The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police will assist the panel formed by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to investigate the death of numerous animals at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur.
“Samples of the dead animals have already been sent to the CID lab,” said Mostafa Kamal, secretary to the environment ministry, at a media briefing at the park on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
“CID has a qualified lab. The officials will test the samples collected from the dead animals and submit a report to the probe committee. Another three-member panel of experts from the fisheries and livestock ministry will advise and assist the team.”
The samples of the dead animals were also sent to the Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh and several other labs in the country and abroad for tests, Kamal said.
Nearly a dozen zebras, a tiger and a lioness have died at the safari park in the span of a month, stirring widespread speculation.
Park authorities attributed the zebras' deaths to a combination of a bacterial outbreak and fights among the animals.
But the environment ministry later formed a panel to further investigate the cause of deaths and recommend the next steps.
On Jan 31, Assistant Forest Conservator Tabibur Rahman and Safari Park Veterinary Officer Hatem Sajjad Md Zulkarnain were removed from the park as part of the investigation.
Zahidul Kabir, the park's project director, has also been relieved of his post and replaced by Mollah Rezaul Karim, the forest conservator of Dhaka.