Online events mark Vizag Zoo’s ongoing Wildlife Week celebrations

Visakhapatnam, Oct 6 (IANS) Online workshops on wildlife, exhibition, competitions, quiz and other activities have marked the celebration of the National Wildlife Week from October 2-8 by the Visakhapatnam zoo amid the coronavirus pandemic.”The ultimate aim is to have a connection between the public and wildlife,” Nandani Salaria, curator at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park here told IANS.She said it was also about changing the public perception and encouraging them to protect wildlife.As part of the celebrations, the zoo has lined up one event a day during the ongoing Wildlife Week.Starting with a cleanliness and plantation drive in the zoo on Friday, prize were distributed to the winners of online elocution competition.On Saturday, a workshop on urban wildlife was held, followed by felicitation of online essay competition winners.Salaria said the workshop on urban wildlife focused on the fauna that lives around us in the cities.Sunday was International Zookeeper Day, to celebrate which the zoo organised an online session for zookeepers in collaboration with the Central Zoo Authority.N Prateep Kumar, head of Andhra Pradesh forest force, said the zookeepers have been doing a tremendous job amid the pandemic.”Wish all my zookeepers a very happy Zookeeper Day. Wish them a happy and healthy life. They have been doing a tremendous job, especially in these trying times of corona pandemic,” said Kumar.On Monday, a workshop was held on the zoo’s wildlife. It was followed by prize distribution to the winners of online poster competition.An online photography competition and exhibition was held on Tuesday while a workshop on birds and their identification has been lined up for Wednesday.The Wildlife Week will culminate on Thursday with the launch of zoo volunteers programme and a closing ceremony.As the pandemic has restricted physical gatherings, most of the activities happened online.To encourage students to participate in the Wildlife Week, the Vizag zoo has also conducted a 50-question online quiz, testing their knowledge on Indian forests and wildlife. –IANSsth/tsb