Jackal death: Zoo staffer disputes official claim, says animal entered bear enclosure

A Delhi zoo staffer claims to have seen a jackal in a bear enclosure, contradicting the curator's denial of its presence before its death.

A Delhi zoo staffer has contradicted the official version in a controversial jackal death, stating in a fresh submission that he saw the animal inside the Himalayan black bear enclosure on December 18. His statement directly disputes earlier claims by the zoo curator that no jackal was ever found there.

The issue dates back to January (Hindustan Times)

The submission, made by assistant keeper Nand Bahadur Rana on April 11 in response to a notice dated April 9, states that the jackal was seen lying motionless inside a burrow in the enclosure. Rana added that the presence of the animal had also been noted earlier in the beat register by the beat in-charge.

This account runs counter to an earlier submission by zoo curator Manoj Kumar, who had said that no jackal was observed inside the enclosure despite searches conducted over multiple days.

The issue dates back to January, when the National Zoo Workers’ Union alleged that a jackal had died after being burned in the black bear enclosure and that chilli powder had been used to flush it out of a burrow. The zoo, however, concluded its inquiry weeks later, saying it found no evidence to support the claim.

In his submission, a copy of which HT has seen, Rana said he was performing additional duty as head keeper of Range-1 when he was informed by the beat keeper that a jackal had been spotted inside the enclosure. “I instructed them not to release the bear in the arena and immediately informed the range in-charge 1 and 2 about it,” he said.

Rana said he was subsequently directed not to release the bear and not to record the sighting in the daily report, beat register or the head keeper’s register.

“He (range-incharge) then directed me to put a trap cage in the enclosure for rescuing it. By the time I reached the enclosure, the jackal had already gone inside a burrow in the enclosure.” Rana said, adding that till the end of his duty, the jackal had not come out of the burrow, despite pieces of meat being placed in the enclosure.

“The beat keeper and I had duly mentioned the presence of the jackal in the beat register. However, I did not record it in the daily report or head keeper’s register as per instructions, since adverse reports about the zoo had been published following earlier escape of the jackals,” the submission states.

Rana said he performed thead-keeping duty of range-1 on December 14 as well, but the animal did not come out of the burrow that day either.

Rana said he was on leave from December 15 to 17. On returning on December 18, he enquired about the jackal and was told it had not been seen. However, upon inspecting the enclosure, he noticed signs of fire and whole red chillies at the entrance of the burrow.

“During a search operation later, the jackal was seen lying motionless inside the burrow. Staff entered the burrow and pulled it out. The jackal was not breathing,” he said.

Kumar, in his January 27 submission, had acknowledged that chilli and smoke were used during the operation but maintained that no jackal was sighted in the enclosure at any point. He had also stated that inspections on December 19 and 20 found no discrepancy in the number of jackals housed in enclosures and that free-ranging jackals were known to inhabit the zoo surroundings.

“No jackal was ever observed inside the Himalayan black bear enclosure, despite many searches since December 18,” Kumar had said, adding that the enclosure was reopened to visitors from December 19.

Kumar also said he had attempted to contact Rana on December 18 but could not get through clearly and had asked him to coordinate with the head keeper. He added that he was later informed that a jackal had been removed from a burrow by on-duty staff.

The Delhi zoo director did not respond to queries on Rana’s submission or HT’s queries.