Bearing with the heat

Dalbir Singh provides 200 kg ice every day to each of the 11 black bears at the Chhatbir Zoo

Dalbir Singh provides 200 kg ice every day to each of the 11 black bears at the Chhatbir Zoo

Ruko,abhi truck aane wala hai. Baad main baat karte hain Wait,the truck is about to arrive. Lets talk later, says Dalbir Singh,a zookeeper who looks after the Himalayan black bears at the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park at Chhatbir near Chandigarh,popularly called the Chhatbir zoo. Only after tending to the bears is he ready to talk.

Dalbir has spent most of his life looking after the Himalayan black bears,but even today the onset of summers makes him a tad anxious. The bears are feeling the heat. They need ice or else they will get angry, he explains,still waiting for the truck that delivers ice slabs to the zoo. The Himalayan black bear is found at a height of 4,700 metres and cant take the heat of the plains. To keep them cool,each of these bears gets 200 kg of ice every day.

Dalbir,who lives at Dera Bassi,9 km from Chhatbir,wakes up at 5.30 every morning and tends to his cows and buffaloes first. He then rides to Chhatbir on his bicycle to be with his second family. These bears are like my own children. I am anxious all the time I am home, he says.

By 9 am,Dalbir is at the zoo,and after marking attendance,goes to the bear enclosure. I check if they have eaten food or if they have caught cold or have any other problem. They recognise my smell and greet me in their own way, he says.

From 9 to 10.30 am,Dalbir tends to all the bears kept in the three enclosures. He informs the zoo doctor about their health. He puts a pack of glucose supplement in the water tank,bathes them and then waits for the ice truck to come. He rushes to open the enclosure as he hears the sound of the mini-truck approaching.

With mercury reaching a high of 45 degrees in the city,Dalbir spends his entire day on a bench under a tree,keeping a watch over the bears. Now and then,he visits the enclosures to make sure the bears are not affected by the rising temperature. There are frequent electricity cuts in my village. I have learnt to live in the heat. But they belong to a cold region. My concern for their health rises with the rise in mercury.

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Dalbir has been looking after the 11 bears since 2001. I joined the zoo in 1993 as a daily wager. I have always done whatever job came my way. But I enjoy looking after these bears the most, he says.

At 2 pm,Dalbir feeds the bears watermelons,bananas,khichdi and chapatis. It is his lunchtime too,but he makes sure he is never too far from the bear enclosure.

The ice truck returns at 3 pm. After the second delivery of ice,Dalbir prepares to leave. I check in on each one of them again before I call it a day. I make sure they have eaten their food and are not facing any problems, he says.

At 5 pm,Dalbir locks the enclosure,goes to the front office and leaves a remark for the night zookeeper. Its an hours bicycle ride home. But for him,its a day well spent.