Indore: The three-day exhibition of paintings and photographs of diverse ex-situ conservation– ‘Kalaranya’– was inaugurated by mayor Malini Gaud at Pritam Lal Dua Sabhagrah on Friday.
The mayor browsed around curious wildlife paintings and photographs of various artists on display and also, appreciated the effort for motivating people in wildlife conservation in such a unique way.
Artists Aishani Jain, Ghanshyam Kothari, Jitu bhadoriya, Sandeep Dhande, Nihar Parulekar and Ankit Punyasi exhibited their works at the exhibition, with some of the best artworks adding new colours to normally structured animals.
As visitors flowed in slowly, Nanda Kishore Reddy, who is also popularly revered as ‘bird man’ of Hyderabad, and marine conservation expert Shanmukh Sainath attended to their queries and shared their insight about various species, especially the ones found in India.
Answers to some of the questions asked by the enthusiastic visitors were really enlightening, as they debugged the popular myths about the animal world.
Q. Is it true that owl can rotate its head 360 degrees and see either way?
A. No, owl cannot rotate its head. However, it can turn on either side till 135 degrees. This turning overall lets it view about 270 degrees.
Q. With the popular tale of Saras crane and belief about their love, is it true that they never mate again and also die after their partner dies?
A. Saras crane can safely be known as monogamous lovers. They never mate again if their partner dies. However, the idea about the partner banging its head and committing suicide is not valid. They eventually die because of loss.
Q. What’s your take on rituals of worshipping eagle and owl feathers?
A. These are pure myths. All species are important for our environment and worshipping in form of conservation is preferable than taking out their feathers.
Q. Is it convenient for exotic birds to mate in Indore?
A. After an exotic bird is brought to a new city, it has to go through an accumulation process that prepares the bird to adjust with local environment, temperature and weather.
