Fresh roars greet the Nehru zoo

Saudi Wildlife Authority gifts two African lions and two cheetahs to the Nehru Zoo

The cheetah gifted by Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Mohammad Al Saud, at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad.

The Nehru Zoo on Monday received two African lions and two cheetahs as a gift from the Saudi Wildlife Authority, Saudi Arabia.

The lions and cheetahs, which were brought in a cargo flight of the Saudi Airlines to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, on Monday morning, were shifted to the quarantine centre at the zoo.

“The animals will have to complete a one-month mandatory quarantine period, after which we will shift them to visitors’ areas for display,” said P. Mallikarjuna Rao, Director of Zoological Parks.

A promise

During the CoP-11 summit in the city in October 2012, the president and chairman of the Saudi Wildlife Authority, Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Mohammad Al Saud, had promised to gift the animals to the zoo. The animals are aged about 18 months. The pairs were brought by scientists Rami Almanjumi and Faisal Sulaimani, who work at the National Wildlife Research centre, Jeddah.