Rustam the Chimpanzee died a loner few years back, seeking love all his life but to no avail. Deprived of mates, many animals in the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park lead a life of loneliness which is gradually pushing them into depression.
Popularly known as the Chhatbir Zoo, the famous zoological park houses rare animal species listed under various schedules of the Wild life Protection Act. The zoological paraphernalia consists of animals like Grey Hornbill, lion Tailed Macaque, Yellow Monitor lizard, Common Pochard, Common Quail, Black Necked Stork and mammals like Jaguar, Hyena and Fellow Deer, a big hit with the children visiting the zoo.
Among this animals resides, Helly, a single lioness who is ready for breeding, but alas the only lion with the zoo, ‘Rocky’ is too old to mate and hence the lioness is devoid of a potential mate. The mating calls from the lioness are heart wrenching but the helpless zoo keepers are out of option.
These animals are lonely within and to add to their agony they are visited by humans who make various annoying noises which irritates them to the core says veterinary experts. Wild animals are not keen at socialising with other species and they love their privacy. Particularly during the mating season they want to live in segregation which they don’t get in a zoo.
Dr Manish, Field Director, Chhatbir Zoo said, “It is in our knowledge that some birds and animals that we have in our zoo are single. lack of potential mate has triggered psychological problems in them but we are helpless because to bring in mates from other zoological parks in the country is a very cumbersome process and hence we end up with no positive results.”
Due to lack of a friend and lover the animals are leading a life of utter deprivation. They are under stress which is quite evident from their behavior. Repetitive behaviors displayed by animals are indications of severe neurological disturbances. The main reasons behind such typical activity are boredom, lack of company, frustration, stress and deprivation from their natural habitat says experts working with the zoo.
Zoo animals can be seen pacing backward and forward in their enclosure in a frenzied manner, bobbing their head, repeatedly retracing their steps, and sitting motionless and biting themselves which is evident enough that they have lost interest in their mundane and monotonous existence and have slipped into a state of depression.
The scientific term for repetitive behaviors in captive animals is "Abnormal Repetitive Behavior" also known as ARB. This covers all the strange-looking repetitive behaviors we can recognize in captive animals, like zoo animals. These behaviors are also caused by conditions like depression, boredom and psychoses. Some zoos actually give anti-depressants or tranquillizers to control the behavior problems of some of their animals.
“Finding mates for the animals lodged in our zoo abroad, is not a feasible idea and on top of that it is the toughest thing to do. We try our best to keep the animal in a cheerful mood away from loneliness and boredom by changing their enclosure and environment to divert their mind from love. But like humans diverting an animal away from love is an uphill task,” says Dr Manish.
He further adds, “We have female hyena which is in her mating season and we are trying to get male hyena from Tirupati Zoo besides Hell the lioness, for it we have contacted Junagarh Zoo in Gujarat and National Zoological Park in Delhi for a potential male partner.”
Till their partner arrives, Helly along with the hyenas will have to wait rather a long wait suffering bit by bit from the regular pangs of love.