Zoo stint starts for rescued chimps

KOLKATA: Visitors to the Alipore Zoological Gardens have a reason to rejoice. They will get to see the zoo’s new guests — three chimpanzees rescued from an animal trader’s house last year — from Friday.
Confirming the news, zoo director K L Ghosh, said the trio — aged around two-and-a-half years — will be shifted to their usual enclosure on the zoo premises on Friday morning.“We are yet to get the permanent custody of the animals. In May last year, the state’s chief wildlife warden had secured a permission from the court to shift the animals to a bigger enclosure on the zoo premises. But, due to the heat wave, we had to delay our plans,” Ghosh said, adding that they were now being kept in an enclosure on the premises of the zoo hospital.
Zoo vet Dr D N Banerjee said that as a “dry run” the chimpanzees were put on display on Thursday. “Since the zoo is closed to visitors on Thursday, we decided to check the arrangements today. They looked quite comfortable in their new home. They are also avoiding the waterbody in the open space connected to their enclosure. Besides, we have kept the water level low so that even if the chimps fall there, they don’t get drowned,” Banerjee added.
Due to the “insensitive behaviour” by some visitors, the zoo authorities couldn’t shift the primates to the bigger enclosure even after the heat wave was over. “Last winter, the footfall in the zoo during the weekends touched almost 70,000-80,000. More the number of visitors is, more there will be unruly behaviour by them. Now, the rush is less. Last Sunday, the footfall stood at only 20,000. So, we thought this will be the perfect time to bring the trio out to public display,” Ghosh said.
According to him, if the zoo authorities find it difficult to keep the crowd at bay, the chimpanzees will be sent back to their enclosure on the hospital premises. Two guards will be on duty near the enclosure to keep a watch on the visitors and the trio.
According to him, the rescued chimps, two male and a female, will be housed together in an enclosure adjacent to the one used by Babu, the 30-year-old chimpanzee the zoo has at the moment. “Both the enclosures are connected to a big open space. They will be allowed to use the open space on a rotation basis. When Babu will be released in the open space, the trio will have to stay indoors, otherwise the former might attack them,” Ghosh added.
The chimpanzees, listed endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), were rescued from the house of an animal trader in Baguiati on January 23, last year. Chimpanzees are listed under appendix I of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that says import and export of these primates are subject to regulation. Only government approved agencies can undertake import or export either under a zoo animal exchange programme or for any scientific study.