Mumbai: Big cats dying, ill, but minister wants to lure tourists to SGNP

During a recent visit to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP while state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had spoken of his vision to make it a tourist destination there may be very few wild cats left to seeSGNP Veterinary Officer Dr Sanjiv Pinjarkar was earlier with the animal husbandry department which deals with domestic animalsThree leopards and a lioness have died in the past two months and another leopard and two tigresses have taken ill According to an NGO Myvets Charitable Trust amp Research Centre the veterinary doctor at the park Dr Sanjiv Pinjarkar is not qualified to treat wild animalsAlso ReadCome to Mumbai and visit Borivli national park Forest MinisterWhite tigress Rebecca has not been eating properly for weeksMungantiwar spoke exclusively to midday and revealed some of his plans for the makeover of the park to attract more visitors especially foreign tourists However its popular tiger and lion safari have been affected after the death of the animalsThree leopards and one lioness have died in SGNP in the past 2 monthsDr Madhurita Gupta president of Myvets said ldquoThe present veterinary doctor at SGNP Dr Pinjarkar does not have the expertise to treat wild animals as he was earlier associated with the animal husbandry departmentThree leopards and a lioness have died in SGNP in the past two months File picWe have been demanding for a long time that that only those doctors with expertise in treating wild animals should be appointed at SGNP and Byculla zoo It is easier for experienced doctors to understand the illness of animals and accordingly give proper medicationrdquoldquoThe death of animals in SGNP is a matter of worry but preliminarily it appears that the reason is old age Our expert doctor has already visited the park and collected blood samples We have sent the material for analysis Only after getting the report will we be able to comment on the exact reason for the deathrdquo Dr Gupta addedState forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar speaking at SGNP on SundayWhile the officials claim that the animals at present have been kept on a lean diet so that they donrsquot become obese sources said ldquoIt is worrying that the animals are already eating very less Poman the leopardess littered after 11 days and the two tigresses Rebecca and Pooja are also eating very less The death of three leopards and one lioness is worrying usrdquomiddayrsquos report yesterday on Mungantiwarrsquos plans for SGNPSources explained that Pooja a Bengal tigress is suffering from a skin problem on her tail abdominal area and buttocks Rebecca is a white tigress ldquoIf they eat so less they will become very weakrdquo added the sourceThe blood samples of the ailing and deceased animals have been sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute IVRI at Bareilly Uttar Pradesh On November 1 the Central Zoo Authority CZA team visited the cages and enclosures inside park to survey the conditions in which the animals were keptOn the parkrsquos request the CZA has deputed Dr AK Sharma of IVRI and a vet from Wildlife Institute of India WII to come to SGNP and suggest preventive and curative measures for the matter Sources from Bombay Veterinary College said ldquoAfter the death of lioness Shobha a meeting had been convened to discuss the issue of animals dying in captivity at SGNPDuring this discussion SGNP Director Vikas Gupta was also present When the topic of appointing a private doctor was discussed the team of veterinary doctors objected saying that there was no need to appoint a private vet when the doctor at SGNP is already capable of looking after wild animalsDoctors who have been visiting SGNP and are currently looking after the animals have a proper Bachelors Degree in Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandryrdquo