Shifting black panthers from Assam zoo criticised

Despite the hue and cry accompanying the transfer of three elephants from Assam to a temple in Gujarat a year back, two black panthers from the Assam State Zoo were transferred to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre, being set up by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Guwahati: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has strongly condemned the transfer of two black panthers from Assam State Zoo to a private zoo of the Ambani Business group in Gujarat.

In its statement, the APCC said it seems that even wild animals kept in captivity in zoos cannot escape from the tentacles of big corporate houses, as the recent ‘hush-hush’ transfer of two black panthers from the State Zoo in Guwahati to a zoo in Gujarat being set up by the Reliance group of the Ambanis has proved.

Despite the hue and cry accompanying the transfer of three elephants from Assam to a temple in Gujarat a year back, two black panthers from the Assam State Zoo were transferred to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre, being set up by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries at Jamnagar in Gujarat, in a secret manner during the second week of January, without the knowledge of animal lovers and conservationists in the state.

Although a senior forest official claimed that the transfer was done as part of an exchange program under which the Jamnagar centre would help Assam acquire four zebras from Israel, the document produced by him did not mention any such exchange and only states that the animals were ‘acquisitioned’ for the purpose of ‘display’.

There is no mention of any exchange of animals in the letter addressed to the PCCF (Wildlife) of Assam. Assam Congress demands an enquiry on the matter by the State Government.

What was the official procedure followed? Can such transfer take place for 'display?' If they have been sent for ' display ' are the black panthers being brought back to the zoo after 'display'? How can any such transfer take place during the pandemic situation?

It goes without saying that after the recent acquisitions by Reliance Industries of a large number of companies and entry into every business from telecom and entertainment to retail marketing, with the blessings of PM Modi, now even wild animals are not safe from its clutches.