New Delhi, May 12: The Delhi Zoo has installed desert coolers and exhaust fans in all its enclosures to keep the animals cool during summers.
“We have installed around 70 desert coolers in almost all the enclosures, including those of tigers, lions, elephants and rhinos, with most of them having two coolers installed in each enclosure to keep the animals cool,” Riyaz Ahmed Khan, Curator of the National Zoological Park, said.
The large animals were being given a bath at least twice a day, while in some enclosures like those of rhinos, hippos and buffaloes, the moats and polls were being filled with water and mud to allow them to soak, he said.
“We are giving the herbivores and primates seasonal fruits like watermelons and cucumbers, while carnivores are being provided with a reduced diet structure of meat so that digesting is easy for them. Plenty of drinking water has also been provided to the animals,” a zoo official said.
“There are a lot of summer foliages added around the zoo to maintain shade along the paths used by visitors, as well as in the enclosure, so that animals can take refuge under them,” he said, adding, “We have also been sprinkling water in the bird cages from time to time.”
The authorities have also decided to launch battery-operated car service for visitors from next week.
“For the visitors, we are starting battery car services by next week to take them around the zoo during summer. We have also installed around 10 water coolers with RO purification systems around the park for visitors,” he said.
The zoo also has several stalls selling cold beverages in pet bottles within its premises though there are concerns about visitors throwing the plastic bottles into the enclosures to tease the animals.
According to zoo officials, the visitor count has not gone down despite the heat as most of them come from the outskirts of the city. The Delhi Zoo attracts around 10,000 visitors including foreigners on weekends and holidays.
As part of the plan to make the National Zoological Park a world-class facility by 2030, the zoo officials are making a number of changes, including getting new species of animals.
“We are also in the process of making an enclosure with glass panes for the white tiger so that visitors can see it up close. There are plans to have glass panes for birds,” the zoo curator said.
