31 spotted deer died at IIT-M in 6 months
The Hindu
Activists raise concerns; IIT-M says numbers down compared to previous years
Thirty-one spotted deer and four blackbucks died in the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras (IIT-M) campus in six months between July and December 2021, data obtained by an activist from the Forest Department under the Right to Information (RTI) Act showed.
Activists have alleged that the numbers showed that the deaths did not significantly decline despite what they termed as ‘harsh’ steps taken by the IIT-M administration to prevent stray dogs from roaming in the campus. The administration, however, said that the number of deaths has declined compared to previous years.
The reply obtained by R. Aswin Kumar under the RTI Act showed that while postmortem was done for all the blackbucks, it was done for only 15 of the 31 spotted deer. The cause of death of only 10 spotted deer is, however, mentioned in the reply. While two died due to dog bite, another four died due to weakness and diseases. Importantly, the remaining four died due to plastic indigestion.