Vandalur Zoo suffers over ten crore loss after Cyclone Vardah

Along with the enclosure walls, fencing, animal sheds, food and water holes were destroyed by falling trees.

Over 15,000 trees have fallen at the zoo when cyclone Vardah struck the city | EPS

CHENNAI: A forest ranger bends over a fallen log and counts the rings in the cross section of the wooden piece and says, “this tree is over 30-years-old. They say it was planted when the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur was opened. All the old trees have fallen,” she sighs.  

Over 15,000 trees have fallen at the zoo when cyclone Vardah struck the city.  

The cyclone caused a loss of over Rs 10 crore to  the zoo. However, there was no loss of life. No animal escaped from the zoo, officials said.

(Clockwise from top L) An uprooted tree at Vandalur zoo; traffic jam at Velachery on Wednesday as the recent cyclone knocked out most of the traffic lights across the city; a boat damaged by

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“We got the cyclone warning ahead of time and all animals were immediately moved into night shelters within their enclosures. While the enclosures were damaged in many cases, the animals remained protected, “ said a senior official in the zoo.

The 602-hectare campus has around 90 animal enclosures, most of which were damaged by fallen trees. Along with the enclosure walls, fencing, animal sheds, food and water holes were destroyed by falling trees. Nearly a kilometre of the compound wall also collapsed. Almost all roads, link roads and service lanes were blocked by gigantic logs making all pathways unusable.

Due to this, staff found it difficult to carry feed to the animals. Animals did not face any drinking water problem as 28 percolation points were fed by gravitational force. Though the park was self-sufficient with regard to drinking water, water could not be supplied to places using motors as the zoo did not have power supply for the past three days.

Electricity and lamp posts, generators and transformers were also damaged.

Steps have been taken to clear the approach roads to ensure that feed reaches animals. “We couldn’t feed the animals after the cyclone. Tuesday is usually a fasting day for all carnivores in our enclosures. But when we took food on Tuesday, all animals were expectantly waiting for us,” said a zoo official.   

“Although the animals were safe, they were startled by the intense cyclone,” said a ranger who was inspecting the premises.

Facilities for the public, including safari centres in the park were damaged. The zoo will remain closed to public for 10 days.