Nine exotic animals died in zoo near Gujarat’s Statue of Unity in two years

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 15: Over the last two years, a dozen animals and birds — nine of them of exotic variety — died at the zoo at Jungle Safari Park near the Statue of Unity in Kevadia in Narmada, the BJP-led Gujarat government told the Assembly on Wednesday. The deaths were attributed to respiratory arrest, cardio-pulmonary arrest, and “unintentional shock”.

There are 1,024 animals in the zoo, some of which are rare species. Among the animals and birds that perished were a striped hyena, an Indian grey wolf, a gharial, three marsh crocodiles, two Thamin deer, a sun conure (vibrantly coloured parrot), a budgerigar (long-tailed parakeet), a love bird, and a rose-ringed parakeet.

State Tourism, Forest, and Environment Minister Mulubhai Bera was responding to a question by Congress Jamalpur MLA Imran Khedawala during the ongoing Assembly session. He said the deaths took place between February 1, 2021, and January 31, 2023.

According to the minister, in the fiscal year that concluded on January 31, 2022, the government transported 940 animals of 17 species to the park. In the fiscal year that ended on January 31, 2023, 84 animals from 14 species were brought to the zoo.

As many as 28 marsh crocodiles, six gharials, 300 budgerigars, 200 lovebirds, 200 finches, 102 rose-ringed parakeets, 66 cockatiels, 30 diamond doves, five thamin deer, and three Indian grey wolves were among the 940 animals brought in the first year.

The park, popularly known as the ‘jungle safari’, is a state-of-art sanctuary teeming with exotic animals and birds from the various biogeographic regions of the world. It is located on the picturesque hills near the tallest statue in the world ‘The Statue of Unity’. The significant feature of the park is that visitors can see animals in an open environment with the forest providing a safari kind of environment.

More than 1k animals in ‘jungle safari’

There are 1,024 animals in the zoo, some of which are rare species. Among the animals and birds that perished were a striped hyena, an Indian grey wolf, a gharial, three marsh crocodiles, two Thamin deer, a sun conure, a budgerigar, a love bird, and a rose-ringed parakeet.

-TNIE