NZP residents quadruple but funding remains disproportionate

Staff Reporter DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 7 It all started way back in the sepia-tinted days of 1987, twenty-seven years away from now, when they shipped in two “big” Sambar deer from Kerala. Back then, it can safely be said with the luxury of hindsight that, the reserved forest area was yet to fall prey to the covetous glances and designs of multiple land encroachers. And in order to protect the newly transported pair of stag, as well as to patrol the reserved area at night, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was roped in, according to the newly appointed Director of Nagaland Zoological Park, Sentiyanger Aier. He should know, because Aier was the then official in-charge of the reserved forest area which, in the later years, would come to be reduced to the present day Nagaland Zoological Park (NZP) located in Rangapahar, Dimapur. Within a few days of their arrival in Nagaland, one of the deer would fall prey to hunter(s) in the area. Aier on Tuesday narrated to newsmen how some hunter(s) from the nearby village sneaked into the reserved forest and speared one of the deer. “After killing the deer, they couldn’t even take away the corpse and we found it the next morning. So we filed an FIR at East Police Station and an autopsy was also conducted. That is how it all began,” Aier narrated. This historical insight was essential. Because on Tuesday the Nagaland Zoological Park decided to provide free public access to the near 300 different individual captive wildlife species inside the reserved forest as part of the Wildlife Week which is being celebrated across India. From two shipped sambars in 1987 to around 300 captive wildlife species today. But that’s not even half of the NZP story. Only officially launched in August 2008, the NZP today runs on a barely believable annual budget of Rs 23-25 lakh. It is home to four of the five hornbill species recorded to be found in India. It breeds the Great Indian Hornbill, the Wreathed Hornbill, the Oriental Pied Hornbill and the Rufous Hornbill. When the NZP was inaugurated in its present disposition back in 2008, the Park had only 66 captive wildlife species to boast of. The residents have quadrupled since then and yet the funding remains disproportionate. A plan to ship in a pair of tigers from Trivandrum, Kerala sometime early next year is already in motion. Of late, many Nagas have come to donate animals to the park, according to the officer-in-charge of NZP, Obed Swu. And yet there is still the need to teach lessons on wildlife and environmental conservation in schools, said the NZP Director, Sentiyanger Aier. Swu also echoed his superior’s view. “It is high time that Nagas change their image as people who eat anything that crawls.” Swu also underscored the need to introduce healthcare facilities for the animals inside the Park. Currently the NZP has no mechanism at all to oversee the healthcare of the animals residing inside. At least, not from the department concerned. At present, the veterinary doctor – and a friend of Swu – R Wati who runs a private vet clinic in Dimapur, helps out in looking after the health of the animals free of cost. Explaining the reason behind his free service, Dr Wati said, “There are lots of people in Nagaland who love the wildlife.” The newly appointed Director also stressed the need to have the sense of belonging and patriotism to protect our fast depleting wildlife. “Because, this Park belongs to all of us.” Aier appealed the corporate houses in Nagaland to come forward and invest in the NZP. He informed that the NZP was looking to built “world class” restrooms and toilets inside the Park while admitting that “it will take a long time if we wait for the government.”