New Delhi(NVI): In the festivities of Christmas, why should animals be left behind?
This seemed to be the intent of NGO Wildlife SOS which cooked up something really special for the rescued animals at Agra Bear Rescue Facility and Elephant Conservation and Care Centre.
The NGO staff dressed up in shades of bright red and constructed special, innovative enrichments and structures inspired by the colors of Christmas.
Both the centers were decorated with streaming festoons of stars and ribbons.
Christmas stockings were filled with loads of popcorn, a favourite with our pachyderms and sloth bears, and were hung atop platforms and high trees to lure the animals to explore these structures.
Many Christmas ‘gifts’ were also filled with other treats and placed at strategic points to encourage the elephants and bears to sniff around and try to figure out which box held the treats they enjoyed most.
A snow man was also made from gunny bags and stuffed with dates and treats was kept within the bear enclosures and hung atop swings made from tyres.
CEO and Co-founder of Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan said, “We celebrate Christmas every year with great enthusiasm, especially for our rescued animals.”
Talking about the latest celebration, he said while some animals hurried away with the treats to devour them individually, the others were seen constructively demolishing the gunny snow man and stockings.
“I can safely say that the staff enjoys building these enrichments as much as the animals enjoy digging into them,” he added.
Director Conservation Projects for Wildlife SOS Baiju Raj M.V said it took the elephants absolutely no time to figure out the enrichments and get their treats out.
“The bears were much more entertaining to watch as they were engaged in a stiff competition with each other,” he said.
“It was educating to notice how each animal tackled its enrichment in a different manner and employed different tactics to get the treats. All of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves during the whole event.”he added.
