Chennai: Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP) Deputy Director Sudha Ramen has said that the viewership of online streaming of animals at the zoo has gone up by 60 per cent in the past few days.
At a time when keeping oneself engaged has become one of the difficult tasks during this lockdown period due to coronavirus, many people have turned their attention to live streaming facility of the Vandalur zoo.
As of today morning 1,46,06,765 visitors have visited the site. The zoo remains closed to public from 17 March. There are a total of 15 animals including elephant, lion and tiger that are on the livestreaming list.
Sudha Ramen further said that AAZP is the only zoo in India to do this virtual visit with special focus on each animal everyday. “There are 14 cameras and all are live 24*7,” she told News Today.
Further speaking about the maintenance of the zoo during the lockdown period, she said, “there is no problem in getting the feed for the animals. Regular time supply continues without any hurdle. The feed is subjected to quality check.”
Meanwhile, a press release said precautionary measures as advised by the State government and Central Zoo Authority (CZA) are followed with respect to animal care, disinfection, timely feed supply and enclosure maintenance during the lockdown period.
“Chief Wildlife Warden S Yuvaraj accompanied by AAZP Director Yogesh Singh inspected the measures taken up by the zoo management recently,” the release added.
The release added that the precautionary measures taken up at the zoo include safety masks and gloves to zoo staff and daily disinfection of the premises.
“The staffs have been educated on social distancing and instructed to follow strict hygienic measures and safety protocol adopted in accordance with the CSA guidelines. The animals are also subjected to routine veterinary checks,” the release added.
The live streaming of the animals can be viewed for free on the zoo’s website www.aazp.in.