As many as 21 female spotted deer, including fawns, were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Kanan Pendari Zoo of Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district today.
The cause behind the deaths is unknown.
The incident came to light when a member of the zoo staff went to the open enclosure of the spotted deer to feed them this morning, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Hemant Pandey said.
On finding the animals dead, the employee immediately informed zoo authorities, he said.
Ruling out the possibility of some miscreants' hands behind the incident, the DFO said that a three-member team, including senior wildlife experts and forensic experts reached the spot from Durg Veterinary College to investigate the cause behind the deaths.
However, the DFO said that samples of cattle feed given to the animals last evening have been collected so that chemical tests could be conducted to investigate further.
After this incident, only 33 spotted deer, including 18 male deer and 15 female deer, are left in the Kanan Pendari zoo, located around 10 km away from Bilaspur town.
