BENGALURU: As part of Zoo Day at Bannerghatta Biological Park on Tuesday, Somashekhar BS (45) was honoured for his contribution and effort in comforting and helping a rescued Himalayan Black Bear lead a stress-free life in her enclosure. The bear keeper’s efforts were recognised and honoured by officials of Zoo Authority of Karnataka, forest department and BBP.
The rescued bear was always stressed, and would never come out of her enclosure and mingle with the others. Somashekhar took personal interest and a lot of risk to make the wild bear come out of the enclosure and feel at ease. He trained and tamed the aggressive bear, and for this, he would even have to work on days when BBP was closed (Tuesday).
BBP Executive Director Surya Sen said Somashekhar trained the bear with positive reinforcement and treats which helped her acclimatise to the captive environment and mate. She recently delivered a litter.
Similarly, the efforts of Naveen Kumar S, a 25-year-old Jain Kuruba and elephant kawadi, were also recognised. He was honoured for the special interest he took and time he spent training a rescued makhana (tuskless male) from Bannerghatta National Park. “He spent day and night around the elephant to train him. He helped the animal adjust to his surroundings and come out of the kraal within two months,” Sen said.
Four others were also honoured for their contribution: Shivanna, bear assistant animal keeper; Shivananjappa BT, reptile keeper; R Vijay Kumar, animal keeper and Madesh K, Butterfly Park lab assistant.
Sen said the staffers were chosen based on their contributions and extra efforts. BBP is closed for the public on Tuesday, hence an in-house event was held to honour staffers and boost their morale.
Children of staffers who scored above 80 per cent in Grade 10 and 12 exams were given scholarships. Contractors, donors and adoptees were also honoured for their contributions.