New Delhi: The Pune forest department has registered an offence against director of the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Rajkumar Jadhav, following allegations of mismanagement surrounding animals at the zoo’s Wildlife Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WARRC).
The allegations against the director are connected to an investigation against a Pune-based NGO — Herpetological Society (IHS), tasked with managing the rescue centre.
Following a report this April Aditya Paranjpe, the honorary wildlife warden for Pune district, the NGO came under the scanner for alleged wildlife mismanagement and missing data of hundreds of animals in its official records.
This is the first time an offence is being registered against a zoo director in India. Further action will depend on a nod from the Pune Municipal Corporation, which runs the zoo.
“We are going to prepare a chargesheet. We have to get permission from Pune (municipal) commissioner to file this chargesheet in court, since this was an offence committed by a public servant while carrying out public duties,” Deputy Conservator of Forests Mahadev Mohite told ThePrint. The process of preparing the chargesheet is likely to take 120 days, he said.
Jadhav is accused of releasing four wild animals — two hyenas and as many antelopes, among the top protected animals in India — from the rescue centre into the zoo, instead of in the wild, without permission from the Central Zoo Authority.
According to Paranjpe’s report, Jadhav also allegedly started a breeding programme with two of the animals.
Jadhav has denied the allegations, telling ThePrint last month that he had done nothing illegal, and that the move was aimed at the welfare of the animals.
Referring to the allegations about the animals being kept in the zoo, he said the animals could not have been released into the wild.
Reached for comment after the registration of the offence, Jadghav said he was unaware of the development.
‘Very serious offences’
Paranjpe’s report said the rescue centre at the zoo in Katraj released 612 wild animals — including Russell’s vipers, cobras and other venomous snakes — outside of their habitat over the last two years, in violation of rules.
The report also alleged gaps in the records of 328 animals, including rusty spotted cats, cobras, barn owls, and pangolins. Paranjpe had said earlier that the missing records were suspicious, but added that there was no evidence of trafficking yet.
Some zoo animals, Paranjpe had said in the report, were also shifted to the rescue centre without any proper paperwork.
The offence against Jadhav has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, on the instructions of assistant forest officer Ashutosh Shendage and deputy conservator of forest Mahadev Mohite.
The sections invoked include Section 51, which says any violation of laws and rules under the Act will lead to imprisonment of up to three years, and a fine of up to Rs 25,000.
In a letter dated 13 September, which ThePrint has accessed, Mohite wrote that there were no documents to show that the zoo director had permission to move the four animals into the zoo.
Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, responsibility for this should be assigned to the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Mohite wrote.
“IHS was appointed on contract basis, so the responsibility of their activities also falls under the zoo director,” Paranjpe said, explaining why an offence was not registered against the NGO.
Since the animals involved are listed in the Schedule I and II of the Wildlife Conservation Act — thus enjoying the highest of protection among the six schedules listing India’s wildlife — the offences are very serious in nature, he added.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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