Vizag Zoo: Showers, special diet keep animals cool

Officials take special care in view of severe summer at Indira Gandhi Zoological Park.

April 18, 2016 08:27 am | Updated 08:27 am IST - VISAKHAPATNAM:

VISAKHAPATNAM, ANDHRA PRADESH, 17/04/2016: An elephant giving itself a splash even as an animal keeper sprinkles water on it to make it escape the sweltering sun as many of the trees were uprooted during the 2014 Hudhud cyclone, at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam .. ---Photo:C.V.Subrahmanyam

VISAKHAPATNAM, ANDHRA PRADESH, 17/04/2016: An elephant giving itself a splash even as an animal keeper sprinkles water on it to make it escape the sweltering sun as many of the trees were uprooted during the 2014 Hudhud cyclone, at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam .. ---Photo:C.V.Subrahmanyam

The big cats refused to touch beef even as the animal keeper gave them their daily quota, perhaps, in view of the sweltering summer heat. ‘Dalapathi’ the hippopotamus sulked, burying his head in the water, and refused to come out of the water even when the keeper called him by his name. It took a lot of coaxing by the keeper and finally bananas did the trick.

Dalapathi leapt out of the water and stood close to the wall of the enclosure with its jaws wide open in anticipation that the keeper would put the bananas into his mouth.

It was the turn of the visitors to be astonished as the animal gulped down over a dozen bananas in one go.

This was the scene at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park on Sunday afternoon. The rising mercury levels and the sweltering summer heat did not deter the holiday crowd from visiting the zoo. Spread over 625-acres of land, against the backdrop of hills on two sides and the blue waters of the Bengal of Bengal on its rear, the Vizag zoo is billed as the only of its kind in the country to be set amidst natural settings.

Avian enclosures

The mats hung over the avian enclosures were being given a splash of water to keep the birds cool. Thatched shelters were erected in the animal enclosures to enable them to protect themselves from the heat.

Succulent diet

“Shelters could not be provided in the enclosures of rhesus monkey, bonnet monkey and sloth bear as there was a danger of these animals using the shelters to jump out of their moats. The night crawl is, however, kept open even during the day for them to rest in the shade,” Zoo Curator B. Vijay Kumar told The Hindu on Sunday. “Succulent diet is being given to both carnivores and herbivores to help them tide over the hot summer. Glucose and polybion are included in the diet apart from raw egg.

The quantity of beef has been reduced considerably. The consumption of succulents like water melon for the herbivores has been doubled and electrolyte powder is included in the diet for birds. Fans have been arranged for the primates and the cheetahs in their night crawls, wherever there is very little ventilation,” Zoo doctor Srinivas said.

2,000 trees damaged in Cyclone Hudhud

“As many as 2,000 trees were damaged during the very severe cyclone Hudhud on October 12, 2014. The saving grace is that we still have water from the adjacent Kambalakonda catchment area and the pond in the zoo is full of water. This water is enough to recharge the groundwater in the zoo. We also have five bore wells, six big sumps, five 5 HP motors besides a standby motor. Our security personnel fill the sumps every night and that would be enough to meet the drinking water needs for four days,” he said.

“This apart, we have two municipal water connections for drinking water supply to visitors, six RO plants of 1 litre/hour and one each of 500 litre/hour and 1,000 litre/hour capacity in the zoo. There are also 18 water points for visitors to quench their thirst. We will also sell quality caps at the Main Gate at a discounted price of Rs.30 each for visitors to protect themselves from the sun as they go around the enclosures,” Mr. Vijay Kumar said.

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