There’s trouble in animal kingdom

[Guest guest]

Link:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061122/asp/ranchi/story_7034440.asp

 

There's trouble in animal kingdom

As the death toll rises, Arti Sahuliyar takes a look at what's it

that's going so wrong at the Birsa Munda Zoological Park

 

They are helpless — is basically what all the arguments and

explanations of the officials at Birsa Munda Zoological Park,

Ormanji, 20 kms from Ranchi, lead to.

 

Even after the deaths of five carnivorous animals and a baby

elephant just recently, that's all? Almost all.

 

The officials here really have no reason to rejoice perhaps when

rescued animals are brought in for shelter. For with no adequate

facilities available for their treatment, it's more like a dumping

space than the protective shelter it should be.

 

Home already to about 500 permanent animals and 300 varieties of

birds, the zoo is hardly in a position to look after them, leave

alone new additions. A three rupee ticket is enough to gain entry.

Go ahead, just take a stroll down the sprawling grounds for a first

hand experience of what all the pessimism is all about.

 

If one is curious, the curiosity is justified enough. One had been

told there's an animal hospital, and it has its doctors and

caretakers. One heard right. It's square in shape. But at present,

there's no permanent compounder, lab technicians, pathologists,

equipment, X-ray facilities, and before one rattles off more one

wonders if there's anything at all beyond the square structure.

 

Should one relax at the thought that the officials say that they

have written to the Central Zoo Authority for upgrading the lab

facilities? It might be done during this financial year, is their

optimistic wait.

 

They have also written to the state government for the creation of

41 more posts, including that of a veterinary doctor and a ranger

officer. As of now, they have a severe staff crunch, they maintain.

 

Under the circumstances, it's not really surprising that things are

as they are, points out Deepak Singh, director of the zoo. Even

simple things like getting blood and other necessary tests done for

the animals is a hurdle.

 

" Samples have to be sent to the Ranchi Veterinary College, which

delays the entire process. Hence, we are trying to make the

arrangement inside the premise and we are trying to make a

quarantine ward so that the rescued animals, which are brought from

outside, can be kept there and not mixed with the herd here, " he

said.

 

Veterinary doctor of the zoo Dinesh Kumar has more light to throw.

He rues they do not even have proper squeeze cages, which are

specially meant to keep the sick animals according to their

size. " We have six old squeeze cages, which becomes a problem. It

should also have a hydraulic machine, " Kumar said. But he insists

there is no let up in their daily care of the animals, and that

their health is constantly monitored and supervised. " We provide

vaccination on a regular basis, " added Kumar.

 

A peep into a squeeze cage shows four monkeys huddled together.

Rescued from Ramgarh, one doesn't see an improvement of their plight

here. In another squeeze cage outside the animal hospital, one sees

a wild hyena, which has been rescued from Imam Kothi, Kokar.

Suffering from internal injuries, it lay cuddled by itself.

 

" All our animals are healthy. It is only the rescued animals brought

from outside who carry diseases. Before bringing them, blood tests

and stool tests of the animals are conducted and kept under

quarantine for 60 days. We do not mix the animals with zoo animals,

instead they are kept in the animal hospital of the zoo, " insists

the vet.

 

According to the records, the zoo has approximately 2.5 visitors

annually, many of them from remote villages. The smell that greets

them is not what they perhaps come prepared for! The foul smell hits

really hard as one walks near some of the cages.

 

Authorities insist that the cages are cleaned at least three to four

times a day with phenol. One of the guards, Nilesh Kumar (name

changed), who has been working for two years, admits that it's not

possible to go through the cleaning routine daily. " We just do it

three days a week, as there is an acute shortage of manpower, " he

admits.

 

With winter nearly here, one can see little sign of anything being

done to keep the animals warm. Not that they are any better off

during the summer and winter months. Many of the animals do not have

proper shelters.

 

Nilesh rues, people, in spite of warnings, continue to throw popcorn

and other waste packets not just near the cages, but inside as well.

The zoo has been declared a polythene free zone, but visitors

continue to bring them, and carelessly dispose them anywhere.

Heedless of the signs — Do not throw waste things near the animal

cages. It is as good as not being there.