A tiger with its evening meal of meat at Alipore zoo

Rising prices of food items have affected not only household expenses across the city but also the food budget of Alipore zoo.

The zoo authorities were forced to seek special permission from the state government to raise the monetary allocation for food items by about 50 per cent from this financial year since the suppliers refused to sell at old rates.

A part of the additional expenditure has been passed on to the visitors, with the entry fee doubled from June.

But the hike in the entry fee has not affected footfall at the 134-year-old zoo. According to the zoological garden records, over 22 lakh people visit the zoo annually.

“It is not just a zoo... it is a big family of 1,500-odd living members who need food, drinks and daily care. They are in captivity so interruption in their food supply is unpardonable. Rising prices have hit the food expenses of the zoo, too, as with all other things. Hence, the monthly food bill for the mammals, birds and reptiles which used to be around Rs 8.3 lakh has been raised to Rs 12.7 lakh from April,” said the director of Alipore Zoological Garden, Raju Das.

There are 14 enlisted suppliers at Alipore zoo, said the store keeper, Rathin Kumar Dey. Among them Hanif & Sons of Sealdah is the oldest and the biggest supplier of food items for the birds, animals and reptiles. They have been in the trade for over a century.

“We supply everything from buffalo meat for the big cats to Complan for chimpanzees. Every day at six in the morning, we have to reach the kitchen of the zoo where three doctors are present to check the quality of the food supplied,” said Hanif. Besides there are suppliers of lizards, lung fish, water snakes and maggots.

According to the additional director of the zoo, Rathin Bhattacharya, the zoo kitchen is manned by one cook and four helpers. Food is prepared twice a day, in the morning and the evening. For the carnivores, the quantity of food varies according to age and gender. Pregnant tigresses, leopards and lionesses get chicken instead of meat. Tigers and lions are offered only dinner in the evenings. Every Thursday is a fasting day for the carnivores.

The cooks prepare roti, each 250 grams in weight, and khichri for the elephants. Six to eight spoonfuls of Complan are mixed in one litre of milk and sugar. Besides, there is the work of grating vegetables, fruits, tubers and dry fruits.

Lizards, water snakes and live fish, chicken and frogs are fed to the reptiles, but these are not brought to the kitchen. Keepers take them from the suppliers and offer them directly to the cobras, pythons, crocodiles, iguanas and gharials.

Crocodiles are given food thrice a week with fish on the menu one day and meat the other two days. The elephants in the zoo are the only animals in Calcutta for whom the state food and supplies department issues ration cards. Their weekly quota is 80kg of wheat.

Talat Salahuddin

Daily ration

Procurement: 70 items
Meat: 250kg
Liver: 15kg
Fish: 65kg
Banana: 97.5kg
Leaves: 20.5kg
Apple: 23kg
Sweet potato & carrot: 150kg
Lemon: 180 pieces
Milk: 9 litres