HYDERABAD: An entourage of forest officials entered the zoo enclosure and disappeared behind a door on the farther end. Officials standing outside the enclosure winced and wondered.
“How can they be allowed inside? It’s dangerous. We don’t know how the animals will react. They can leap over the fence too,” exclaimed a retired official of the Nehru Zoological Park.
If it sounded impossible to the incredulous bystanders that a ten-foot fence could be leapt over by a goat-like creature, they did not know the Himalayan Gorals. The grey-brown bovid is habituated to live in mountains, and can negotiate steep hills with no foothold.
Soon, to the marvel of the cheering crowds, the sprightly pair emerged, and started leaping all around as if their hooves had springs.
Special enclosure
The two, a male and a female, were brought almost a year ago from Mahendra Choudhary Zoological Park in Chhatbir of Punjab, in animal exchange programme. The first pair of the species ever to be received by the zoo, they were kept under quarantine a little too long, as the authorities needed to create a custom-made enclosure for them at an estimated cost of ₹13.5 lakh. The four-foot fence was raised by an additional six feet, so that the animals cannot leap over it.
“They are a hardy species, and can survive rough weather. Further, we will use air-coolers in the night,” explained an official, when asked if the three-year-olds can survive Hyderabad’s summer.
White tigers
Earlier on Wednesday, Forest Minister Jogu Ramanna also released two white tiger cubs along with mother Sameera for viewers. The cubs, one male and one female, were born on April 23 last year. They too could not be released into the enclosure sooner because the retaining wall and moat needed repairs, and the rest of the enclosure too was renovated at a total cost of ₹14.5 lakh. With the siblings, the population of white tigers in the Zoo has gone up to 12, of which three are female.
The total number of animals is 1550 now, of 155 kinds, Mr.Ramanna said.
He also said the zoo earned a cumulative revenue of ₹10.34 crore by the end of January. Total number of visitors was 24.58 lakh.
Mentioning other developments, Mr.Ramanna said mates were found for 23 single animals this year, and the same will also be found for the rest through animal exchange programmes with other zoos.
