BHUBANESWAR: In an enclosure away from public glare at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, the six-month-old is busy getting a measure of the wooden log when someone gives a loud call - Barsha. She responds and leaps towards the iron mesh. That’s Prasanta Gouda, animal-keeper at the zoo.
The 26-year-old has been everything to Barsha, the lion cub. Ever since its birth back in July last year, Prasanta has been her friend, play-mate and above all, single parent. His day starts with Barsha and ends with her.
In the middle of a pandemic, when lioness Bijli abandoned its cubs, Nandankanan Zoo moved everything it could move to keep Barsha alive after her other sibling perished.
From collecting colostrum to fetching feline milk by a special order from Kolkata, nothing has been left to chance. Barsha completed six months on Friday.
On July 21 last, when the second wave of Covid swept across Odisha and shutdowns were order of the day, Bijli gave birth to two cubs and a stillborn. A first-time mother, the lioness was unable to tend to the cubs. She stopped paying attention to any because of the stillborn.
Poor health of the cubs due to insufficient colostrum was the biggest concern for the zoo management. After waiting for eight hours, the authorities decided to tranquilise Bijli and collect the colostrum to feed the newborns.
However, they could collect only around 30 ml colostrum from the lioness. Insufficient milk led to death of the male cub. Barsha, however, managed to survive on reconstituted canine milk for nearly a week.
“She needed care and attention round the clock and had to be fed milk every two hours, even during the night, for nearly three months,” recalls Prasanta, who become a full-time caretaker for Barsha. Weak and helpless, the cub needed love and attention of a mother and Prasanta turned one.
For the first few weeks, he had to constantly track her health and sleep in the temperature controlled room where the cub had been kept. Prasanta’s experience of hand-rearing Kalpana, another lion cub, as well Rani besides a number of bear cubs came in handy. However, this time, things were more challenging.
Due to fear of Covid transmission, he had to isolate himself to take care of the cub. Prasanta has diligently been trying to avoid contact from as many people as he can till now. The Zoo authorities also restricted close contact of any other keepers from the cub till date.
The challenges, however, were not limited to Covid. To ensure growth of the hand-reared cub which weighed around 1.24 kg during birth, the zoo authorities had to feed feline milk, ordering it from Kolkata. As it costs four to five times more than the regular canine milk, they had to convince the Forest Department for its procurement.
Besides, there was constant consultation from experts. “From the beginning, we were in constant touch with veterinary experts at Gir National Park and Junagadh Zoo for proper care of Barsha,” says Deputy Director of Nandankanan Zoo Dr Sanjeet Kumar who is directly monitoring the hand rearing of Barsha.
The cub is now in good health and weighs around 20.6 kg. “It has also started accepting minced chicken,” Kumar said.
To keep her active and physically fit, the Zoo authorities introduced her to a bigger enclosure this month where she will be kept after turning one. Her bottle feeding has also been reduced to three times from existing 12 times a day and she is being trained to feed independently. A team of veterinary doctors constantly monitors her health. She undergoes clinical examination every
15 days to monitor growth and physical condition, a Zoo veterinarian said. All measures to protect the cub from any tick-borne disease, transmission of zoonotic diseases, the risk of which remains high during hand-rearing of any animal, have been put in place.
As Barsha gets acquainted to a new life, the entire process is being documented to prepare an SOP for hand rearing of cubs in future.
“Currently, we have record for hand rearing of pangolins. This documentation will help us in conservation of big cats in the zoo in an effective manner,” Dr Kumar said.
Under expert care
From the beginning, zoo authorities were in constant touch with veterinary experts at Gir National Park and Junagadh Zoo for proper care of Barsha
The cub is now in good health and weighs around 20.6 kg
She has also started accepting minced chicken