The Arilova police arrested five youths, who had illegally entered a wild boar enclosure and disturbed the animal at Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, here on Friday night. The youth had reportedly entered the enclosure on July 3 and had also uploaded a 15-second video on social media to attract followers.
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According to reports, the incident came to light on July 9, when the zoo authorities have found the video tagged to the zoo social media account. The authorities on July 10 had booked a case under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 against the youth and on July 12, they had lodged a complaint with the local police. The police have arrested the five accused, who are residents of Marikavalasa and all are in the 19 to 21 years of age.
‘Strict vigil’
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, zoo Curator Nandani Salaria said that the incident has apparently happened over a span of a few minutes and the animal keeper of that enclosure would have been probably either inside the night house cleaning or cutting feed, on the other side of the enclosure. The security guard posted in the herbivore section during the zoo visiting hours has to cover around eight animal enclosures and thus, it is possible that the security guard might have been on his rounds, she said. However, a notice has been issued to the zoo security outsourcing agency. They have been instructed to depute one more security personnel in the herbivore section so as to maintain extra vigil, she added.
The Curator said that the agency has been also instructed to issue instructions to its personnel to keep a strict vigil over all the areas of IGZP. The animal keepers, security personnel and zoo staff were also alerted, she added.
“The height of the enclosure is also being raised as per the CZA advisory to avoid any such incidents in future. Estimates are being prepared,” the Curator said.