For the first time in India Forest Department of Tripura hand reared two Clouded Leopard cubs -named ‘Antarip’ and ‘Julekha’ were . They were released in the Conservation breeding centre.
Hand Rearing of animals and birds was considered a highly sensitive ways of rearing the new borns as it may even result in ‘typing’.
It was often found that cat family mothers do have a tendency to eat up her own born cubs. She would often eat two new born cubs out of three. It was then the zoo or sanctuary authorities would go for hand rearing. The humans would then isolate the cubs and the feed and rear them according to the needs. But then there would always remain a risk of ‘typing’ the cubs—which means depriving the cubs of their original wild instincts and making them wholly dependent on others- almost implanting in them the human attributes and ways. Besides due to isolation from mother may also affect their animal emotions.
“As such the hand rearing is always considered highly sensitive and one of the most careful and dedicated handlings of animal growth in a confined areas” said former CCF Debashish Chakrabarty.
He said, in this case the cubs were not fully separated from their mother. They are placed in a cage but separated by a partition from their mother’s cage. They could see their mother and move near her, get her smell and even seek to communicate with her. Only that their mother cannot reach them and eat them.
To keep their wild instincts and natural hunting quality intact, when the cubs are grown up enough ‘live chickens’ will then be thrown up in their cage so the infant cubs can kill themselves for their food. Otherwise, if they are always fed by humans , when they will go to the wild they will not be able to hunt- as they have not learnt it at all. In the wild it is their older family members who would teach them hunting.
In the hand rearing units strict protocols are always maintained and no visitor is allowed. Several other restrictions and specific scientific methods are followed. The trained caretakers are only persons who would maintain the strict regime under animal or bird specific arrangements.
In Sepahijala the central zoo authority had sanctioned two Conservation breeding centres -one for Spectacle monkey and the other for Clouded Leopard.
The achievements, naturally made all involved in the programme happy and the caretakers were felicitated where Sabhadhipati of Sepahijala Zila Parishad Supriya Das Datta, DFO Biswajit Das and other officials of the Sanctuary were present.
