title: The role of zoos in the rehabilitation of animals in the circus.
abstract: In 1998, the government of India enforced a ban on performance/exhibition of 5 species of nonhuman animals: (a) lions, (b) tigers, (c) leopards, (d) bears, and (e) monkeys. The Ministry of Environment and Forests gave the responsibility to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for rehabilitation of these animals. Between 1999 and 2001, the CZA created rescue centers for rehabilitation of lions and tigers in the off-display areas of 5 zoos: (a) Bangalore, (b) Chennai, (c) Vishakhapatnam, (d) Tirupathi, and (e) Jaipur. Today, the CZA has rehabilitated 314 lions and tigers from circuses. The CZA has been meeting the expenses toward maintenance (feeding of and providing health care for) of the animals, outsourcing of staff, and maintaining enclosures. This article focuses on the mammoth work that the selected zoos had to carry out in rehabilitating the lions and tigers from the circuses.
authors.affiliation: Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi, India. brijkishore68@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Brij Kishor
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Bipul
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D045989:Felidae; D000882:Haplorhini; D007194:India; D008045:Lions; D018635:Rescue Work; D046010:Tigers; D001503:Ursidae