Wild dogs kill 31 blackbucks in Kanpur zoo, 3 guards suspended

Thirty-one endangered blackbucks were on Sunday morning found devoured by wild dogs in the Kanpur zoo here, officials said later in the day. Three security guards on the night duty have been suspended, they added.

It was during the morning inspection of the enclosure that officials discovered that 31 blackbucks had been killed, even as they found some wild dogs still eating their remains, Kanpur Zoo director K Praveen Rao said. This despite the presence of barbed wires around the enclosure. The dogs were immediately driven away and two of them were shot dead in the process by the guards.

Of the 38 blackbucks inside the enclosure, only seven survived.

The post-mortem of the dead blackbucks have been conducted and an investigation team has been constituted to probe as to how the dogs managed to enter the enclosure despite the presence of the barbed wires, Rao said.

The security guards have been suspended for dereliction of duty, he added.