Death of trainee vet in hippo attack; Probe to find who asked her to enter enclosure

Trainee veterinary officer Dr. Sameeksha Reddy’s death in hippopotamus attack at Tyavarekoppa Tiger and Lion Safari in Shivanogga has raised many questions about the safety of veterinarians engaged to treat wild animals. She joined the training on February 1.

The family members, who visited Shivamogga, questioned why the officers at the zoo allowed the trainee officer to the hippopotamus enclosure on Thursday (March 19, 2026) night in the absence of seniors.

Following the incident, Shivamogga Police have registered an unnatural death report. Ms. Reddy was to follow up treatment of sun conure, a South American bird. As part of the treatment schedule, she had to administer antibiotic to the bind twice a day with a gap of 12 hours.

According to Dr. Murali Manohar, veterinary officer of the zoo, Ms. Reddy was at the safari late at night on Thursday to administer antibiotic to the bird.

“She volunteered to treat the bird. She was not assigned to monitor health of hippopotamus”, he said.

The hippopotamus was eight-month pregnant and it had stopped taking food for last four-five days. “This was quite normal for hippopotamus. I had explained to the trainees about its nature. However, I had not asked her to treat the animal.

The trainee officer came under attack when she went to record body temperature of the animal using thermal camera”, he said.

Mr. Murali Manohar said he had resigned to the post of veterinary officer for personal reasons in November 2025 and continued in the duty to train the new apprentices.

V.M. Amarakshara, the executive director of the zoo, is also unaware who asked the trainee to enter the hippopotamus enclosure. “The pregnant wild animal had not moved out of the pond for a couple of days. Maybe the trainee veterinarian entered the enclosure, believing that the animal might not come out of the water body”, he said.

However, it is not clear who asked her to record the temperature of the animal at night. “We need to check what instructions she had from the veterinary officer. That would be part of further investigation”, the officer stated.

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre had ordered a probe into the death of the trainee, a native of Bengaluru.