Source: The Imphal Free Press
Imphal, December 01:
Everything is not hunky dory at the Manipur Zoological Garden at Iroishemba, where a Brow Antlered doe gave birth to a fawn on Ningol Chakouba day.
Even the Sangai Second home, the 2.13 hectors plot attached to the zoo across the main road on the hillside, kept in isolation exclusively so that the shy state animal is allowed the privacy it needs, is now being encroached upon.
The zoo, apart from its regular employees, has 29 casual workers for the last 10 years.
These casual workers, whose meager wages of Rs 1340 a month must be less that the perks that the state employees are on strike for currently, are surprisingly dedicated.
They continue to labor on, despite the fact that they have not received even this meager wages for the past two years.
The two caretakers of the Sangai second home for instance said they are unable to buy toffee for their children but does not stop them from worrying if the Sangais are comfortable each day.
�Specially now with a young one amidst them,� one of them said.
The DFO in-charge of the zoo, Dr Puni, told IFP that there is also an adhoc doctor to look after the health care of the 420 animals and 100 bird species the zoo houses.
Paucity of und makes it practically impossible to un-keep the zoo management, he said.
Almost all the fencing has begun deteriorating but the zoo authorities are helpless to do anything about it.
Dr Puni expresses the apprehension that if things are allowed to deteriorate further, there may be cases of animals escaping from the zoo.
The zoo mostly has local animals.
Bringing in exotic species from outside the state and country are still a far dream precisely because the infrastructure is not there, Dr Puni said.