Life is no longer going to be easy and relaxed for most animals in the Lucknow zoo.
Life is no longer going to be easy and relaxed for most animals in the Lucknow zoo.
The authorities have decided to make the animals undertake an exercise regimen every day that will prevent them from turning lethargic. Directive to this effect have been sent out by the Central Zoo Authority.
To begin with a green ball suspended from a string has been set up in the enclosure where lioness Vasundhara is kept with her four lion cubs. The cubs can now be seen playing with the ball, jumping to ctach it and thereafter cashing each other around the enclosure.
Video of the cubs playing with the ball have already gone viral on the social media and visitors are flocking to see them play.
Zoo officials say playing with the suspended ball makes the cubs stretch their back muscles and reinforced tactile sensation (sense of touch). The more the animals exercise, more would they feel hungry. The workout will not only make them eat balanced diet but also improve their digestion. The bears in the zoo were recently given coconut which they had to break and eat. The exercise was aimed at olfactory stimulation. “Animals in the natural environment have to make an effort to get their food but in the zoo, it is served to them on a platter. We gave the coconuts to the bears and initially, they did not break it. When food was not served at the regular time, they felt hungry and then started making an effort to break the coconut and eat it,” said a zoo official.
The principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) in UP, Rupak De, said that they were designing an enrichment programme which will have several types of exercises that animals could be made to do on their own.
He said that exercises like these were a sort of physiotherapy for animals who otherwise lead a sedentary lifestyle in captivity. Most of them even develop arthritis due to inactivity.
While zoo inmates otherwise have a dull routine as they eat, sleep and breed and do nothing much beyond that, CZA has directed zoos all over the country to make the lives of zoo inmates better by engaging them in physically and mentally stimulating tasks.
Besides, the forest department is also seeking guidance from experts from the Longleat Safari and a UK-based organisation, Shape of Enrichment.
Experts from Longleat Safari recently conducted a training workshop for lions at Etawah lion safari recently. The lions were made to pull 35-kg sacks full of hay in an attempt to strengthen their jaws.
