Pune's Katraj zoo to test beef for quality
At present, there are 22 carnivores, including seven tigers, three wolves, nine jackals and three leopards. Each day 120kg beef is served to these animals.
Authorities of the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park (better known as Katraj zoo) will start testing the quality of beef served to animals from this month, in order to safeguard the health of animals.
At present, there are 22 carnivores, including seven tigers, three wolves, nine jackals and three leopards. Each day 120kg beef is served to these animals.
Though Pune has not witnessed any incidents of animals falling sick because of the beef served to them, such incidents have been reported from other zoos.
Dr Rajkumar Jadhav, deputy director and incharge of the zoo said, “A sample of the beef will be sent to the Bombay Veterinary College, in an icebox once a month. The laboratory will conduct a microbial test on the beef and give us a report. Regular testing would give us an idea of the quality of beef supplied to us by the contractor and also forewarn us about any possible deterioration in quality.”
This is an ongoing drive taken by the zoo authorities to safeguard the health of the animals. Prior to this, the authorities had started testing the water served to the animals, at the water testing laboratory at Parvati.
“A few months ago we had detected contamination in one of the water tanks and rectified it in time to avoid an adverse effect on the health of the animals,” he said.