Imphal, July 04, 2010: Barely a few days after a barking deer was found dead at the Manipur Zoological Garden following the inundation of the low lying areas of the zoo, another barking deer was rescued by wild life enthusiasts and have found a new home for the animal at the State run animal house today.

Following the heavy downpour sometime back and interspersed by sudden heavy downpour in between, many parts of the Zoological Garden including the enclosure for the deers have been submerged under water for quite some time.

Employees of the zoo are hard pressed to ensure that the animals do not suffer from any water borne diseases.

The barking deer was rescued by local people of Lamlai and subsequently handed over to the zoo authority today.

"Though the deer was healthy, we found it suffering from some scratches on its skin and we have applied the required balm and taken up other necessary steps," said an official from the zoo on being contacted today.

Contrary to reports that a deer had earlier died due to the inundation of their habitats, the zoo official said that the deer died from natural causes due to its old age.

Covering 9.5 hectares of land, the zoo currently houses over 400 animals including 31 species of mammals, three reptiles and twenty birds.

Eleven Sangais are also staying at the zoo.

"The animals have strong resistance against contagious diseases.

Nevertheless, we have been taking up effective measures to ensure their protection," added the zoo official.

As safety measures, the employees of the zoo have been administering lime and other chemicals regularly at the submerged areas.

On April 8, this year a 9.5 feet long King Cobra was seen for the first time in the State and it has got a new home in the State zoo, Incidentally the reptile was caught by the locals of Lamlai.

Manipur Forest officials, who have confirmed that the snake is a King Cobra did not rule out the possibility of the presence of this highly venomous snake in the State.

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