Nandankanan zoo ready to beat heat

BHUBANESWAR: The Nandankanan zoo authorities are trying their best to make the coming summer comfortable for the zoo inmates.

Coolers, water sprinklers and overhead tanks have been put up at most of the enclosures to save the inmates from heat stroke and related complications. Birds' enclosures have been covered with bamboo mats and straw-thatched roofs.

"Birds need to wet their bodies from time to time during the summer to maintain their body temperature. So we are trying to ensure continuous flow of water there," deputy director Chittaranjan Mishra said.

This apart, the zoo authorities use sprinklers to cool the Sambar enclosure, which is spread across over two acre area. "We are also concerned with the bears. Apart from giving them water to take bath twice a day, we give them ice blocks to lick. Water is also sprinkled on the walls of the bear enclosure. They are given special diet which includes sugarcane juice and watermelons. Besides, veterinary doctors are consulted regularly," Mishra said.

Coolers have been provided to the squirrel monkeys' enclosure as they are prone to heat stroke. The zoo authorities are also planning to put up sheets of gunny bags to keep the enclosures wet. "Food supplements, which have medicinal values, are also being served to the animals. The chimpanzees are being served coconut juice," said a zoo official.

He said more than 50 percent of the enclosures, out of the total 202 in the zoo, are being specially treated, an official said, adding, "We have kept a vehicle ready to ferry animals to hospital in case of emergency."