Zoo visitors need to act responsibly: Experts

Zoo animals can’t always be blamed for human casualties. Unruly behaviour by visitors is what needs to be addressed, say wildlife activists.
Tuesday’s shocker at the Delhi zoo,where a 20-year-old youth was mauled to death by a tiger, serves as an eye-opener yet again. In the past too, there have been several cases of inappropriate behaviour that has led to unfortunate deaths.
Security measures in Karnataka’s zoos are foolproof, claim authorities. Experts agree. Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP), which houses the zoo, is in the process of getting its first tiger enclosure.
The design has been approved by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and a couple of white tigers either from the safari or the rescue centre in the zoo are likely to be housed there. But given the Delhi shocker, shouldn’t authorities be revisiting the enclosure design?
“We are reviewing the design. It is a templated standard approved by CZA, so we stand well on the safety front. This 40-hectare zoo and 100-hectare safari area is manned by 250 people, which the authorities think is a good number.
“Zoos in Karnataka are pretty safe. The bottom line is that visitors need to behave responsibly,” said Rangegowda, executive director, BBP.
There have been instances where tourists have got into trouble by poking the caged animal. In the early 1990s, a drunk visitor from Tamil Nadu was asked not to enter the Mysore zoo but he managed to force his way inside.
Once there, he was eager to click pictures of the tigress who was with her cubs. He tripped and fell in the moat and the tigress killed him. In another incident in Bannerghatta during a safari, a boy whose hand was outside the grill, was killed by an animal.
At the Dr Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula, near Mangalore, there have been no cases of visitors getting injured barring one incident where a caretaker was mauled to death in 2012.
“The major problem we face is vandalism by visitors. They throw stones at sleeping animals because they want to see them walk or growl. In spite of having 14 animal caretakers, who double as security guards, we haven’t been able to control such behaviour,” said park director Jayaprakash Bhandary.
Wild animals like tigers, lions and bears are kept in barricaded enclosures. This park, spread over 150 acres (of which 70 acres are developed), gets a footfall of 5 lakh visitors annually.
“Visitors’ enthusiasm to shoot animals from close quarters is only growing. No amount of warning or education has helped. Perhaps people will learn from the Delhi incident,” said Bhandary.
The tiger safari situated on the Shimoga-Sagar highway at Tyavarekoppa has all safety measures for visitors in place. There are 10 tigers placed in separate cages. Safari RFO Mohan Kumar said the health and all-related parameters of the animals are checked before they’re allowed to move in barbed wire enclosures for free movement. Visitors are not allowed to come in contact with wild animals. Here too, one dailywage worker was killed by a tiger five years ago when he tried to reach the top of a cage to paint it.

While zoos in Karnataka seem to have adequate safety measures in place, there’s no harm in the zoo authorities doing a comprehensive audit of all their facilities and fixing glitches, if any.
They also need to put in place emergency protocols so that staff are trained to respond quickly to situations. This can often make the difference between life and death. Lack of manpower can be major problem and this needs to be addressed quickly. More than anything else, zoo visitors must learn not to provoke or tease animals, for that’s when the problem really starts.