Vishakhapatnam, October 23, 2014: While the country celebrates its biggest festival Diwali, a dedicated team of staff and ERN members from IFAW-WTI are toiling away restoring badly damaged enclosures at the zoo in Vishakhapatnam and mobilizing local support to provide relief to affected animals.

Led by Rudra Mahaptra, IFAW- WTI Assistant Manager ERN, the team arrived at Vishakhapatnam, popularly known as Vizag, and headed straight for the zoo to plan work schedules with the zoo curator for the rest of their stay. Press reports state that Vizag city had lost about 80% of its tree cover due to the impact of the cyclone Hud Hud and the state of the zoo enclosures made it evident enough.

The IFAW-WTI team at the Vizag zoo. Photo: IFAW-WTI

“We worked to restore the terrapin enclosures first thing this morning at 7 am and then headed for the python enclosure, which was a critical one” said Rudra. “Fallen trees had created an escape outlet for these reptiles,” he added with the news that only one python was found within the enclosure. It was assumed that four of these reptiles are at large, supposedly safe in these surroundings with fallen trees and man-made structures.

The IFAW –WTI team of ten has found more hands on ground with members from the Visakha Society for Protection and Care for Animals (VSPCA) working to restore normalcy in the affected fauna of Vizag. Mr. Pradip Nath of VSPCA said, “We are very keen to collaborate with IFAW- WTI ERN and seek your support in restoring the affected bird enclosure”. A team will go to their rescue centre, which is an eco sanctuary for 1200 animals. The IFAW-WTI team has handed over feed for the rescued animals currently housed at the VSPCA facility.

Solitary python at the zoo enclosure. Photo: IFAW-WTI

The ERN team is ably supported locally by Mother Earth Environmental Consciousness Society (MEECONS) who also promised to send their volunteers to help in different parts of the city. The IFAW-WTI team plans to stay on through the Diwali week and do their best to help the affected animals back to normalcy.

Clearing the reptile enclosure. Photo: IFAW-WTI