Seems to be an ongoing issue, with some fifty animals dead and unaccounted for or possibly sold into the pet trade,
To dress up its report card, Delhi Zoo buried at least 50 animal deaths
Non news as animals die in every conventional zoo. It is not news that is normally reported from any western zoo ... save for when high profile species are concerned which is sometimes publicised. In our experience this is usually the realm where deranged Humane Society or PETA make a racket.
Now here where India is concerned the western media suddenly have an interest when for the up-teenth time alarmist news gets into the mainstream ANP / UP outlets. And wooow, how all media go into repeat mode to the point that if and when you would surf over the Net with the highlight "Delhi Zoo" you would get 10+ pages with newspapers and sites copying in the very same item. This peculiarly may be the second time round and may even be months or years old (NOT SAYING IT IS IN THIS CASE).
Now, India is a country so obsessed with an overt and very publicly and State managed bureacratic machinery that the system of government is top down and for zoos the pattern is government overseen decision-making process. This meaning that the process is highjackedtaken by Federal Government, the centralised Central Zoo Authority with a country loath for anything reeking of potential for oversight, corruption and or fraud to be overseen by central government. The way this not works is ... it is exactly stopping the zoos from advancing forward as every bloody exhibit, animal transfer and any zoo decision is overseen by 4 different departments both at the individual State and the Federal Government in New Delhi. To compromise things further the senior zoo management is transferred by the Forestry Department every 3 or 4 years. End result: a very slow motion development of any given zoo and no continuity. Also, most employees are still on contract basis / day wages without any real security nor training.
And where this not enough the Indian equivalent of the Humane Society / PETA get on board. The net end result is no growth, sub standard animal management and husbandry, hardly any functional regional conservation breeding programs (with any transfer usually taking up to 2-3 years to accomplish, and even that is an achievement ..) and "rumours" over animal deaths that cannot be substantiated (but the CZA animal inventories may be publicly accessed - incidentally those for ISIS/ZIMS, nor any of the regional zoo associations can be publicly accessed and information freely disseminated).
And such is the state of the media, that without fact checking newspaper locally come out with these stories .......
Yet, any average storyline on new exhibits, or animal births and interesting newcomers never get the time of day or go unreported (locally, nationally and internationally).
