Belagavi, Nov. 17 -- A wave of unexplained deaths at the Kittur Rani Chennamma Zoo has prompted a large-scale investigation after twenty nine blackbucks died over a three day period last week, zoo officials said on Sunday, adding that the facility had a population of thirty eight blackbucks, making the loss unprecedented for any zoo in the country, a fact confirmed by senior forest officials.

Nagaraj Balhasuri, the assistant conservator of forests in Belagavi, said multiple layers of inquiry were now underway.

"We have sent the water and the food consumed by the deer to a government laboratory for testing," he said, adding that viscera samples were sent to experts at Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru to establish the exact cause...