University of Hyderabad sets up water tubs to help wildlife beat the heat

HYDERABAD: Wildlife activists at the University of Hyderabad have requested students and the university administration to ensure that the tubs that they have arranged to be kept on the campus are always filled with water so that wild animals in the campus grounds don’t suffer from heat stroke and dehydration. The scorching summer heat has dried up natural water bodies and animals and birds are at risk. Already three peafowl, two wild boars and a spotted deer were found dead in the campus due to heat stroke and dehydration. The campus wildlife group Wild Lens arranged for the water tubs with the help of the registrar, M. Sudhakar, and horticulture in-charge C.P. Sharma.

Ravi Jillapalli, founder of Wild Lens, said, “We requested the registrar to arrange water tubs in different areas of the campus. Immediately 13 tubs were arranged in March 2016 in phase-I and in phase-II, we have arranged for 10 bigger water tubs at various locations of the campus. But water tubs are not enough; we all, students and administration, should make sure that we fill the water tubs and always keep them full.”

Since water bodies can’t be replenished, the better idea is to desilt the lakes, he said. “Every living organism on earth should have access to food and water. It should be the fundamental right of a living being,” he said. He further added that security needs to be tightened in UoH to discourage poachers, who often kill the animals when they congregate near natural water holes. “We have handed over 88 poachers so far. If they come again, it means a failure of internal security. We can’t take this into our own hands. Poachers get support from inside, otherwise poaching is just impossible.”

He said that the 1977 Wildlife Act is ineffective to deal with increasing poaching activities and the technology that is being used. Punishment should be increased and the process of conviction must be faster. A senior official in the Telangana forest department said, “It is true that poachers are more active near water holes and animals are most vulnerable while drinking water, but nevertheless it prevents animals from venturing into urban areas in search of water. Poaching poses a different threat that is always there regardless of whether the forest department provides artificial water holes or not.”