KARACHI: A major drive is under way at Safari Park to check the spread of tuberculosis that has killed four animals in recent weeks, it emerged on Thursday.

Sources said the disease that had initially infected a large herd of black bucks spread to other animals including spotted deer. The park is home to about 90 black bucks and over 100 spotted deer.

Senior veterinarian and additional director of Safari Dr Kazim Hussain confirmed to Dawn that three black bucks and a spotted deer died of the disease a month ago. “But as soon as we came to know through a post-mortem examination of the animals that they died of pulmonary tuberculosis, a treatment drive was immediately initiated,” he said.

Over 350 mammals, including Sindh ibex, gazelle, fellow deer, red deer, hog deer and nilgai, were being treated against TB at the Safari, he added.

“Since the disease is highly infectious and animals have a close contact, it’s important that all animals especially those in the surrounding enclosures are all treated against the disease,” he explained, pointing it out that only horses and camels had been excluded from the list of animals under treatment.

Tuberculosis (a disease that can be passed between humans and animals) was difficult to diagnose in a large herd of animals, he said, as at times it didn’t show any signs unless it reached an advanced stage.

He said it made animals go very weak and lethargic. “It’s difficult to identify an animal in a herd that has lost its appetite. So, all animals would get treated and eat medicine-mixed feed,” he added.

While the disease was well under control, the animals would eat medicine-mixed feed for eight months to have a complete recovery, Dr Hussain said.

About development programmes being launched at the Safari, he said it included an irrigation project to connect all enclosures with a separate water supply line. Currently, he said, only one animal enclosure had a water supply line while all others received water through tankers.

“As you can see most enclosures lack proper vegetation that adds to the suffering of animals in the hot season. Round-the-clock availability of water would help us grow trees and make the enclosures green,” he said.

43 births at Safari

The Safari saw 43 births, including 13 spotted deer and an equal number of black bucks, three mouflon, two horses and one Urial, Sindh ibex and nilgai each. Nine turkey chicks were also hatched this season.

“It’s an indicator that animals are healthy and are breeding well,” Dr Hussain said. Black bucks because of some unexplained reasons, he added, were more vulnerable to TB throughout the world.

According to him, the lifespan of black bucks in captivity is 12 years and as the male species grow mature, they become more beautiful with long horns and dark skin.

The number of black bucks, he says, has increased from 30 to 90 in recent years. “The number of black bucks and spotted deer has now reached a point where they are required to be shifted to some other facility or exchanged in lieu of some other animals,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play