Probe body visits Gazipur safari park over zebra deaths 

The five-member probe committee formed to unearth the actual reason for the death of 11 zebras at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur Sunday visited the park.

The inquiry committee, headed by the environment ministry additional secretary Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, held a meeting with the park authorities at the Oirabati rest house. 

Deputy Secretary of the same ministry Abdul Wadud Chowdhury, zoology department head of Jahangirnagar University Professor Monirul Hasan, former curator of Dhaka Zoo ABM Shahidullah and Chief Conservator of Forest Molla Rezaul were present at the meeting.  

They also talked to the local lawmaker (Gazipur-3) Iqbal Hasan, who alleged the zebras were killed and did not die. 

He demanded punishment of the people responsible and removal of the present management. 

Sanjay Kumar said that their main tasks are to detect the reason for the death of the animals, identify the persons who showed negligence to their duties and give recommendations for the future. The inquiry team has already started their work.

"We have not come here to punish anyone. The authorities concerned will look into the matter once the probe is done," he said.  

Earlier, 11 Zebras died between 2 January and 29 January one after another at the core of the Bangabandhu Safari Park.  

Meanwhile, on 12 January, a tiger died in the safari park after remaining sick for one and half months.

After the death of the zebras, samples were sent to various labs including that of Bangladesh Agriculture University for postmortem.  

A separate expert committee was also formed that visited the park on 26 January and 29 January.

They claimed that the Zebras died as a result of fighting among themselves and diseases caused by bacteria.  

The park authorities said that they were trying to contact various expert veterinarians as per the direction of the ministry to prevent the death of the zebras. They were trying to communicate with the farm owners in South Africa from where these zebras were brought. 

The park Project Director Zahidul Kabir said there are now 20 zebras in the park after the death of 11 zebras.