Dhaka Zoo has been providing healthcare services including regular medical check up to about 2,161 animals with a single veterinary surgeon.
Zoo officials said from the very beginning of its establishment in 1974, this popular recreational hub of the country has only one sanctioned post of veterinary surgeon, two assistants and only one attendant to look after the ailing animals.
Though the zoo’s animal population has increased over the years, the post of doctors remain the same creating pressure on the zoo hospital and increasing sufferings of the animals.
Dhaka Zoo Veterinary Hospital’s veterinary compounder Ranjit Kumar Biswas told New Age that last month a new veterinary surgeon, Nazmul Huda, joined Dhaka Zoo, three months after the post remained vacant.
The former veterinary surgeon, Zakir Ul Farid, left the zoo on a 5-year leave in May 2012, he said.
There is only one sanctioned post for veterinary surgeon and in case of emergency the Zoo curator performed the duty of acting veterinary surgeon.
The hospital has three 3rd class employees including one dresser and two attendants, he said.
The zoo gets an annual budget allocation of about Tk 5 lakh for medical treatment and regular check up of the animals, of which a large amount is spent usually for animal treatment, Tk 30,000 for buying various vaccines, while the rest is spent on medicines that are stored in the zoo hospital.
Ranjit said the budgetary allocation is too inadequate to treat hundreds of animal species. Moreover, diseases and symptoms of animals also differ according to their biological features.
Only one veterinary doctor and a few assistants simply cannot handle so many animals as each of them requires specific care during their ailment, said Ranjit.
According to zoo head clerk Shah Alam Tafader, the zoo is in a desperate need of animal caretakers, security guards and cleaners.
He said that the animal caretakers working currently have no specialised training to deal with the animals.
The zoo has a total number of 211 designated posts. Although the sanctioned posts are not sufficient to run the facility efficiently, only 168 of them are currently working. The rest 43 posts remained vacant for long, creating a pressure on the existing staff, said Shah Alam.
The animal budget allocation for the Dhaka zoo is Tk 9.5 crore, of which Tk 4.5 crore is spent on food for the animals, he added.
In addition to the present varieties, the zoo got nearly 270 animals of 54 species to enhance visitors’ attraction and it is creating further pressure on the hospital doctors and staff.
However, it is not clear how the zoo authorities would plan to manage the new guests with the existing staff, budget and doctors. The zoo authorities could not confirm whether they would employ more veterinary doctors, animal experts and animal caretakers.
The zoo is located on 186 acres of land at Mirpur in Dhaka city, accommodating around 2,161 animals including 11 tigers and 15 lions.
Every day, the zoo attracts about 3,000 visitors, said zoo officials.
Courtesy of New Age
