All Hands On Deck To Save The Life of A Puma Cub In Karachi Zoo
Monday, June 13th, 2016 10:10:28 by modousarr
The only surviving puma cub at the Karachi zoo is very precious to the staff as its other siblings passed away recently. The reason for their death is still unknown but efforts are being made to sustain the life of the only remaining cub. Claims were made that the first cub died of poor nutrition while the other had an infection.
The zoo staffs are still in a solemn mood after the death of the cubs.
The zoo director Fahim Khan expressed that “I am extremely saddened…….. They were quite well over the past 10 days since we started feeding them with powdered milk. It was sheer bad luck that they passed away.”
It is still unclear how the first cub got infected with tetanus because there were no visible signs of any injury or scratches on the body. Although there is a vaccination against tetanus for animals, the cub had not yet reached the age for it to be administered to.
Checkups were done on the surviving cub and it’s in good health condition. Zoo staff are however, hoping that the only remaining cub will live long so that an exchange of animals will be possible.
The cub is being fed through bottle feeding as its mom is in no condition to feed it. “She has very low production of milk which was the reason why one of the cubs was malnourished and the others were very weak. The mother has given birth to several cubs which might be the reason she is not so healthy.”
After confronted by various questions the staff clarified that the cubs were living in a clean den.
Although is a very sad event, the population of the Pumas is said to increase as of now because the pumas are the only cats that are giving birth at the zoo presently.
“It is the third time three puma cubs have been born in a space of three years. But only one cub survived in all cases.”
The chances of the remaining cub to survive is slim as it is not been nurtured by its mother. The older surviving cubs had been taken care of there mothers who were healthy.
Another factor that will affect the life of the cub is the soil. The zoo does not frequently change the soil in which the cubs sleep on and germs breed on the soil.
“A few years ago, the zoo started to replace the soil of some cages, but it could not be completed as the director that was in charge was changed.” a zoo staff reported.
Newborn cubs can only survive if the place they live in is hygienic.
“The zoo has low survival rates of newborn animals due to the fact that the environment in which they stay is not conducive. It is a sad situation because expensive developments have been made in the zoo yet still soil replacement has not yet been executed “he said.
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