The sudden lockdown has taken a toll on animals who have been largely dependent on humans for food. A viral video shows hungry sloth bears tossing around dustbins at a temple in Chhattisgarh, while looking for something to eat.?
Twitter?
Footage of the bear was shared on Twitter by Arpit Mishra, an official in the forest department of Madhya Pradesh.?
According to his post,?sloth bears had been dependent on the food or prasad (religious offering) that devotees at the temple gave them. With the lockdown shutting down all religious places and banning any public gatherings, the bears have been left without a source of food, forcing them to search dustbins for something to eat.
'As temples are closed, sloth bear dependent on prasad & foodstuff given by devotees are now angry and looking for it in dustbin around temples', wrote Mr Mishra.?
The 21-day lockdown is harsh not just on humans but stray animals as well, many of whom depend on the food they get from roadside eateries or volunteers who look out for them. But now with most people locked inside their homes,?finding food has become much more difficult for the animals.?
The lockdown has not only made it hard for feeders to move about, but also made it difficult to avail food supplies to feed them. A week ago,?the Jaipur Municipal Corporation pitched in to help NGOs, providing around 15,000 chapatis daily for the strays and birds, during the lockdown.
"It¡¯s sad to see animals and birds going hungry¡ so, we have initiated a few steps,¡± JMC Commissioner, Vijay Pal Singh, was quoted saying by Times of India. He said the deadly coronavirus has created a huge problem of arranging food for not just animals, but also humans.??