Arignar Anna Zoological Park - Animal Care

Animal Care

Owing to its vastness and round-the-clock availability of animal medical care facilities, most of the rescued animals in the state, especially elephants, are brought to the park. With Chennai serving, unfortunately, as a transit point for wildlife smugglers in Southeast Asian countries, the zoo also receives many recovered endangered species for rehabilitation. The three important captive management practices of the zoo that contributed to the longevity of animals include environment enrichment, psychological well-being and animal husbandry and veterinary care. There has been a considerable reduction in the mortality rate of animals in captivity at the park. Between April 2010 and March 2011, only 22 animals were reported dead, of which 9 died due to old age and the remaining owing to other health-related problems and infighting. Incidents of infighting, although rare, have been reported in the park.

With the guidance provided by the CZA, kraals—fencing of a portion of the moated enclosure—were created in the herbivore enclosures in 2003 in order to isolate and treat sick or wounded animal. Herbivores with physical problems are isolated in the facility to be checked by the vets. One of the corners of the enclosure is chosen mainly to keep visitors away from the treated animals. Kraals have been created in the enclosures of spotted deer, blackbuck, sambar, nilghai, barking deer, hog deer, brow-antlered deer, moufflon and bison. To make the animals get accustomed to the kraal, the feed is kept inside the premises. Apart from treating animals, the kraal also acts as a place for isolating animals in rut. For example, during mating season, males often fight with each other leading to problems for the veterinarians. To overcome this, the males are kept in kraals in isolation from other males. Kraals also help research scholars in observing and recording the movement and other activities of the animal, thus helping with studying their behavioural pattern.

The zoo also has a zoo kitchen, zoo hospital and quarantine facility. Every day, about 190 kg of non-perishable food items, 300 kg of perishable foods, 750 kg of beef and fish, 430 kg of cattle feed and 2,000 kg of fodder are being provided to the zoo inmates. A rat-breeding centre has been constructed near the store house to cater the needs of snakes. The fodder bank raised in the zoo premises fulfils the fodder requirement of the herbivores population in the park. The zoo orchard with trees such as mango, guava, and coconut supplies fruits for the park's daily requirement.

Rescue and rehabilitation centre

With the banning of training and exhibition of five species of animals, namely, lion, tiger, panther, bear and monkey enforced by the Government of India in 1998, a 92.45-hectare (228.4-acre) rescue and rehabilitation centre for animals was established next to the zoo with the assistance of the CZA in 2001. The area was acquired from the research wing of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in continuity with the fodder bank of the zoo with an assistance of ₹ 14.598 million. The centre provides temporary and long-term care for confiscated and abandoned endangered animals, such as lions and tigers rescued from circuses, and is home to about 32 lions and 7 tigers. It has a capacity to house 40 lions and 20 tigers. It also has a reptile house and an aviary. The park is one of the five zoos in the country identified and funded by the CZA for the rehabilitation of circus animals. The rehabilitation centre is not open to the visitors.

Zoo veterinary hospital

The zoo veterinary hospital is responsible for disease prevention and health care management of the park's captive population. The hospital has a well-equipped operation theatre, in-patient ward, radiology unit, laboratory, clinical room, pathology room, quarantine facilities and convalescent yard fully functional to cater the needs of complete animal health care. It also includes a modern diagnostic laboratory with facility for periodic coprological examination, identification of causative organism, antibiotic sensitivity, pregnancy diagnosis, haematology, serology and urinalysis.