Rescued bears brought to Vandalur zoo

D Madhavan – The Times of India

CHENNAI: Three sloth bears, rescued at a bus stand in Kuthumedu of Villupuram district by forest officials on Saturday, were brought to the
Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur on Monday.

“We had been asked by a court to be the custodian of the rescued animals. All the three are doing well,” zoo director and chief conservator of forests P L Ananthasamy told TOI.

The sloth bears (melursus ursinus), Rani (18 years), Raja (12 years) and Bhasha (3 years), are now in separate enclosures away from public view and away from other bears in the zoo. This, zoo sources said, was to give them time to acclimatise to their new environment. After medical tests rule out infections or diseases, they will be allowed to mingle with other bears.

At 3 pm on Saturday, officials of the Villupuram Forest Division got a tip-off about some bears being used for road-side circuses and that their hair was being sold to locals. Immediately, a team led by Forest Ranger K Sudhakar, rushed to the specified spot and rescued the bears from Maulasav of Karnataka and Goondusab of Andhra Pradesh. They were booked under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 for illegal possession of these animals and also for not having valid ownership documents certified by the Chief Wildlife Warden.

Under the Act, the illegal possession of protected animal and bird species is punishable to three years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 and might be extended upto seven years of imprisonment. “The arrested were semi-nomadic people wandering with these animals in places like Hosur, Salem, Vriddachalam, Kallakurichi and Ulundurpettai before coming to Villupuram. This is the first time we have rescued wild animals in our division,” forest ranger Sudhakar told TOI on Monday.

Monday’s arrival was the second instance of the Vandalur zoo receiving rescued bears in 2009. In March, officials of the Sirgali Forest Range rescued a sloth bear (male) and sent it to the zoo. The zoo now has 10 sloth bears apart from four Himalayan black bears and one European brown bear (male).

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