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Young World
Aye, Aye need help!
Text and pictures by BRIJ KISHOR GUPTA
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A zoo is a window to the sheer wonder and delight of the natural world. The Jersey Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in the U.K. is one such.
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Rare Mauritius pink pigeon
In the Madagascar there are more than 60 threatened species that require immediate attention. The species include the Aye-Aye, the only representative of a highly social primate family of the Alaotran gentle lemur, the Rodrigues fruit bat, the Round Island Boa from Madagascar, the Pink Pigeon from Mauritius, the Mallorcan Midwife toad, and the Malagasy flat-tailed tortoise from Madagascar.
The zoo at Jersey Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in the United Kingdom has been doing pioneering work to save these species. The zoo houses most of these animals in natural enclosures. The staff at the zoo ensure that the animals are fed the right diet and the food is cooked in a clean environment. The Aye-Aye's natural diet includes flower nectar, fruits, coconuts, plant galls, adult insects and small vertebrates.
In captivity, the Aye-Aye are selective. Varying the food as much as possible is important, since the Aye-Aye dislike eating a certain item that is presented too often. The animal hospital at the Jersey zoo is well equipped to meet the needs of their animals. Detailed records of the medical histories of the zoo's animals in the zoo's are stored in the hospital computer system.
Black and white Ruffed Lemurs
When new animals arrive at the zoo, they are taken to the quarantine ward and tested for infectious diseases that could endanger other animals or keepers and are given the necessary vaccinations. Most animals remain here under observation for several days. Even after they leave the quarantine ward they are constantly monitored for diseases and nutritional problems.
Today zoos remain a primary window to the sheer wonder and delight of the natural world.
The greenhouse effect and global climatic changes have so modified habitats that many species are endangered.
And it is only if we join hands to conserve them that they can survive.
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