“The lizards were pulled out by a zoo ranger on January 28 without seeking any permission. We have taken disciplinary action against the staff,” curator Riyaz Khan said.

All four monitor lizards at the Delhi Zoo have died of “shock” after being taken out of their enclosures during hibernation by a staff member.

“The lizards were pulled out by a zoo ranger on January 28 without seeking any permission. We have taken disciplinary action against the staff,” curator Riyaz Khan said.

As per the postmortem report, the lizards died of shock.

Mr. Khan said the reptiles died on February 1, 2, 11 and 15.

According to the curator, the lizards go into hibernation from November to March. “They are not disturbed. No food or water is given to them during this period,” another zoo official said.

The zoo now has no more monitor lizards. The curator added that a detailed report was being prepared by the zoo authority regarding the incident and further action would be taken after the Director examined the same.

The zoo had reopened in January after a brief hiatus owing to the bird flu scare last year which claimed the lives of 14 water birds.