No beef for animals in 2 Uttar Pradesh zoos, Rajya Sabha told

Two zoological parks in Uttar Pradesh faced difficulty in supply of beef meant for feeding carnivorous animals, following a ban imposed by the state government on illegal slaughter houses, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan, in a written reply to the Upper House, said apart from these two zoos situated in Lucknow and Kanpur, no other zoo in the country faced any difficulty in feeding the carnivorous inmates.

“As per information received from the Central Zoo Authority, only Nawab Wazid Ali Shah Zoological Garden, Lucknow, and Kanpur Zoological Park of Uttar Pradesh faced difficulty in the supply of beef for carnivorous animals due to a ban on illegal slaughter houses,” he said.

The minister was asked whether carnivorous animals in various zoos of the country were facing inconvenience in their food consumption due to the unavailability of beef.

“The carnivorous animals of above mentioned two zoos were served with goat meat (mutton) instead of buffalo meat,” Vardhan said.

After coming to power, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered closure of illegal slaughter houses and strict enforcement of the ban on cow smuggling to fulfil a key electoral promise.