On Thursday, animal keepers in a zoo in the Indian state of Bihar were seen trying to cheer up chimpanzees, who lacked company, as zoos were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a Twitter video shared on Thursday by Bihar’s Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (@DEFCCOfficial), zoo caregivers were seen gathered around an enclosure for chimpanzees, who seemed like they were craving for company.
The two minute video shows the two primates sitting silently in their enclosure in the absence of visitors. As soon as zookeepers gathered around their enclosure and clapped and cheered, one of them jumped and exclaimed in joy.
In the caption, the forest department explained that chimpanzees crave company nearly as much as food to stay in good mood. Amid lockdown they don't see visitors now.
Retweeting the video, an Indian Forest Service official, Parveen Kaswan wrote: "Such a good gesture.”
Other wildlife lovers also enjoyed the clip and found it “heartwarming”, meanwhile some expressed aversion to the idea of keeping animals in zoos.
Zoos around the world are closed
Zoos around the world have been forced to close because of the coronavirus lockdown. Recently, reports from Russia also said that caregivers had discovered, some animals are suffering from a lonely lockdown.
The Siberian Times website reported earlier this month that when the Krasnoyarsk Royev Ruchey Nature Park went into quarantine on 25 March, the chimpanzee twins Tikhon and Anfisa showed signs of depression within days.
Their caregivers - who had agreed to stay locked inside the park for the duration of the quarantine - set up television screens outside the cages and screened cartoon movies such as The Lion King. The cartoons, reportedly, appear to have cheered the chimps up.
