Though I am a regular visitor to the zoo, I reached the gates early, remembering the ‘open from sunrise to sunset’ timings and was disappointed to note that the gates open only at 9 am. The gates were swarming with orange clad devotees mostly from the adjoining states.
The barcode printed ticket did not have to be swiped as the security guard made a vanishing trick of it. Recycling?
The large moated tiger enclosure was barren and so was the lion enclosure. The tank at the Hippo enclosure was being desilted, causing a stench all around.
The commotion at a distance attracted my attention and I rushed to the spot, not far away from the old reptile house. There was a big gathering of the orange clad and I could see a few inside a small cage of Jungle cat. They had sticks and rods and two were with their cameras too. ‘Another death?’ I thought as I egged in. There was a spread of meat in a plate and the animal keepers were poking the cats with their sticks and a rod. The obstinate feline would not budge. I thought that they may have been brought to the zoo just then and are refusing food. My doubts were dispelled soon. They were relatively old habitants of the cage. The pokers wanted the pug-mark of the cats on the cemented tablet which was laid before their bait and the terrified cats would not budge anywhere close to it. I have never seen a caged animal being exhorted with sticks and bamboos to register their pug mark. Surely, we humans were leaving a bad foot print. There was a car too, which was adjacent to the cage and I politely asked one of the security still awake if it was normal to allow cars inside the zoo. ‘Must be important people,’ was the reply. If importance of man was only recognised by using a motor car inside supposedly serene surroundings, I wish to die unimportant. I have taken a few pictures of the men in action and the car, much to the chagrin of the important ones!
Walking on the southern part, I found several visitors sneaking past the railing and peeping into the moat for a view of the bear. I looked for the guard and temporarily took over his duties. Many kind visitor were throwing any and every permeable food into the marmoset enclosures. I recalled the death of a Hippo, just the other day of indigestion.
The zoo could be better. I was one who applied first for adopting animals and sent an E mail to the director, which remains unanswered till date. Though invited, I avoided the adoption bazar, of the zoo, held at a star hotel, swarming with, again, important people jostling for a photo shoot and their referral of compassion in the newspapers. I do not miss the opportunity to visit zoos in most countries that I visit around the world, but visit Kolkata zoo does not evoke excitement and on the contrary evokes a depressed feeling. The aviary is empty. Many animals are alone and have not been paired. The staffs have strong unions and are not in their posts.
This is not a place to teach compassion for animals to children. The animals would have to be seen in their natural surroundings and a larger open zoo would have to be built and a decent incarceration to be ensured by those ‘important.’ I recall when the commerce minister made a visit to Singapore a few years ago. I had suggested then, “With your long list of Foreign Direct Investments and collaborative ventures, please get some experts on how to build and run zoos.” I was thought to be crazy!
