The history of the Animal Ark is yet another story of a special bond between man and nature. The Ark is an orphanage for young wild animals, whose parents have been killed by the tribal people only for food and not for fun or entertainment. It began with a baby monkey, whose mother had been killed for a meal. When Dr. Prakash Amte saw the baby suckling to its dead mother he was moved and adopted the monkey by exchanging it for food grains and clothes. From here on, the organization has worked to save the lives of many a young animal deserted in the forests. The Animal Ark today has a wide variety of animals- leopards, sloth bears, snakes, birds, deer, owls, crocodiles, hyenas and monkeys. Dr. Amte’s orphanage is not a personal collection for hobby or pleasure, it is a modest effort to preserve the animals. Dr. Amte’s intimacy and friendship with the animals has given rise to the realization among the tribals that every animal in the wild is not their natural prey or natural enemy. Till today thousands of animals have been hand reared, some successfully released, very few forgotten but many have made permanent imprints on the minds, lives and very being of the LBP volunteers.
Kalu carried Pillu on his back all the time. Kalu carried him like Sindbad in the story of old man in the sea. He never left Pillu alone. They used to roam together in the jungle too. Whenever Pillu saw something to eat on any tree, he would climb it up. Kalu used to wait until Pillu returned.
One day, they didn't return home till 11PM. So, Dr. Prakash and Mr. Vilas Manohar (a senior LBP volunteer) entered the jungle looking for them. They heard Kalu's barking which sounded like a help call. He was standing below a tree looking up. Pillu got up on the tree to eat some fruits and may be, got scared when it was dark. Kalu didn't want to leave his dear friend alone. So, he gave him company.
Chintu was a wild dog. They are generally nocturnal. But, kids used to play with him during the day. So, he would sleep at night. As a puppy, he had milk every day. If it was delayed for any reason, he used to roam around with his empty bottle in mouth. After growing up, he moved back to the jungle. But, every day, he would come home around 6PM to have his "Doodh-Roti". Once done with playing, he would go back to jungle around 9PM. The visitors used to wait to see his daily visit and wonder.
The mongoose always slept right next to Subhash. While awake, he would bug Subhash by sitting on his head, back or biting him for fun. Subhash used to get angry sometimes and press him with front legs. The mongoose would start shouting. He would run away once left by Subhash. After some time, Subhash used to get up and go near him. Once he started licking, mongoose would forget everything and started playing with him again.
Unfortunately, Subhash passed away. The mongoose smelt his cage many times, hoping to find his dear friend. He entered another leopard's cage by mistake and got eaten up.
A five month old lion cub and a hybrid puppy of Great Hound and Doberman dogs became very good friends. Dr. Prakash could do friendship with cub only through the puppy. The cub followed puppy everywhere. They used to play in the garden for hours. The puppy had to be tied with chains but the cub roamed around free and never tried to run away. The bond between them was so strong that if the cub was not seen on any day, Dr. Prakash used to pull ears of puppy and it would show up immediately as soon as puppy shouted loudly. The puppy was smart too. Later on, it would shout immediately whenever Dr. Prakash just touched its ears.
Hemalkasa was an entire world in itself in the beginning when there were no roads and reaching Hemalkasa was an extremely difficult task. However when road to Hemalkasa was built in 1985, transport and communication increased and its tranquility was lost. Today also the Animal Ark houses more than 60 animals but their free movement is restricted but the love and relationship has been unaffected, only increasing day by day.
