Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

TTD unlikely to get civet cats

FULLY PROTECTED: The civet cat, which is an endangered species.

HYDERABAD: The request of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to restore three Small Indian Civet Cats which were seized from it last year appears unlikely to be conceded by the Forest Department given the highly endangered nature of the animals and the strict wildlife norms.

The civet cats are among species included in Part Two of Schedule Two of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which prohibits domestication of the specified animals.

The TTD has laid claim to the three cats on the ground that a yellow secretion (civet) by the animals was being used since times immemorial for ‘abhishekam’ of Lord Venkateswara on Fridays. Board Chairman B. Karunukar Reddy said the civet mixed with other ingredients was being applied to the granite idol that kept it smooth and free from splits, a formulation with which forest officials disagree.

They said the civet was produced in the anal gland of the animal and deposited in a folding. It gets encrusted in the folding when it dried up. The animal ejects the substance by rubbing its body against a hard material as it develops an itching sensation.

The TTD had pitched a sandalwood pole in its dairy farm (Goshala) where it reared the civet cats to scoop the secretion periodically.

After seizing the cats, the Forest Department had confined them to the Sri Venkateswara Zoo at Tirupati. The TTD appealed to the government to be permitted to maintain the Tirupati Zoo with the sole objective to collect the civet. However, the Central Zoo Authority while rejecting permission, advised TTD to fund maintenance of the enclosure for nocturnal animals, including civet cats. The TTD could collect the civet in return. The idea was to reduce the financial burden on the zoo caused by feeding the animals which preyed only on predates like insects and small reptiles.

As things stood at this stage, the TTD has now come up with a fresh request for restoration of the three civets.

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