THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Zoo officials heaved a sigh of relief after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that the state would not implement the beef ban. Every day 130 kg beef is required for the zoo here including the bones. While the vet ensures the quality, the superintendent ensures quantity. The meat contractor who has been chosen after winning the e-tender supplies beef six days a week except for Monday when the big cat family has a dry day. Apart from tiger, lion and leopard, beef is also provided to jackal and jungle cat. Currently, a kg of meat is supplied at Rs 264.10.
A top Zoo official told DC that they are providing the price of the beef only for 700 grammes per kilo as the remaining would be bones for the big cats to bite and chew. When people buy beef from the market, they have to give the price of the bones as well. “The meat contractor has to cut and clean it in front of us here every day under CCTV surveillance where the waste would be taken away. On Thursday being district hartal, the contractor didn't turn up. So we decided to observe it as dry day instead of coming Monday,” said a top official.
The contractor has to do the skinning and remove the intestine and stomach parts. A senior veterinary surgeon will examine all the organs and certify whether it is deemed fit to consume. But there have been days when the contractor has brought carcasses which have been found not edible. “We will land in the soup if cattle slaughter is banned as the animals are used to the taste of beef. Of course, we used to provide chicken to one of our old Tigers, 19-year-old Karishma who had died two years ago. We will be forced to feed them with mutton which is costly and also on chicken,” said another official.
