Darjeeling, Feb. 7: A grey langaur died in Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park on Saturday, with a hole in its chest and the airgun slug that made it embedded deep in its flesh.

Zoo officials insist the langaur ?might not have died because of the flesh wound? and that the incident was a ?only a mishap?, but questions are already being raised about security in the park, which houses a host of animals listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Act, including the critically endangered snow leopard and red panda.

A source said an autopsy conducted on the primate suggests it died of internal haemorrhage, but could not determine how many days the langaur lived after receiving the injury.

?A guard on his morning rounds saw the langaur, a seven-year-old female, pacing around in the enclosure which she shared with two other females and a male, around 8 am on Saturday,? the source said.

?Suspecting something wrong, he rang Siromani Sangden, the state in-charge of the zoo. But the monkey died before help could reach it,? he added.

The caretakers, who feed the animals of the zoo every morning and evening, said they never noticed the injured animal behaving strangely.

Asked about the incident, Sangden said: ?It is unfortunate, but nothing more than a stray mishap. We are not even sure if the injury caused the langaur?s death.?

The state in-charge of the zoo said there was adequate security in the park. There are eight night guards and four day guards manning the exit. In addition, there are three forest guards.