Hyderabad: Nehru Zoological Park closed, gets ready for rains

Hyderabad: Nehru Zoological Park is temporarily closed. Maintenance work is on to stop the possible inflow of water adjoining Mir Alam Tank during the rainy season, which happened last year.  

Zoo authorities are working on cleaning the channels and constructing a bigger culvert for the movement of  water during monsoons. The zoo is trying to provide clean drinking water for the animals and to  avoid the spread of polluted water in the zoo.

Nehru Zoological Park curator Shivani Dogra said, “Last year, we faced a difficult situation due to heavy rainfall as a lot of water came into the zoo from Mir Alam Tank.’’

Zoo authorities are also working on putting up fencing and raising the compound wall to stop crocodiles escaping. With summer fast approaching, Hyderabad Zoo has started arranging precautionary measures for protecting the animals from the heat.

A special diet chart has been prepared for them, in which fruits like watermelon, musk melon and citrus fruits top the list and to keep them hydrated, liquids like glucose, ‘thermocare’ as well as coconut water are being provided to the animals and birds housed in the zoo.

Zoo authorities have also set up wallowing po-ints, water and mud po-ints, for the deer, wild boar and tortoises, so that they can cover their bodies with mud in order to lessen the effects of the heat.

Foggers, water sprinklers, air conditioners an-d exhaust fans have been installed in all the enclosures, which have also been covered with green shade nets. Air coolers have been installed in the enclosure of bigger animals like tigers, lions, panthers, chimpanzee and monkeys.