Replica of dead bison put up in Pune, with apology

A day after a bison strayed into a residential area of Pune city and died soon after being captured, an NGO put up its replica with a message that it was humans who were responsible for its fate.

A day after a bison strayed into a residential area of Pune city and died soon after being captured, an NGO put up its replica with a message that it was humans who were responsible for its fate. The huge replica with the message ''Please forgive us- we are guilty'' was created and displayed by the Bharat Flag Foundation.

The foundation is run by the owners of Murudkar Zendewale, a popular flag shop in the city. On Wednesday, a Gaur (Indian bison) strayed into Kothrud's Mahatma society and it took four to five hours for forest officials to capture it by using tranquilizers.

But the animal died during treatment. Forest officials blamed the crowds which caused the animal to panic.

It made the gaur run, made its body temperature to go up and as a result, it was overstressed, leading to the death, officials said. ''We created the replica of the gaur to appeal Pune residents to express their feelings for the animal and feel apologetic for the way people behaved during the rescue operation,'' said Girish Murudkar, the owner of Murudkar Zendewale.

The NGO works for the conservation of animals and forests, he said..