PONDA: The elderly and the young ones are disappointed after visiting the Bondla Zoo because they cannot see animals like tiger, lion, elephants, etc, at the zoo.
The Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, which houses Goa’s only zoo, has reportedly lost its charm after the death of a number of animals.
A pair of tigers and a hippopotamus died in the past two years; and recently, the only elephant at the zoo reportedly died of old age. The zoo also lost its lone male tiger Rana in December 2016 at the age of around 16 years, leaving the female tiger Sandhya without a partner; and few months later Sandya too died.
Prior to that, Sarita, a female hippopotamus was killed by Devidas, a male hippo, in October 2016, in what was then termed as domestic violence between two animals during mating. Now Devidas is alone in the pond. The hippos were brought from Mysore in 2013.
However, despite the deaths of these animals, the State Forest Department is yet to acquire new animals to replace them.
People visiting the zoo often question the keepers about tigers and elephants, but their answer is always “the existing ones died and there are proposals to replace them.” This disappoints the visitors who come from distant places.
When children come to Bondla, they are eager to see lions but return home unhappy for not getting to see the king of the jungle.
Sources from the department said they are in talks with zoos in the neighbouring States for an exchange programme. Male gaurs (wild ox) from Bondla will be part of this programme. The zoo currently houses six gaurs two females and four males.
The officials say that every year over one lakh people visit the zoo after paying the nominal entrance fees. The students studying environment and wild-life are allowed free entry. Currently there are 80 employees looking after the zoo which has around 150 animals, including five leopards, a pair and three cubs.
Eight bisons are the maximum of one species; there are crocodiles, peacocks, King cobras, tortoise, birds, etc.
“The State Forest Department is checking the inventory of animals from the zoos in Mysore, Mangalore, Hyderabad and other places to look for a pair of tigers and a female hippo. Once we locate them, we can approach the Central zoo authorities for permission after which a transfer can be initiated,” a wildlife official said.
Range Forest Officer Sidhesh Naik said the enclosures would be widened and 25 new species would be brought in from zoos in other parts of country. Efforts are on to bring tigers, elephants, chimpanzees, etc.
