Shreya, Akanksha and Tanvi with their street pet dog at a community temple in Parel (Photo- City As Lab)

#LittleHumans Of Parel Unravel Living Conditions Of Animals At Byculla Zoo

Shreya, Akanksha and Tanvi with their street pet dog at a community temple in Parel (Photo- City As Lab)Shreya, Akanksha and Tanvi with their street pet dog at a community temple in Parel (Photo- City As Lab)

When three friends Shreya, Akanksha and Tanvi discovered that they could turn their city into a laboratory, research on issues that concerned them and their environment, it felt as if they landed at the right place at the right time.

Driven by their love for animals, the trio took up a 9 month long exploration, to probe and investigate the plight of animals at their neighbourhood zoo. They undertook the entire research design and delivery process themselves, attempting to meet the zoo authorities on different occasions, to gather first hand data.

Their research project was built in a way to derive responses for the question “Is Jijamata Udyan (Byculla Zoo in Mumbai) capable of keeping animals in the zoo?” that translated into a report – Jijamata Udyan: Paradise or Prison? which reflected their perspectives, observations and solutions on how to make a zoo that was safe for all the animals.

This #LittleHumans series is in collaboration with City As Lab, an organization that promotes original research and inquiry amongst India’s students, in a systematic, supportive manner, stemming from the belief that there is a researcher in every child.

Read to know more about their insightful findings.

Q) What was the reason you choose this research topic?

A: We all love animals. In our group, we have had about 7 cats as pets, Shreya here wants to become a veterinarian and all the street animals are her pets- she has named the cats Peri, Kitty, Meow Meow. So that’s why we were naturally drawn to the topic. But apart from this, we read in the newspaper that the Byculla Zoo had recently kept Penguins are we were curious to know if the weather conditions in Mumbai were suitable for them. We had visited the zoo during our Diwali vacations, when we read that the baby Penguin died and this made us really sad!

You tell us, how can Penguins live in the humid weather of Mumbai? This made us dig deeper to understand the condition of other animals that were kept in the zoo. Was the zoo capable of following all the guidelines for the existing animals and taking care of them? This led us to explore and choose this topic- Is Jijamata Udyan capable of keeping animals in the zoo?

Q) What did your research study tell you about the zoo and the conditions of the animals?

A: We went to 25 cages and visited the zoo at least fifteen times in 9 months. The first thing that caught our attention was the portable water kept for animals. It was not clean and had turned green. We realised, this was not good for the health of the animals. Would we drink green water? So why keep it for the animals? The Central Zoo Authority  has come up with guidelines and rules that every zoo has to follow. For instance, every zoo needs to have two veterinarian doctors and we found that the zoo has only one doctor. However, whenever we tried to meet her, we were told she was either on leave or not available to meet. We tried meeting her at least 10 times.

Q) You quoted from a research study which stated that 86 percent people felt the zoo is not safe. Can you tell us more about this?

A: It was a newspaper article where a local corporator had conducted a survey to ask the opinion of people which said that 86 percent of people who had visited the zoo felt that the zoo is not safe for the animals. That apart, statistics and an RTI filled by an activist told us that the zoo popularly known as Rani Baug lost the highest number of animals in the past six years in 2016-17. Besides, 77 animals, birds and reptiles perished over the past year. We had to rely on secondary data and our observations because no authority wanted to meet us.

Q) You have stated that more than 5000 people visit the zoo every day and the officials do not have the capacity to keep the animals safe? Can you elaborate?

A: It is not just the officials that are at fault, even the visitors who come to the zoo are not mindful of the animals. People were disturbing the animals and teasing them while they were asleep. That apart, cats too were kept in cages in the zoo. This is a violation of rules as domestic animals cannot be kept in cages. The elephant in the zoo kept on swinging his trunk and was not able to stay still. Later, we got in touch with a zoologist who shared with us that the elephant was unwell and that was a reason he could be swinging his trunk. We observed that the birds always had their beaks open and did not have drinking water around them. It was a gross violation of so many rules set by the Zoo Authority of India.

Q) What did the government funding towards the infrastructure in the zoo, food for animals, and the salary of the staff look like? Did you identify any gaps there?

A: Everything was a mismatch at the zoo as it did not seem like the government funding had reached the zoo officials. The zoo had many vacant posts that were never filled and the infrastructure was not up to the mark.

We understand that it can’t always be an ideal situation, but then, why get penguins in the zoo if you can’t keep the existing animals safe? This is just violating the rights of animals and harassing them.

Q) In the research study, you said you tried to meet the officials thrice but they refused to meet you. Why do you think this happened? 

A: Well, the zoo authorities were scared because a lot has been spoken about them in the media. They did not want to talk to us with the fear of losing their job. We also felt that because we did not have authority and were children, they felt like they were not answerable to us.

Q) What are your plans to take the study ahead?

A: We want to ensure that animals are protected in the zoo. We created a Facebook page to spread awareness but as we got busy with our studies, we did not get the time to follow up. We will start the page again to talk about love for our animals and try to create conversations around the reality at Byculla Zoo.

Q) What message you would want to give to children who visit the zoo?

A: Like we stated earlier, children can be mindful of the animals and take care of their needs too.

Q) Recently, we celebrated World Environment Day, which talks about the rights of the earth, global warming, protecting the environment and the planet. Where do animals and wildlife fit in? What is your take on this?

A: Animals have the right to live on this planet just as we humans have and we hope everyone takes it seriously!

Q) Just as the animals have rights, even children have rights. Did you know about this?

A: Yes, we know that children have rights too!

Q) What are your rights as children?

A: We have the right to know about everything, the right to ask questions and get a response, we should not be considered smaller than anyone else. We also have the right to learn, right to education and the right to get information.

Q) What message would you have for leaders who are working on animal welfare and the environment?

A: Improve the zoo, take care of animals. Our gardens and forests are as important as roads and infrastructure. Government officials should first visit all the zoos and see the conditions of all the animals. Once they do that, they would be able to come up with better policies and keep the rights of animals intact.

Little Humans is a volunteer driven photo project based on the belief that the littlest people have the biggest stories to tell. You can contribute too. Share a story, volunteer with us or simply leave a comment on our blog. For more such stories, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Photo Credits : City As Lab

Words By : Leher

Leher

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