This is the first instance of theft of animals since 2007, when several peacocks were stolen from the premises. It caused a huge embarrassment to the zoo. Nine years on, the numerical strength of the security apparatus for a 130-acre premises, does not look encouraging. Zoo authorities said, inclu ding the privately employed and PMC provided guards, a total of 15 securitymen are on the payroll and 14 are deployed at night. No security camera footage of the theft has been obtained, mainly because only six CCTV cameras have been installed on the campus.
“The surveillance system of the zoo is not strong. We need to install more security ca meras and deploy more guards to improve its security . We have already drawn up a plan and it shall be installed soon,“ Jadhav added. Animal rights’ activists in the city said the zoo’s attitude towards security of animals is “very complacent“.
“We are closely involved with the Katraj zoo authorities in the protection of animals there. While their performan ce is not bad, we have seen that security leaves much to be desired. Added to that, they are complacent towards the animals,“ Amit Shah of Prani Seva Sanstha said on Monday .
Regular visitors to the zoo and local residents expressed shock at such a theft from a secured zone. “I am fond of this place and I come here regularly. Rarely have there been such incidents here. In spite of security arrangements, the theft of a protected bird from the zoo is shocking,“ Suresh Bhalerao, a Dhankawdi resident, said.
The Great Horned Owl, though native to North America, is known to be highly adaptive and is found all over the world, including the Indian subcontinent.
Ornithologists and wildlife activists have warned about India’s fast-shrinking owl population. A 2010 report by Traffic India, the wildlife trafficking monitoring arm of the WWF and IUCN in India, warned that the use of body parts of the owl in black magic rituals by tantriks was one of the main reasons for this sharp decline. Owls are often found on sale in rural and tribal markets through organized smuggling rackets, and parts like its beaks, eggs, feathers are often used in such rituals.
Senior police inspector Vijaysinh Gaikwad of Bharati Vidyapeeth police station told TOI that the zoological park authorities lodged a complaint against unidentified persons for allegedly stealing the bird from its cage on Sunday .
The suspects have been booked under the provisions of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act. Police suspect they may have stolen the bird for trade, and unlike peacocks it is not killed for consumption.
Source : TOI
