Dead but living; how zoo animals suffer in the summer season

Transferring animals from the wild into closed compounds with the promise of controlled living conditions, food and other facilities is what zoos aim to provide. There is however, no comparison between an animal’s natural habitat and those artificially created in cages, zoos and other animal facilities, where there is an extreme lack of resources and a seeming lack of compassion. And such is the situation in many zoos in India.

So as the sweltering summer approaches, it’s not just the humans who are feeling the heat. In one of the incidents, the animals in the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, are showing distinct signs of discomfort and retreating to the shade. Though their concerned ‘keepers’ are keeping them cool with water spiked with electrol powder and giving the herbivores (elephants) fruits and green vegetables.

On the other hand, the summer brings many challenges ahead for the officials of Bannerghatta National Park in Bangalore. The Park has 4-5 borewells that have not been able to meet the rising water demands of the park. On a single day, the park requires two and half lakh litres of water. Speaking to City Express, Devraj Deputy Conservator of Forests said, "We are using borewell water for the animals, however, for the water holes, we are procuring water from outside tankers."

Human beings are not the only ones trying to stay cool amid the summer heat, the animal kingdom too needs to quench their thirst and protect themselves from dehydration. But this serious state of affairs of the thirsty and often malnutritioned animals is not just restricted to Hyderabad and Bangalore, it is in fact a more common site in of the oldest zoos of the country, Byculla Zoo at Mumbai where the animals are often seen struggling with the humid weather and lack of clean water.

“Weather models show that the month of May and June could be warmer than usual and therefore the summer 2013 could be unbearably hot”, says Mahesh Palawat, Head of the forecasting team at Skymet Weather.

It is therefore extremely essential to take such serious and often questioned issues even more seriously this summer and help the poor animals withstand the climate change. For this, water coolers, natural ‘thunga’ grass covers which are watered regularly, foggers, sprinklers, ‘kush thattis’ and other devices could be installed as coolants. Besides, when the temperature increases and power cuts become a regular activity, guardians should be assigned to throw water in the enclosures manually.

Photo by Ritika Acharya.