Water sprinklers, multivitamins added to diet of animals by Delhi zoo to reduce impact of air pollution

As the air quality of the national capital remains in the ‘severe’ category for the third consecutive day, a hazardous blanket of smog engulfed the city.
Following this, the National Zoological Park has taken various preventive measures for the animals.
The National Zoological Park has started doing water sprinkling frequently in the animal enclosures to keep the hydration level up. Though this was in daily practise, seeing the rising AQI of Delhi, this has become frequent.
Diets with multivitamins are also being given to the animals to prevent the impact of polluted air in Delhi.
The Director of the National Zoological Park, Akanksha Mahajan, said, “We are doing water sprinkling on a regular basis. The thick layer of haze does not come down to ground level keeping the animal enclosures clean due to the sprinkling of water. We are using jet sprays for sprinkling”.
“The zoo has very good greenery inside so the oxygen index is already quite good. That works as a blessing for us”, Mahajan told ANI.
She also informed that since the beginning of October, they have started the winter diet for the animals, which includes seasonal fruits and vegetables. Also, they have started their multivitamins to boost their immunity with the change of weather and air outside
When asked about any incident reported due to the impact of poor air quality, she said, “No, there is no such incident. As I told you, greenery is balancing the oxygen index and helping animals breathe cleanly.”
“But yes, we frequently do blood testing and vaccinations on animals. We can do sample studies with some of the wildlife institutes as future precautions”, she added.
Meanwhile, the overall air quality in Delhi continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category for the third straight day on Saturday morning, as per the SAFAR-India.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India, the overall air quality in the national capital Delhi (Overall) is in the ‘severe’ category with Air Quality Index (AQI) of 504