The death of a tiger and 11 zebras at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park at Gazipur's Sripur within a month was purposefully orchestrated as part of a larger conspiracy, Gazipur-3 constituency lawmaker Md Iqbal Hossain Sabuj has said.
The lawmaker made the claim after visiting the park on Sunday, adding that negligence by the Safari Park authority was also to be blamed for the deaths.
The reason for the tiger’s death could not be confirmed. Moreover, zebras kept dying one after another despite the efforts of park authority and experts to keep them alive, the lawmaker also said.
There are conspiracies afoot involving the park, Sabuj claimed.
Mention that internal feud among the park officials could also be at play here, he also called for the removal of the Safari Park’s project director and officer-in-charge for their failure to protect the animals.
However, Safari Park Project Director Md Zahidul Kabir claimed that Md Iqbal Hossain Sabuj made the statement impulsively.
No one is at fault here, the project director said, adding that a tiger died quite suddenly this month.
"The zebras died one after another. Already, a medical board has been formed and steps taken as per the board’s suggestions to help the remaining zebras," he added.
A probe committee from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also visited the park on the same day.
“To prevent more zebra deaths, the Safari Park authority is contacting expert physicians abroad as per directions from the ministry,” the environment ministry’s Additional Secretary Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik said.
Sanjay Kumar, who’s also the convener of the probe body, added that the committee will submit their report based on their observations and information that they unearthed. However, nothing can be said for sure right now.
