Central Zoo Authority of India shuts down West Bengal Forest Department rescue centre in Kolkata

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*HINDUSTAN TIMES, WEDNESDAY, 3rd January,2007, KOLKATA*

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*Deer deer! Rescue Centre too cramped*

*Rakeeb Hossain*

*Kolkata, January 2*

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* The Forest Department might be going overboard to save wild animals and

forestry. But the department cuts a sorry figure when it comes to

safekeeping and treating rescued animals in its backyard- at least at the

Deer Research and Animal Rescue Centre in Bidhannagar. *

* Here, the rescued animals are crammed into small transport cages with

hardly any space to move around. They have no proper housing,

round-the-clock medical facility, full-time veterinarinarian or veterinary

unit. There are hardly any employees trained to handle the animals.*

* Though it was set up a decade ago as an animal rescue centre, the

department also tried to use the facility as a deer research park, housing

over 15 spotted deer. But it did this without necessary permission or

facilities, and thus drew sharp criticism from the Central ZOo

Authority(CZA).*

* So, when the forest department applied to the CZA a few months ago for

recognition of the centre as a Deer Research and Animal Rescue Centre, it

was denied the same after an inspection. Last June, when CZA scientific

officer Bipul Chakraborty visited the Bidhannagar centre, he found 188

animals of 14 species cramped in a space " only two hectare in area and

surrounded by the Krishnapur water channel, the Saha Institute of Nuclear

Physics and the residential area of Salt Lake. " *

* The animals included 15 spotted deer, 15 rhesus macaques, seven langurs,

five bonnet macaques, one jackal, one palm civet, 33 soft-shelled turtles,

63 star tortoises, 15 parakeets and 25 munias among others.*

* According to Chakraborty's report, the rescue centre was " not meeting all

the standards and norms prescribed under the Recognition of Zoo Rules

Act,1992, and that a better option would be to shift the centre to the

proposed new zoo site. " The report also said that there were staff quarters,

office buildings and a garage on two hectare. This confined the animals to

small transport cages. Plus, there is no clear cut area demarcated for the

animals and administrative offices.*

* " The place can at best be used as a transit centre or nursery for some

months.... Hence we have not given it any recognition and asked the forest

department to shift these animals to appropriate locations and improve the

centre's facilities. We have even suggested a new place. CZA would finance

the project, " CZA member secretary B R Sharma said.*

* The report says that if the state cannot shift the centre immediately, CZA

might remove the deer from the centre as these are not rescued animals and

are only increasing in number by the day due to breeding. *

* But conservator of forests(headquarters) V K Yadav said: " We regularly

release rescued animals in the wild or send them to the zoo. We use the

space only as a transit centre , and plan to shift to the new zoo coming up

in Bhagwanpur on the city's eastern fringes. " *

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*rakeeb.hossain* <rakeeb.hossain