About 7 spotted deer died at Sipahijala Sanctuary

Agartala, Sep 24 (UNI) Mystery shrouds over the death of seven spotted deer at Sipahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, 25 kms from here.

Sanctuary warden Rajat Das said the deer who died two days ago were suffering from pneumonia.

'' Incessant rains since last few days was the cause of pneumonia and the bodies had been send to Agartala for post mortem,'' Mr. Das said.

Veterinary doctors here are summoned to find out the real cause of their deaths.

Moreover they had been asked to keep a constant watch on the rest population to find out whether there are any other such case.

''We will take blood samples of the deers and send them to Agartala for testing,'' said the warden.

The sanctuary is the home to about 400 spotted deer.

However, the sanctuary do not have the capacity to accomodate such a large number, sources said.

Several proposals had been given to send some of the deer to other zoos in exchange of a royal Bengal tiger but nothing had been done in this regard.

Several questions regarding early precautions have popped up after the mysterious death of this rare species.

UNI PD/PB/PP/AKP1329