The directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) has sought the post-mortem reports of the 53 birds that died at the Alipore zoo hospital, where they were kept quarantined after being seized from smugglers in and around Calcutta this year. Deepankar Aron, additional director-general of DRI’s Calcutta unit, wrote to zoo director Asis Samanta on Tuesday, asking him to share the post-mortem details. Metro had on Tuesday reported that 53 of the 153 birds quarantined at the zoo hospital after being seized by DRI had died between June 2 and October 30. The death count has prompted the agency to question the conditions in which birds are kept at the hospital. “The zoo authorities are yet to respond to that letter.... Now, comes this prod from Aron,” a DRI official said.

Source: The Telegraph December 18, 2018 21:22 UTC