Don’t be surprised if more die

A hippopotamus dying under mysterious circumstances in Mumbai’s Veermata Jeejamata Udyan Zoo comes as no surprise. In fact, just a day before the animal’s death, DNA reporters had visited the zoo and found the zoo inmates living in appalling conditions.

Mumbaikars who, anticipating a pleasant outing, visited the Zoo with their children and grand-children, were not prepared for the disappointment. “There are hardly any animals in this zoo, and the ones there are in such a sad condition that they should be sent elsewhere,” said Hansa Rajput, who had come with her children.

Another disappointed visitor was school student Sahil Kasare who felt that the ageing animals were not attractive enough to look at. “I come to the zoo at least once a year, but this year I feel sad. Four years ago, there were many more animals.”

The first thing that strikes a visitor is the unhygienic state of the cages. There is no water for the aquatic animals, especially the crocodiles. Farhana Mirza, a 40-year-old mother, came with her two teenage daughters to proudly show them the zoo she remembered from her childhood days. They stood aghast at the crocodile pond.

“It took me a while to recognise that the thing lying there was a crocodile and not a rock. There is no water at all. I feel terrible thinking about how it can survive in this condition,” Farhana lamented.

The zoo authorities, for their part, claimed that there was no water in the crocodile’s pond because it was being cleaned, after which it would be refilled with water. The pond, however, is emptied of water only on Wednesdays; there was no water in it even on a Thursday when the DNA team visited.

Many tourists who had come with the intention of spending an entire day at the zoo turned away early. The only section worth a look was the one with the birds section, which had some rare species. But even here, the poor maintenance of the surroundings came in for flak from the visitors.

“I have never seen a bear look so sad. They are waddling around the place with no energy. We came all the way from Thane to teach our children about animals, birds and trees, and this is what we get to see,” said Mrunal Gokhale, another visitor.

Back in 2004, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) had filed a case against Mumbai zoo and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for the substandard living conditions of the animals.

The High Court had set up a committee which then directed both the zoo authorities to fulfil certain minimum criteria with regard to enclosure design, disallowing chopping of trees, etc, and to follow a master plan for zoo. But the master plan that was finally passed was strongly opposed by PETA, Pet Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and other NGOs as it did not adhere to international norms.

Says Anuradha Sawhney, head of PETA, Mumbai, “The main culprit in this whole mess is the Central Zoo Authority. After the High Court order, the CZA had withdrawn recognition to the Mumbai zoo in 2004, but in 2008, the CZA gave it conditional recognition without checking whether it is complying with the minimum norms. The court has asked us to send our staff daily and give our feedback, but the conditions have not been improving.” She added, “PETA will now file a contempt of court against CZA on Monday. I am also going to write to the CZA stating that they have not pulled up the BMC for its inability to improve the conditions in the Mumbai zoo.”

The zoo officials, however, claimed that the execution of master plan for the revamp of the zoo had got delayed and that HKS, a Bangkok-headquartered international zoo design consultant, will now implement the master plan.

“The revamp plan will be implemented in three phases. We cannot bring new animals to the zoo till we implement the enclosure design,” said Anil Paranjpe, spokesperson for the Veer Jeejamata Udyan zoo.