Kanpur zoo director, 6 others suspended; probe ordered

The state government has also ordered an inquiry into the matter.

"The investigation of the matter has now been handed over to a team from Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) in Lucknow," a senior official said.

According to District Magistrate M P Agarwal, seven employees, including the director of the zoo, have been suspended.

"The UP government, after taking the issue with utmost seriousness, has suspended the zoo director K Praveen Rao, two officials Jai Prakash Awasthi and I P Yadav, guards Nathuram Dwiwedi and Udaibhan, watchman Sher Singh and keeper Parshuram," Agarwal said.

According to the post-mortem report, out of the 31 blackbucks found dead yesterday morning, 26 were doe. The report has revealed that 18 of them had died out of shock.

However, 29 of them had teeth and claw marks on their bodies. And, five of the them were badly devoured, the report said.

Meanwhile, the city corporation officials have been ordered to run a campaign to round up stray dogs in the city streets with immediate effect, Agrawal said.

Thirty-one endangered blackbucks were found killed by dogs in the zoo yesterday.

Out of the 38 blackbucks inside the enclosure, only seven had survived.

Blackbucks are native to the Indian subcontinent and have been classified as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).