Besides contaminated and low quality food, the wild cats at Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) face another risk related to their enclosure. Experts say it is not according to the prescribed norms of the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA).
The size of the enclosures should be 12x12 feet or 12x15 feet. But in BBP, it is only 12x9 feet. Also, the animals need sufficient walking and crawling space and a water body. But in BBP, there is no water body for them to relax in, say experts.
In some enclosures, two tigers are housed while the rule says one tiger per enclosure. This proximity of animals will lead to fights and even death as in the case of Medha (18) who was killed by her 10-year-old son Brandis, a Royal Bengal tiger, in October last year. The two were living together in a single enclosure for nearly a decade.
There are 40 enclosures in the safari area and they house 47 tigers and nine lions with cubs. Thus there is a need for more enclosures.
A senior forest department official said such anomalies were happening in BBP because expert opinion was not sought in tiger management. Tigers will have a healthy and peaceful life if each is kept in a single enclosure. For instance, during feeding, two tigers kept in a single enclosure often shy away from each other while eating. They skip the meal. Or else, they fight over the food leading to injuries and even death.
BBP’s executive director Millo Tago, however, maintained that normally one wild cat is kept in one enclosure. Sometimes, two wild cats stay together for a few years based on their comfort level.
Member secretary of CZA BS Bonal said: “Since BBP is a medium-sized zoo, one veterinarian is fine, but two are ideal,” he said.
