Two more lions, four tigers arrive at Bannerghatta

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 5. Lion Kingdom has apparently shifted base to the Bannerghatta National Park. The park's new Rescue Centre, one of the country's five, is abuzz with the congregation of 51 lions, all rescued from circus houses across the country. The arrival of two more lions and four Asiatic Tigers from Bijnur, Uttaranchal on Sunday evening has made it a rare happening on India's fast-depleting wildlife map.

Bred in captivity, tortured to submission, the lions have found a new home away from the public glare. Yet to be formally inaugurated, the 40-acre Bangalore Rescue Centre is their protected area. Equipped to meet the daily demands of 70 lions and 30 tigers, the Centre has two wings, one for each species. The Tiger Wing is now occupied by four slothbears and a Himalayan Bear, all ready to make way for the four newcomers from Rajasthan.

The lion population at the Rescue Centre is likely to go up again after the Central Zoo Authority's latest decision to prune the family of 42 lions housed in a small zoo in Sanghli. Ten of these have been allotted for the Bannerghatta Centre. While six have already arrived, four are expected shortly, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bannerghatta National Park, Mr. Rajeev, told The Hindu.

Giving the lions enough space to move around their cages at the Rescue Centre are 17 Kraals, or exercise areas where the animals are let out everyday. Each of these Kraals are of 1,500 sq mt- area, allowing the animals to rest and move in a group of five or six. Each house with the kraal and six cages, is provided with water supply and sanitary system.

Food is all about beef from Shivajinagar, a kilogram of chicken and an egg everyday. But Tuesday is the food holiday, when the animals are made to fast. For the time being, the diet has been restricted to about 12 kg per animal by Dr. K.Basavarajappa, Assistant Director (Veterinary Services).

The lions' share is apparently huge when compared to what the slothbears housed in the Tiger Wing get. ``Two litres of milk, two coconuts, jaggery and an egg,'' is the slothbear's daily ration. Tuesday is fasting day as usual. Apparently, the Himalayan Bear, who joined the gang last month, had accepted its diet. Saved from a circus in Delhi, it had learnt to adjust to the new surroundings.

The rescue centres, set up as part of a Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment initiative, came to the fore after the Supreme Court upheld a Union Government ban on the use and exhibition of five animals -- lions, tigers, slothbears, monkeys and panthers. The Bangalore Rescue Centre, the first to become functional in November last year, is financed by the Central Zoo Authority. Four more centres are coming up in Rajasthan, Tirupati, Vishakapatnam and Chennai.

The first inmates of the Rescue Centre here were the 31 lions and a bear, rescued from circuses in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, all of which arrived on July 7. All the lions were hybrids and not pure races of the African Lion or the Asian Lion.

Bannerghatta National Park is one of the protected areas of Karnataka, constituted in 1974 as a National Park with the sole objective of conserving wildlife over an area of 104.15 sq km. One of the oldest habitats of Asian Elephants, the park nurses 50 to 60 residential pachyderms besides a host of migrating elephants from the adjoining forests of Tamil Nadu during autumn.

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