KOZHIKODE: The government, local bodies and many individuals are giving their 100 per cent to ensure that all human beings in the state get food during the lockdown period and some have even started addressing the hunger of stray dogs.But what about the wild animals, mostly monkeys living in the forest bordering the Thamarassery ghat road? Though wild animals by birth, a majority of these animals had been striving completely on the vegetable and fruit waste dumped in the area or on the food given by motorists.Taking into account the situation, the Puthuppadi grama panchayat authorities and a few volunteer groups in the area have started distributing fruits and vegetables to the monkey community living near the ghat road. The volunteers and panchayat authorities started feeding the monkeys on noticing the condition of the monkeys following the National lockdown.“We are collecting fruits and vegetables from shops in our areas for feeding the monkeys and birds,” said P R Rakesh, president of Puthuppadi grama panchayat. We feed the monkey when we go to the Thamarassery ghat to handover food packets to the officials from police, health and other departments who are on duty at the ghat, he said.The Puthuppadi grama panchayat authorities started feeding the monkeys from March 26. The animals are fed with the support of the standing committee on health of the panchayat.The panchayat authorities have also arranged drinking water for monkeys, other animals and birds in the forest areas. The panchayat team has installed mud pots at 15 different locations alongside ghat road stretch of the national highway 766 to ensure sufficient supply of water supply to the wild animals and birds.The water containers are filled using the tanker truck of the panchayat, said the president. All streams in the forest have dried up in summer and the situation is likely to worsen in the coming days, he said.Apart from the local body many volunteer groups have also started installing drinking water pots in the forest areas to help animals.Meantime, the panchayat authorities are slightly worried about the direction of the forest department against the feeding of wild animals. We are aware that human beings are prohibited from feeding wild animals, but we decided to feed the animals taking into account their condition, said the panchayat president.