Animals keep dying in Bangladesh's safari parks, above all at Gazipur Safari Park. Dr Bibhuti Bhushan Mitra looks for the reasons in an op-ed in Ajker Patrika. Safari parks keep wild animals in large natural enclosures rather than cages, with the aim of conserving endangered species, breeding, research and public awareness.
The writer notes that in August 2026 two elephants died a day apart at Gazipur Safari Park. Park officials believe an elephant named Raju Bahadur was badly injured in the leg in a fight with another elephant; despite treatment by local vets and an expert brought from Thailand, he could not be saved, and a preliminary report pointed to bacterial infection.
Between December 2021 and January 2022, 11 zebras died at the park; an inquiry found four died of injuries from fights for dominance within the herd and the rest of bacterial infection. Officials including the project director and the veterinary officer were removed for concealing the deaths and negligence. A tiger died after that, and a lioness on 3 February 2022.
At Dulahazara Safari Park in Chakaria, Cox's Bazar, the popular lion 'Sohel' died of old age in 2022, and another lion died in 2023 of anaplasma and babesia infections along with old age; a four-month-old elephant calf that never had its mother's milk died of a viral infection, and a nilgai rescued in Panchagarh died under treatment.
In the writer's view, the main causes are negligent supervision and management, late diagnosis, a lack of advanced treatment and experienced veterinary surgeons, irregular supply of nutritious food, inadequate quarantine and animals' failure to adapt to an artificial environment. He calls for regular administrative accountability and routine health checks. The views are the writer's own.
Written by Dr Bibhuti Bhushan Mitra, Ajker Patrika
Photo: Muminur Rahman / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); the gate of the tiger and lion safari at Gazipur Safari Park
Source: Ajker Patrika
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