It often begins with just a roar. Soon, a chorus of fearsome noises reverberates across the 10-acre stretch of land in one corner of Vandalur Zoo. Welcome to the 14-year-old Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, an arm of the Vandalur zoo. The facility was created to rescue lions and tigers from circuses and rehabilitate them.
The centre has its origin in an order issued in 1998 by the Union Government, banning animals such as elephants, tigers, leopards, sloth bears and monkeys from performing in circuses. Following the order, the Ministry of Environment and Forests identified five places across the country to set up rehabilitation centres. One among them was Vandalur.
The centre was inaugurated in 2000 and has a capacity to accommodate 40 lions and 20 tigers. However, the centre now has only 11 lions, including five females, and five tigers, including one male. The animals are healthy, as is evident from their shiny skins and the bright stripes on the tigers.
K.S.S.V.P. Reddy, additional principal chief conservator of forests and zoo director, said the rehabilitation has helped these flagship species to have an extended lifespan. More than the rehabilitation, it is the space and a pollution-free atmosphere that has really provided them a chance to spend the rest of their lives peacefully and happily, he said.
The rescued animals’ day begins with their release into the paddock area, which is just like a forest that has been fenced. They spend at least five hours in the open after which seven kg of beef with 150 g of liver are provided to them in the evening. Once the feed is provided, the animals are not allowed out of their enclosures. Boneless meat is provided for the animals that have lost their teeth. Every Tuesday, the animals are not fed, he said.
Not many people are aware of this centre as it is not open to visitors to the zoo, said Wildlife authorities. The facility could be used as an ‘Off Site Breeding Centre’ for tigers and lions at a later stage, they added.
