Zoo keepers turned at their wit’s end, when Caesar, a leopard at the Assam state zoo again declined to eat mutton even after being hungry for past two days. 
Zoo keepers tried to make Caesar eat everything from raw mutton to cooked minced lamb legs, but all in vain.
Ever since a ban on poultry and poultry products was enforced due to an outbreak of bird flu in Assam, authorities were forced to change the menu for the zoo inmates — from chicken to mutton.
There are about 30 cats in the zoo, from leopards to clouded leopards and jungle cats.
Zoo warden Narayan Mahanta says, “The cats at the zoo were earlier given chicken, but all of a sudden when we started serving them mutton they are refusing to eat”.
“We even tried serving them boiled minced mutton but still their acceptance level is less than 30 percent. This is a matter of concern for us,” the warden added.
Not only the cats, but the bears of the zoo are also annoyed.
17 districts of Assam have been hit by the deadly avian influenzadue to which an estimated of more than 300,000 poultry, including chicken and ducks have been culled since the epidemic broke out.
The Assam government banned the sale and consumption of poultry and poultry products in most parts of the state fearing bird flu might spread to humans.
