GUWAHATI, Jan 1 - On the occasion of New Year�s day today, a daylong awareness programme on conservation was conducted in the Assam State Zoo campus here.
�The zoo experiences footfall of over 10,000 on New Year and as such this day was selected for spreading awareness which was planned and organised jointly by the State forest department, Aaranyak, Assam Elephant Foundation and WWF India.
Today�s programme consisted of an interaction with the visitors, an outdoor LED-based audio-visual display with conservation messages and a pledge for conservation,� a WWF official said.
The interaction programme started at 11.30 am and the celebrity guest for the occasion was actress Prastuti Parashar, while the special guest was actor Md Saju Ahmed. Among those present at the event were Bikash Brahma, PCCF (i/c) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam, and other officials of the forest department, Dr Bibhab Talukdar and Dr Udayan Borthakur from Aaranyak and Amit Sharma and Munin Gogoi from WWF India.
Prastuti Parashar gave an inspiring talk and called upon all to be friendly to wildlife and conserve wildlife as their disappearance would cause a huge loss in natural heritage. She called upon the people to join hands with the forest department and other conservation bodies to help keep the rhinos and other wildlife protected. She also interacted with many of the visitors and signed the pledge board.
Md Saju Ahmed called upon all the parents to leave aside hatred for wildlife and start helping and conserving them as then only the children would get trained in the right direction to secure the future of wildlife and biodiversity of the State. Bikash Brahma stressed the need for help and cooperation from the people for conservation of wildlife in general and for managing conflicts specially related to elephants and leopards.
