In
the last few years the zoo has been concerning on the modernization
of animal enclosures. To improve the housing and management of animals,
the work of renovation of bear enclosure and construction of pheasant,
Markhor & Himalayan Tahr were undertaken. A new enclosure was
also constructed to meet the increasing demand of growing red panda
population. The Red Panda is a highly endangered Himalayan species
for which Darjeeling zoo has initiated a captive breeding program.
The presence of Red Panda, Tibetan Wolf , Snow Leopard and Siberian
Tiger, subdued the existence of the Himalayan birds, specially the
pheasants. Most of the Himalayan pheasants are highly endangered.
Currently three species of pheasants are maintained in this zoo.
A new enclosure was constructed. The new enclosure provides facility
not only for these three species, but for other rare pheasants also.
The new pheasant enclosure has an arrangement for Privacy for breeding
as only one side is open to the visitors. The disturbance made by
any visitor or alike is reduced as the transparent poly carbonate
sheets in front checks the noise. This also enhance the visibility
without harming the activities of the birds. Withdrawal area for
their breeding and rearing of the off spring as the length of the
enclosure is quite long from visitor end. Freedom for 24 hours as
they are not caged during the night. The Himalayan black bear has
been on the display in the zoo from the very beginning. Since then
the animal is being housed in the same enclosure. Six night shelters
are attached to one outer run which is very small. The whole enclosure
was constructed very early was already been destroyed by bears.
As a consequence, the barren step slopes in the enclosure restricted
their movements and did not give sufficient scope to the animals
to have complete exercise. There was a need, but no scope to enlarge
the enclosure. Since the condition of the building was quite good,
the same enclosure was renovated as per biological requirements
of the animal. The enclosure now provides privacy, more area mobility
and exercise as the slopes are now made gentle, there is a water
pond to take bath, climbing and playing facility and bigger night
shelter. Along with the renovation of bear enclosure, construction
of Markhor and Himalayan Tahr enclosures were also undertaken. These
species are found at higher altitudes where the terrain is totally
rocky and stiff. To stimulate the habitat and to fulfil their behavioural
requirements, the enclosures were made rocky as far as possible.
PROCUREMENT
The zoo in general try to procure more and more animals for their
collection without considering the physical and financial implications
of such procurement. As a result the condition of the animals
deteriorates with every new addition. To overcome this problem,
this zoo has been concentrating on a few important animals during
the last few years. This process did have a positive effect on
the quality, but at the same time the zoo suffered for lack of
sufficient representation of Himalayan animals. The Himalayan
herbivores have always remained neglected due to the lack of facilities,
although the area is very rich in this type of fauna. Continuous
demand of fur and wool has reduced the population of many ungulates.
Therefore, the zoo has now procured a pair of the Himalayan Tahrs
and a pair of Markhors form Helsinki Zoo as no other in India
has got these animals in captivity.
SERVICES TO EX SITU CONSERVATION
PNHZP is the only specialized zoo in the country. While this zoo
takes care of high altitude animals, there is no facility for
non Himalayan indigenous animals. Nor Indian zoos serve the purpose
of education for which they are established. Padmaja Naidu Himalayan
Zoological Park in India is the only zoo to achieve captive breeding
success in most of the endangered Himalayan species. This zoo
has gifted a pair of Tibetan wolf and two Siberian tigers to Nainital
Zoo. The gifting of the animal was done with a intention to conserve
the species through a coordinated breeding program. Not only the
animals were received as gifts but the transport was also free
of cost. The gifts are in recognition of the conservation program
initiated in Darjeeling by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological
Park.
CONSERVATION AWARENESS & EXTENSION SERVICES
Most of the visitors were of the opinion that zoo should serve
the purpose of education. Of course conservation needs education
to spread its roots. Presence of the live animals in a zoo provides
an excellent opportunity to educate public about conservation.
Peoples participation in the activities of the zoo gives them
better understanding of the nature. Involvement of youths brings
still faster results because of their flexible ideas. Moreover,
it is easier to approach and mould striving for conservation of
Himalayan fauna through captive breeding and yet education can
not be ignored. Sit and Draw competition for school children is
one of such tools to spread the message of conservation . This
was organized on 13th April, 1997 in the zoo. The students themselves
approached and opted to volunteer. Efforts were to restrict the
number of the participants within five hundred, but number of
prizes were increased to encourage the students for their creativity
and knowledge procurement. The students were divided into three
groups. For the junior group, the topic was " Nature",
for the middle group "Cruelty to Animals" and for the
Senior group, the topic was " Water Crisis". Considering
the age of the students, not only the conception and ideas were
remarkable, but the quality of the drawings was also quite outstanding.
From this event it could be inferred that if motivated in a proper
way, they could be utilized to spread the message of conservation.
Another method of creating awareness includes, bringing items
correlating the animals. Hence, T-Shirts, depicting the animals
of this zoo, posters of Red Panda, Siberian Tiger were brought
out for sale to public.
WILDLIFE HEALTH, NUTRITION AND DISEASE NUTRITION
The nutrition of wild animals in captivity needs serious concern.
Choosing proper nutrition for the captive animals is a difficult
task due to non availability of natural feed nutrients. This difference
factor affects the health and breeding potentiality of the animals.
It is of evidence that the lower level of nutritional store (
mainly vitamins & minerals ) in the tissues of the same species
in captivity than free living state. In particular, the tissue
lipids of the domesticated species differ from those of their
wild counterparts. This type of difference does exit in case of
vitamin E also. The change from the habitat to other area invariably
forces the animals to change their nutrition also. This ultimately
reflects on their health and behaviour. These days reintorduction
has become the ultimate goal of a captive breeding program. With
this the role of natural nurtrients is also being felt. Successful
reintroduction of any species can be achieved if the target population
to be released is used to the natural feed in captivity. Therefore,
the zoo now gives due importance on the nutrition of the animals.
Being situated in the vicinity of the natural habitual of Red
Panda, this park is making more efforts for its captive breeding
with a future plan to release the animal into the wild. Now it
is being realized that the western zoos could not be the target
population for release because these animals are not acquainted
with the natural feed available in the wild. On the contrary,
this park has an advantage to procure such nutrients available
in the wild . Hence researches are being made here to formulate
nutrition based natural resources. The success of the last few
years has established the role of improve diet in maintaining
the animals in captivity.
VETERINARY CARE
Proper health care is an integral part of captive breeding management.
The program can not be successful if health monitoring system
is not adopted. In the past, this zoo was lacking proper veterinary
infra structural facility. The construction of a veterinary hospital
was undertaken. Now this zoo is on the way to create facilities
for diagnosis and treatment of the animals and research on wildlife.
CHEMICAL RESTRAIN
Proper veterinary care of wild animals demands proper restraint
of the animal which is possible only by sedation or tranquilization.
Even translocation of the animal is effective with the aid of
tranquilization. For tranquilization of the wild animals, narcotics
and sedative drugs are used. This involves great risks because
the physiology and the responsible to these drugs varies to a
great extent from species to species and even individual to individual
within the same species. This response shows even a great variation
due to other factors like wilderness, health and mental condition
of the animal, etc. This is a routine practice and part of the
management. With a view towards reintroduction and translocation
of the Himalayan fauna in near future, the Park is adapting to
proper technique and schedule dose. For disease survey in the
wild with a reintroduction purpose, capture techniques also have
to be adapted.
