4 blackbucks attacked by dogs inside Katraj zoo, die of cardiac shock

The feral dogs jumped over the rear wall of the enclosure housing the blackbucks and attacked them.

Four blackbucks at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj, Pune died in an attack by a pack of feral dogs on Wednesday.

Four blackbucks were injured badly inside their enclosure due to the attack. (HT Photo)

“We found four blackbucks injured badly inside their enclosure, where a pack of feral dogs had attacked them. The blackbucks got injured with the dogs chasing them. Four blackbucks died due to cardiac shock,” said Dr Rajkumar Jadhav, director of the zoo.

There were 34 blackbucks in the enclosure. According to the director, the dogs jumped over the rear wall of the enclosure to get inside. “We will be increasing the height of the rear parapet wall, surrounding the enclosure, to ensure no such incident takes place again,” added Jadhav.

The zoo currently has 448 animals and about 100 staffers to guard and take care of the animals.

The zoo has remained closed to the public since March 14, 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. On any normal weekday, the zoo would see 5,000-10,000 visitors, while on weekends the number would rise to 12,000-18,000 visitors.