Believe it or not, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests asked Calicut University, Kerala to close down a non-existent zoo by mistaking sculptures of animals in its park for real animals.
The authorities of the Calicut University, which is based in a sprawling 375-hectare campus in Malappuram district, were shocked to receive instruction to close down the “zoo” within the varsity premises. It took some time for the university officials to understand what had prompted such a notice.
The zoo authority mistook the exquisite sculptures of deer, rabbits and turtles in the park as living animals in pictures on Facebook or Net-based satellite-generated maps, said officials of the Vice-Chancellor’s office. They have sent a reply explaining to the zoo authority about the mistake.
The sculptures were installed in the park by the landscaping section of the university as part of campus beautification. Visitors to the campus used to take their photographs posing alongside these beautiful sculptures made of reinforced concrete and post them on social networking sites like Facebook.
“We are happy that the sculptures in our garden are so life-filled that even the zoo authority could mistake them for living animals. But it is quite strange that a body like the CZA would initiate such action without proper verification or at least before seeking an explanation from the university,” said a university official.
The university, which boasts of having on its campus one of the best botanical gardens in the country, had several years ago sought the CZA’s permission to set up a zoo for deer and other animals but the application was turned down. The university authorities think that this application also could have contributed to the decision of the CZA to send the letter.
The letter from the authority had asked the university to close down the ‘zoo’ being run without permission as per the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and to safely shift all the animals to the nearest approved zoo. Copies of the letter were also sent to the District Collector and the Wildlife Warden.
Officials from the Department of Forest recently visited the university to examine the ‘animals’ in the park. “I didn’t think there are people who still mistake rope for snake and ghost for post, examples cited in classes on Sri Shankara’s theory of maya or illusion. It seems to be a case of cyber maya where virtual things become real,” said a former employee of the university.
The official in charge of the landscaping of the campus has written a letter on behalf of the vice-chancellor to the Zoo Authority explaining the situation and attaching photographs of the park.