What’s for lunch: Lions at the Birsa Munda zoo

Ranchi, Jan. 23: The Birsa Munda Zoo is on a rabbit hunt.

With chicken a no-no due to the bird flu scare, zoo officials are looking for around two quintals of rabbit meat to feed eight jungle cats, four owls, three kites and an eagle.

All this while, these animals were being fed raw chicken meat which has now been altered to boiled chicken. But now, under the advice of zoo veterinarian Dinesh Kumar, the menu will be changed.

“We contacted officials of the Ranchi Veterinary College and asked them to supply us two quintals of rabbit meat every month. But they said that at best they could only manage around 10-15kg which was insufficient,” Kumar said.

Zoo officials had even toyed with the idea of bringing rabbit meat from Midnapore. “But that, too, was unfeasible as officials over there told us even they did not have sufficient stock,” he said.

For now, all the animals are being given 12kg boiled chicken but only after careful examination of the birds’ characteristics. “We are checking whether the birds’ feathers are erect, if there is any discharge or any kind of swelling,” Kumar said. The animals, he said, were used to a diet of raw meat. “Though they are being given boiled chicken, we would prefer to give them their regular diet,” he added.

Said A.K. Sinha, dean of Ranchi Veterinary College, “We have only 150 rabbits in the college so there is no question of meeting any such demand from the zoo.”

Sinha explained that bird flu did not mean that only chickens were susceptible.

“Other birds like turkey also come under this bracket but then they are strong creatures. Migratory birds are definitely more vulnerable. We have taken precautionary measures to avoid this menace by cordoning off the area and not allowing any trucks to enter the college,” Sinha said.