Tata Steel Zoological Park makes its sloth bears feel at home with almonds and honey

Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur wants to make its sloth bears feel at home and hence have made liberal use of almonds and honey. It has got honey trickling from tree trunks. This is because of directives issued by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) which states that the animal enclosures must be more natural.
The enclosures must simulate the wild to make animals come out of cages. The bears must feel as if they were living in the wild.
This has been reported in telgraphindia.com dated 6 December 2016.

Because of that, the 3,000sqft enclosure that hosts a male and two female sloth bears has two ponds and artificial tunnels and one hump. The caretakers smear honey daily on trees and strew almonds on the ground so that the bears can enjoy these in a more natural way.
Moreover, the cell for the sloth bears also wears a wild look - it looks like a cave with rocks. It also has a crawl area. Captive sloth bears can live for 35 to 40 years and these steps are expected to increase their life span by two to three years. Visitors to the zoo will also like the animals better when they are more playful.
Incidentally, the 10-year-old male sloth bear was rescued from Chaibasa in 2008. Its female counterparts, both aged 25, were freed from madaris in New Delhi in 1997. Their breakfast consists of almonds, honey and carrots. The lunch menu is milk and rice and they have chapattis for dinner.
The sloth bear is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN - this is attributed to loss of habitat and poaching.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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