Keeping the animals cool in summer
NIVEDITA GANGULY
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Here are ways in which the zoo inmates beat the heat.
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PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK
WADING IN WATER: The tiger and the hippo having a great time
A pervasive silence transcends across the place. The growls are subdued and the occasional calls are buried under a hushed murmur amidst the rustle of dry leaves. Cooling off under the soothing shade of trees, the felines doze off. The avian crowd sits muted on the bars, while the lazy hippo and tiger cool themselves in the pool.
With summer approaching at a deadening speed, the inmates of the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park are finding out new ways to beat the heat.
Cool zones
For the past few days, the zoo officials have been busy setting up various measures to create cool zones for the animals and birds. "Sprinklers, special thatching and cool roof paints are being kept to meet the requirements of the animals for the long summer months," said the zoo curator B. Vijaykumar. The hippos and the rhinos of the zoo, along with the elephant, are a lucky lot in this respect as they already have good water pools to loll about in.
Heat can sap the animals so much that the generally active monkeys abstain from their usual antics to cool their heels literally.
Most of the aged crowd in the zoo is being kept on liquid diets mixed with doses of glucose and B-complex syrup.
Arjun and Jinni, the kings of the zoo, seem morose and disturbed as they prepare to face yet another summer. The zoo officials have made sure to provide them with special measures to see them through the steamy months. The oldest lions bred in captivity, this 24-year-old couple is evidently the pride of the zoo and kept on a special diet considering their fragile state.
Special diet
"They are fed half litre of milk with smashed raw eggs, liver pieces, chopped beef along with multivitamin tablets and calcium preparations.
Alterations in diet are done under special circumstances to keep them in good shape," said Vijaykumar. Because of old age, digestive disturbances occur and arthritis troubles have to be taken care of regularly.
"The tigers are being given one litre of milk every day while butter milk and fruits are served to the other inmates," said Vijaykumar.
The summer is a dreaded season for the reptiles, as they cannot withstand high temperatures.
Water sprinklers work round the clock to keep them wet and cool.
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