and had stopped taking food and was under treatment for the last two days.
“The zebra was fine but suddenly it stopped taking food resulting in dehydration. The veterinary doctors of NZP tried their best to nurse it back to health but it failed to recover this time,” deputy director Jayanta Dash said.
With the death of the animal, there is now just one zebra left at the zoo.
In September 2015, four zebras were brought from Tel Aviv Zoo in Israel along with four lions. Two zebras died in 2016. Earlier in the afternoon, a postmortem of the animal was conducted and the findings suggested that it died due to internal haemorrhage. “A team of experts from the veterinary college did the postmortem. It was revealed that the sudden death was caused due to congestion of several organs inside the body which apparently formed blood clot followed by internal hemorrhage,” said Dash. After the postmortem, the body was buried inside the zoo premises.
In another development, the entry fee of the zoo has been hiked which will be implemented from June 1.
While the entry fee for xoological park has been increased from `25 to `40 per head, the entry fee for the botanical garden has been hiked to `20 per head.
“We have not increased the fee for the last couple of years so this time we effected a hike. We have increased the entry for zoological garden to `40 and from now onwards the `32 which used to be charged inside the park for availing various facilities will now be free. We have increased the ticket to the botanical garden by `10 so now, one has to pay `20 to enter the garden. The new fee will be applicable from June 1,” he said.
Earlier, a visitor had to pay `2 for using toilet, `10 each for visiting aquarium and walk-through aviary, but now these facilities will be available for free.
“We have also made some other changes. Use of digital camera, RO drinking water and toilets inside the zoo will be completely free,” informed Dash.
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