Thanks to this engineer, visits to Chennai's zoo are more fun

Visits to Arignar Anna Zoological Park are now more engaging and fun, thanks to the digital initiatives pioneered by Deputy Director Sudha Ramen and team

March 10, 2020 04:57 pm | Updated March 12, 2020 03:49 pm IST

Chennai: 04-03-2020, For City: Sudha Ramen, Deputy Director of the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo). Photo: M. Karunakaran

Chennai: 04-03-2020, For City: Sudha Ramen, Deputy Director of the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo). Photo: M. Karunakaran

Her day starts with greeting the animals at the zoo. Sudha Ramen, Deputy Director, Arignar Anna Zoological Park, then heads to her office for paperwork, instructs office staff based on inputs, and settles larger issues like animal exchange. “People long to go to forests on vacation, and this is my workplace,” she smiles.

When she sat across the UPSC interview panel in February 2013, Sudha knew what was coming. “I will be me,” she said to herself. The panel asked: “With your Bio-medical Engineering background, how do you think you will fit into the Forest Service?” Her love for the outdoors standing by her, she proceeded to link bio-medical education with the environment. On April 9, 2013, Sudha found that she had made it to the all-India list — her rank was 45.

Today, Sudha uses her engineering knowledge to come up with digital solutions that make visits to the zoo more engaging and people-friendly.

Chennai: 04-03-2020, For City: Sudha Ramen, Deputy Director of the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo). Photo: M. Karunakaran

Chennai: 04-03-2020, For City: Sudha Ramen, Deputy Director of the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (Vandalur Zoo). Photo: M. Karunakaran

“Our team has developed the all-inclusive Vandalur Zoo mobile application,” she says. The first of its kind in India, it can be used to book tickets, navigate the zoo, has information as text and audio clips on animals there... there even are quirky selfie frames and one can watch live streaming of animals 24x7.

 

Defined view

This particular feature is quite popular: the streaming covers 14 animal species that can be watched in enclosures that resemble their habitats. These high-definition videos have pulled in over 4.5 crore views. Also available on their website, “the feature has made www.aazp.in one of the most visited websites on the Internet,” according to Sudha. The app has 50,000 users so far. Download it to plan your visit, confirm your ticket — it is the ‘green channel’ to enter the zoo.

An unusual life

Sudha is surrounded by animals, and deems it an opportunity of a lifetime. But she always visualised herself as a doctor. She ended up doing Engineering and came to Chennai to work with an IT firm.

She moved to Puducherry after marriage, where she tried her hand at Medical entrance exams. But she could not get through, and decided to take the UPSC, Group I&II, State Bank, SSC, IB, IBBS exams instead.

In Chennai, Sudha spent her days at an academy to train; at night, she pored through books in libraries. In the end, she landed six Government jobs, but chose IFS since she found “the three letters ‘IFS’ inspiring, it’s an all-India service”.

Sudha completed training at Dehradun with gold medals. The mobile app she designed — a one-stop lookout for all information related to choosing and planting trees — went into Tamilnadu Treepedia and won the Dr Kalam Innovation in Governance Award. In July, 2017, once she was posted Deputy Director at AAZP, she set out to digitise its operations.

A vibrant space

Today, the zoo has e-eye surveillance with 170 cameras. “We use it to observe animals 24x7 during delivery and nursing, monitor young ones, understand animal behaviour. An animal in distress gets immediate vet care,” points out Sudha. After she took over, the animal adoption programme has gone online and has seen a jump in response.

“We have vibrant interactions on social media with the public,” she adds, “Thanks to team work, the zoo has been featured in the WAZA World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.”

Sudha says that she is “lucky to be contributing to namma Vandalur Zoo”. “We revived the Otteri lake and carry out improvisations constantly. We can teach people about zoo practices, the needs of animals, their rescue and rehab, adoption, and conservation.”

Sudha is a ‘nocturnal bird. “I work on apps at night, read proposals, answer mail/social-media messages.” She supervises forest, veterinarian, and biologist teams. “Ultimately, animals are our responsibility,” she feels.

Sudha is sure that Vandalur will be a memorable tenure for her. Right now, she is all set to flag off systems to keep animals cool in summer.

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