Three toucans go missing from Alipore zoo, three persons sacked

Three toucans went missing from their enclosure in the city zoo and three persons in charge of their security have been sacked, a Zoo official said on Friday.

The authorities have also lodged an FIR at the Watgunge police station in the city, he said.

The toucans, a species of tropical South American bird with bright feathers and a very large beak, were kept in a separate enclosure as they were sick, Alipore Zoo director A K Samanta said.

''Our guards found on Thursday morning that the iron net of the enclosure was cut open and the toucans were missing, he said.

A ladder was found kept against the boundary wall adjacent to Orphangunj Road near the toucan's enclosure, a police officer said adding that an improvised bird catching net was also seized from the spot.

Police have collected CCTV footage of the zoo and its authority has constituted an internal committee to probe the theft.

The police suspect involvement of zoo insiders in the incident.

The three exotic birds were among the four rescued by the BSF last year while they were being trafficked, Samanta added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)