Kolkata, Sep 3 (IANS) Not a single animal has gone ‘missing’ from the Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata, says the preliminary investigation report of West Bengal Forest Department. It also said that there was inaccuracies in the report of the Central Zoo Authority which said that about 321 animals had gone missing from Alipore Zoo, which is the country’s oldest zoological garden.
Based on the Central Zoo Authority’s report, the state forest department had started an investigation into the allegations of 321 animals going missing from the Alipore zoo. The report was submitted recently.
According to sources, the report mentions the mistake of the central zoo authorities. West Bengal Forest Department Minister Birbaha Hansda has already reviewed the initial investigation report, said a senior government official on Wednesday.
According to forest department sources, there was no mistake in the information sent by the Alipore Zoo to the central zoo authorities. The wrong information was published in the central report itself, which the state was also asked to correct. However, this was not done. This report has brought relief to the forest department.
Recently, a voluntary organisation named ‘Swazon’ approached the Calcutta High Court in this regard.
The organisation claimed that there were 672 animals in 2023-2024 but in 2024-2025, it was 351 which indicated that about 321 animals went missing without a trace.
The organisation further claimed that such incidents of animals going missing without a trace have been going on for 30 years.
Therefore, the organisation appealed to the High Court, urging the it to call for an account of various irregularities of the last 10 years. After the transfer of the director of the Alipore Zoo, the Forest Department started an internal investigation into this matter.
A forest department official said: “The investigation report is satisfactory. Because, there is no evidence of any animal going missing from the zoo. Apart from that, to bring or send any animal to any zoo in the country, permission has to be obtained from the Zoo Authority of India under the Government of India. Therefore, it is not possible to officially take animals from the zoo to somewhere else. However, only after the forest department takes some more steps, the report will be made public in this regard.”
Apart from this, the report also mentions several issues regarding the internal management of the zoo. The investigation committee has also recommended that the forest department needs to monitor the situation and recommend correction.
–IANS
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