Gujarat: Head buried in PR muddle, African ostrich put in Gir

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat tourism department has ignored the elephant in its publicity room: its ignorance of the fact that the ostrich is not a native of Gir.
In an ad video released by the department, a couple of the flightless African birds are seen pecking at some snacks in the abode of Asiatic lions. The department wanted to crow about Gir’s wildlife wealth but has scored a duck on that count.
Another video gleefully cries wolf, although the image is that of a jackal. The blunders have incensed wildlife experts. The department’s defence is that the videos are old and have already been withdrawn. But wildlife experts point out that the videos’ punchline lets the gaffe cat out of the bag: “Come back to life”. The experts say the line clearly indicates a post-Covid invitation.
Bhushan Pandya, a conservationist and former member of the State Board for Wildlife, said that the ad clips of the tourism department have gone viral. He said the videos are also circulating in wildlife experts’ circles across India. He said the errors are embarrassing. “One can understand that the tourism department won’t have the expertise,” he said. “But they should consult professionals, such as the forest department officials, before releasing advertisements.” Hareet Shukla, the Gujarat government’s tourism secretary, said, “These are old advertisements and were withdrawn by the department once the errors were pointed out.” Jenu Devan, the MD of Tourism Corporation of Gujarat, reiterated Shukla’s statements and said that the department will be more careful in the future.
‘Lack of coordination between forest, tourism departments’
As for the past, the tourism department has showcased the state’s pride by featuring an African lion on the logo. Last year, the department released a social media campaign with the same blooper, said a senior forest department officer. “How can they show an ostrich in a Gujarat forest and that too in Gir? They seem to be making ads without keeping the forest department in the loop,” the officer said.
“It appears that the material is randomly taken from online sources. These instances show that there is no coordination between forest and tourism departments.” A senior officer in Gir said of the videos: “There are no ostriches in the Gir sanctuary. Ostriches are found in open, arid and semi-arid habitats.”
The officer added: “The person creating the video may have assumed that the ostrich landscape was Gir’s.” The officer went on to say: “When I was in Gandhinagar, I had asked tourism officials to get facts verified for campaigns.” Such errors can be prevented if the publicity material is run through the forest department first, he said.