Bahawalpur - As many as seven rare deer in Bahawalpur Zoo of Pakistan were found dead under mysterious circumstances on Saturday, while 12 others were critical.

 It is suspected that the deer died after eating poisonous fodder; however, the zoo management denied commenting till post-mortems were complete.

The samples of the deer have been sent to Lahore to find out the actual reason for their death.
This comes days after an African giraffe worth USD 10 million died in the Peshawar Zoo under "mysterious circumstance".

The samples of the deer have been sent to Lahore to find out the actual reason for their death.
This comes days after an African giraffe worth USD 10 million died in the Peshawar Zoo under "mysterious circumstance".

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court had compared zoos in Pakistan to concentration camps while scolding the government for depriving two Himalayan bears at Marghazar Zoo of their natural habitat.

According to a report by Dawn, Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that it was inhumane to have deprived the two bears -- Suzie and Bubloo -- at Marghazar Zoo of their natural habitat for the mere "entertainment of the human species".

Islamabad's Marghazar Zoo also housed "world's loneliest elephant" Kaavan who was diagnosed as emotionally and physically unstable. The elephant, who according to veterinarians, was malnourished, finally departed for a new home in Cambodia on December 1 after spending 35 years in the zoo.