With summer vacation round the corner , devotees and denizens of the temple city will have another reason for visiting Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park.
The menagerie, serving as a centre for wildlife conservation, education and research, will be adding two new enclosures to its existing plethora of wildlife.
People can now visit - the mandrill (mandrillus sphinx) and a Conservation and Breeding Centre for Grey Jungle Fowl (gallus sonnerati), which were inaugurated by Director General of Forests S. S. Garbyal, here on Thursday.
CharacteristicsAccording to zoo curator A. Parthasarathy, the mandrill is most commonly referred as ‘Namala Kothi’ due to its distinctive characteristics such as elongated face with a red stripe in the middle, resembling the Vaishnavite insignia ‘Namam’. The sprawling enclosure at the zoo will be occupied by an adult and a baby mandrill.
Conservation breedingS.V. Zoological Park, which has been selected by Central Zoo Authority (New Delhi) as the coordinating zoo for Conservation Breeding of Grey Jungle Fowl, began its activities from year 2000 with three rescued birds of wild origin.
Project costWith regard to this project funded by Central Zoo Authority, 24 pens have been constructed over 1.14 hectares with an estimated cost of Rs.25.70 lakhs.
The project would focus on breeding at least 100 healthy birds scientifically and genetically with emphasis on physical built and behaviour.
DNA testingCentre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has conducted genotypes (DNA Testing) of founder population and found the variable genetically healthy.
To increase numberAt present there are 33 birds in 14 pens and it is proposed to increase the number of pens during the year 2014-15.
