The officials of Chhatbir Zoo are putting in all effort to keep the animals cool and calm as the mercury in the region is rising and the sun is breathing fire causing great inconvenience to the animals housed here.
Zoo authorities are particularly concerned about the newly born members, which are more sensitive to temperature variations, as for the last few days the temperature is soaring above 40 degree Celsius, draining both human and animals in the region.
Special attention is being paid to the 17 newly born gharials, Gavilias Gangeticus, and other hypersensitive animals and birds. Authorities at the zoo are also worried about the newly born sloth bear cub, born in January 2014 and three white tiger’s cubs, born in July 2013. While the bear and the white tiger cubs will have first hand experience of the heat in the open, gharials will have to wait a year more to bask in the scorching sun which is their favourite past time.
“This is the first summer for both these animal species. White tiger cubs were born last year during summers, but they remained caged for the entire season, and hence it would be the first summer for them along with the sloth bear cub to venture out in the heat as we are planning to release them in the open,” said Dr Munish Kumar, Field Director of Chhatbir Zoo.
Bears are hyper sensitive animals, just like deer, and our zoo has more than a dozen bears including seven Himalayan bears and six sloth bears. For the first time, we are providing ice cubes wrapped in jute bags to them in the open, rather than inside the cages, to provide them natural atmosphere within captivity, added Dr Munish.
“For an adult bear, 100 kg of ice is enough and that is the reason that we provide two cubes weighing 50 kg each, once in the morning and then in the evening, besides giving them seasonal fruits, vegetables, milk and other nutritional supplements to beat the heat,” said Dr Munish.
Summer extravaganza diet comprising of watermelon, melon and papaya is being fed to monkeys, elephants and bears, whereas cucumber and spinach leaves are being given to bird to munch upon to fight the scorching sun. On the other hand, glucose is being mixed in the drinking water of the carnivorous animals to keep them energetic.
Air circulator fans and desert coolers are buzzing round-the-clock for the animals to keep them from heat stroke and mud puddles have been created for them to play and keep themselves cool in the process. Enclosures have been covered with special agro-nets of 75 per cent density, to keep them cool and shady for the animal to reside in good humour.
Temporary shelters have been created for the different deer species, giving them a natural feel by furnishing these shelters with wood and shrubs, to chill after galloping around in the open fields under the sun. Apart from all this arrangements, special tankers and tractors are always on standby to ensure uninterrupted supply of water everywhere in the zoo in case of emergency, said the field director.