PESHAWAR: A four-year old fallow deer of American-African origin expired late on Wednesday in the Peshawar Zoo which was opened for general public last month, officials said.

Mohammad Ali Shah, the zoo manager, said that the animal was the property of the contractor that along with other wild animals was brought about two weeks ago. He expressed ignorance about the cause of death of the wild animal.

“I don’t know about the cause of death of the animal,” he said, adding that according to the work order the concerned contractor would look after the animals in the zoo for one month.

He said that the management would take over the zoo affairs after proper adaptation of the animals and medical checkup by the veterinarians. He said that the management would provide enclosures to contractors inside the zoo to keep animals for at minimum one month and would hand it over to the authorities after completion of all legal formalities.

Officials said that the dead animal was sub-adult female. They said that veterinarians would examine the expired animal to ascertain the cause of death. The contractor was not available for comments.

Sprawling over 29 acres the zoo was opened for public on February 12 and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had inaugurated the facility. The zoo presently houses different animals, including lions, leopards, monkeys and different species of birds.

Officials claimed that the Peshawar Zoo was the country’s biggest display centre of wild animals. Thousands of people daily visit the zoo.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2018