Swamp deer dies at Byculla zoo of ‘cardiac shock’

A 3.5-year-old adult female swamp deer (barasingha) died at Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan’s enclosure on Friday.

A 3.5-year-old adult female swamp deer (barasingha) died at Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan’s enclosure on Friday.

HT Image

Dr Sanjay Tripathi, director of the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Byculla zoo) said, “She was found dead in an enclosure on Friday night. From the last two-three days, she was showing mating behaviours. After post-mortem, we found cardiac shock symptoms long with injuries on the chest.” Tripathi further said that the mating season of deer is on, and a fight with a mate would have led female deer succumbed to her injuries.

Zoo authority has initiated a detailed enquiry. As per the zoo officials, pair of male and female swamp deer were brought to Mumbai from Kanpur zoo in April 2019. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species classifies swamp deer as vulnerable.