The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Wildlife agency asked to rehabilitate hippo

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 11, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Wildlife agency asked to rehabilitate hippo

P. Oppili

The abandoned animal is languishing without sufficient water

CONFINED TO A TANK: The abandoned hippopotamus at a village near Polur.

CHENNAI: A male hippopotamus from a private circus, reportedly abandoned in a village near Polur, is now languishing without sufficient water.

People for Animals (PfA), which sent one of its representatives from Tiruvannamalai to check on the hippo's condition, said that two attendants from the circus were taking care of the animal in a facility owned by the Forest Department.

Nine weeks

Raja, the 18-year-old male hippopotamus, is being kept in a shaded tank measuring 4 x 4.5 metres with five feet of water level. The animal has been there for almost nine weeks now.

The hippo's morning diet is five loaves of bread, five litres of milk, a bunch of bananas and 40 kg of grass. In the evening, it is provided with carrots, potatoes and rice.

The animal spends most of its time in the tank and comes out only to feed, PfA said.

The PfA spokesman felt it was time the Wildlife authorities intervened and shifted the animal to a suitable place. The circus to which the hippo belonged, has the dubious distinction of abandoning animals.

On an earlier occasion, it had abandoned a dozen carnivores including lions and tigers in a village in Tiruvannamalai district, which were rescued and rehabilitated by the Wildlife authorities.

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