The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Zoo to remain closed for another week

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Saturday, Jul 14, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Zoo to remain closed for another week

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city zoo will remain closed for another week to enable authorities to ensure that the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that claimed the lives of 19 animals has been brought fully under control.

The technical committee set up by the Government to help the zoo manage the FMD situation will meet again on July 20 to discuss the reopening of the facility to the public. These were among the main decisions taken at a meeting of the committee here on Friday.

“The committee felt that undue haste should not be shown in trying to reopen the zoo. If the zoo is reopened and there is another outbreak of FMD, it might prove to be uncontrollable,” zoo director Elcy George said.

The sources of meat supplied to the city zoo for the past two months will be traced in an attempt to try and identify whether the virus entered the zoo through the food supplied to the animals. In future, the zoo will procure meat only from a known source. In the case of fodder given to herbivores, the committee decided to find out the possibility of procuring grass and fodder from Government agencies. The committee also suggested that fodder and grass be cultivated under the supervision of the zoo authorities.

It was decided at the meeting that the garbage generated inside the zoo should be disposed of only after being sprayed with a 10 per cent formalin solution to ensure disinfection. The committee resolved that the zoo should seek the help of the City Corporation to dispose of waste from the zoo premises. It was also decided to stop the dumping of garbage or any other waste material from the garden area inside the zoo.

The committee has suggested to the zoo authorities to keep a register of visitors who come to the zoo from outside the State and the country.

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