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Guwahati, Sept. 26: The Arunachal Pradesh forest department today swung into action and dismissed the night guards who were not present when poachers came and hacked a tigress to death on Monday night.
Along with the night guards, who were contingency workers, another forest guard, a permanent employee, has also been suspended.
“The services of three night guards who were absent from their duty have been terminated and a forest guard has been put under suspension,” zoo director Zoram Dopum told The Telegraph.
The department has come under severe pressure and attack from all sides after poachers barged into a zoo and killed the six-year-old tigress.
“We still do not know the intention for killing the tigress as some body parts were still there,” the official said.
A source said many more heads could roll as the department is viewing this incident seriously.
The carcass of the tigress was burnt today in the presence of forest and police officials. A source said a team, either from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) or from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, would be coming. In fact, the CZA has cleared the masterplan (layout) of a biological park in Itanagar which will help in the modernisation of the zoo.
“Once the overall layout plan of the zoo is approved, we can go ahead with improvements in infrastructure,” Dopum said.
The masterplan of a zoo should be a comprehensive document giving a detailed road map for 20 years with a provision for review every 10 years regarding development, improvement and upgrade of the facilities and infrastructure available at the zoo and building the capacity for carrying out all the operations forming part of the zoo management with greater efficiency.
Along with six big cats, the zoo also houses nearly 200 animal species.
The CZA has approved Rs 11.51 lakh as recurring expenditure under the conservation programme for hoolock gibbon at the biological park 2011-12. It is planning to develop the zoo as a model zoo in the region, which will enable them to match international standards.
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