DEHRADUN: As temperatures dip in the Doon Valley, Dehradun Zoo is changing its animals’ diets and installing heating equipment to help them cope with the cold.
Birds will be offered almonds and selected seeds, deer will get jaggery with their regular feed, and bears will have roasted peanuts. Heating bulbs and heaters are also being arranged for reptiles, including snakes, crocodiles, turtles and critically endangered gharials, which are vulnerable to falling temperatures.
Zoo veterinarian Dr Pradeep Mishra told TNIE that bird seeds are soaked a day before they are served. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are also cut and included in their meals. “Parrot species are given sunflower seeds, which are high in fat. In winter, some birds are also offered sesame and mustard seeds,” Mishra said.
Pheasants are given boiled eggs, while macaws receive walnuts throughout the year. Almonds are added to their winter diet, he said.
Herbivores are served chopped green fodder, along with prepared feed rich in nutrients and a mineral mixture. Jaggery is added to the deer’s food during the colder months. Carnivores continue to receive meat as part of their regular diet. Bears are given chicken and boiled eggs, along with roasted peanuts and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Reptiles also need special care as temperatures fall, Mishra said.
Gharials, crocodiles, snakes and turtles may enter brumation—a period of reduced activity during which they may stop eating. “These animals regulate their body temperature according to their surroundings.
Heating bulbs and heaters are installed near them to help maintain their body temperature in winter,” he said.
The zoo is also monitoring Tejas, a white tiger relocated from Madhya Pradesh, as he adjusts to his new surroundings. Zoo officials said temperatures in Gwalior and Dehradun are broadly similar, helping the animal adapt. Tejas is fed buffalo meat daily. His behaviour has been described as normal, and staff monitor him closely three times a day. The seasonal preparations are intended to maintain the animals’ health and comfort through the colder months.
Zoo staff have completed arrangements to modify feeding routines and provide additional warmth where needed, Mishra said.