DHAKA — The Bangladesh government has suspended the head keepers of a state-run zoo after a giraffe died in the latest of a string of fatalities among the animals, officials said Wednesday.
The giraffe, which died of suspected intestinal complications, was one of 19 animals -- including a tiger, a zebra and a tapir -- to have died at the zoo since January, according to a government official who did not want to be named.
Last year the zoo spent 800,000 dollars bringing 38 animals, including the three-year-old giraffe, from South Africa.
"The Ministry of Livestock has suspended the chief zoo keeper and his deputy due to their negligence over the death of the giraffe," acting zoo chief Bibekananda Chowdhury told AFP.
Local newspapers accused zoo staff of failing to give the animal proper medical treatment.
Reza Khan, Bangladesh's top wildlife expert who heads Dubai Zoo in the United Arab Emirates, told AFP the number of deaths were "abnormally high" and that poor conditions and lack of expertise were to blame.
"Dhaka zoo is run by vets who don't know the eating habits and wildlife environment of the animals they keep," he said by telephone from Dubai, adding that the cages and enclosures were of a poor standard.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
