KARACHI, Jan 10: The zoo death toll rose to six on Thursday when three more female deer died of the mysterious disease that had claimed the lives of three deer on Tuesday, zoo staff told Dawn.

Three white fallow deer were found dead in their enclosure on Thursday morning. The animals were reported sick and under treatment on Wednesday. A hog deer was found dead in its enclosure in the morning while a white fallow deer and a hog deer died with a gap of a few hours the same day.

All animals which died in the two days were females. A white fallow deer, mentioned as a species of Least Concern in the IUCN list, is a native of Eurasia but has been widely introduced in the world.

“It appears that the three white fallow deer have died of the same disease as their post-mortem reports have shown similar signs of internal bleeding as was in the previous three deaths,” said zoo director Bashir Saddozai, adding that a brown fallow deer was ill but recovering.

According to Mr Saddozai, Dr Kazim Hussain, a senior veterinary surgeon posted at the Safari Park, and Dr Isma Gheewala, a private vet, had provided support in treatment whereas the autopsies had been performed by zoo vet Dr Aamir Ismail.

When contacted, Dr Ismail said that there was no sign of external bleeding in any of the animal carcasses and that he had never seen such cases during his 16-year-long career.

“Lab results are still being awaited. The dead animals had no history of serious illness. All had been born here and no new animal has recently arrived in the zoo,” he said when asked about the possibility of animals contracting a new infection from a new entrant.

After these deaths, hog deer’s number in the zoo has fallen to five whereas white fallow deer are six. Of them, there are only three males — one hog deer and two white fallow deer. The reason for keeping males in small numbers has to do with their aggressiveness which, zoo staff said, often fought and injured themselves.

The zoo has often been in the news for mortalities. Over the past few months, it has witnessed a series of deaths, including that of a Bengal tiger, a leopard, a Shetland pony, a nilgai, a red deer and a Chacma baboon.

Though zoo staff generally blamed the deaths on ‘old age’, reports in the media had shown that a lack of care had contributed to those mortalities. In the recent cases, all six post-mortems were performed by only one vet who works in the zoo.

An acute lack of veterinary support, according to experts, not only compromises animal welfare standards but also casts doubts on the accuracy of procedures such as an autopsy.

A long time back, experts recalled, the zoo used to have a panel of senior doctors whose services were sought especially for autopsies and in cases of serious illnesses. The practice was abandoned on account of delays in payment for veterinary services.

At the same time, however, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation which runs two zoos and the Safari Park in the city, has no qualms in spending millions of rupees on the import of exotic animals.

Only last year, the KMC imported four big cats, two pairs of Bengal tigers and white lions at a cost much higher than the animals’ actual cost, according to media reports.

Ironically, the government institution has not yet acquired the mandatory import permit for these animals from the National Council for Conservation of Nature, though six months have passed since the animals’ arrival.

The mandatory permit (no-objection certificate) should have been acquired before the import.