The Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) witnessed an eventful year in 2019, with the arrival of a number of rare species to the zoo as part of animal exchange programmes, apart from improving various amenities for the visitors.
According to officials, the zoo registered record footfalls during the Karthika Masam.
It all started in December 2018, when the zoo procured two male Royal Bengal tigers and several other species in exchange of animals with Pilukula Biological Park in Manguluru of Karnataka. In April last year, the zoo welcomed Sarus Crane, Indian Grey Wolf from Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru. In the second half of the year, Asiatic Lions and Grant’s Zebra and a few other animals were procured.
“We started working from the second half of 2018 on various proposals related to animal exchange programmes. It is tough to implement one animal exchange programme in a year. But in 2019, we successfully had completed three such programmes and added seven new species to our zoo,” said IGZP Curator Yesoda Bai. She attributed the success to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for granting permissions at the earliest. “Without the cooperation from the officials of the other zoos across India and railways authorities who helped transport the animals, this could not have happened,” said Ms. Yesoda Bai.
Dream come true
According to the zoo officials, procuring pure-bred of Asiatic lions and a pair of Grant’s Zebra was a dream, as many attempts earlier had failed.
After the CZA’s nod, a pair of Asiatic Lions were procured from Sakkarbaug Zoo, in Junagarh of Gujarat in August, 2019. The lions were rescued from Sasan Gir in Gujarat. A pair of Grant’s Zebra were received from Zoological Garden at Alipore in Kolkata in November and the IGZP became the fourth zoo in India to have this species.
Tragic incidents
However, the zoo also saw the death of a baby giraffe after 17 days of its birth. This was also first time the zoo officials performed the first in-house breeding (captive breeding) of giraffe. However, it failed even after taking many preventive measures.
The male giraffe Beacon and female May that were brought from Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia in 2012 gave birth to a female giraffe in June, 2019. The zoo officials said the calf developed lactose intolerance, a digestive disorder that led to its death.
According to Ms. Yesoda Bai, the zoo did not receive feed charges from the government. “Only ₹30 lakh has been sanctioned when compared to the total amount of around ₹2 crore. The sanctioned amount was spent by May itself and the zoo has been bearing the burden since then,” she said.
Funds awaited
The zoo officials said it has been a long wait to receive the World Bank funds proposed under the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project. The zoo is yet to receive around ₹360 crore as a part of the project, of which ₹180 crore is proposed to be spent on animal areas to improve the night and day house facilities while around ₹120 crore was proposed for restoration of buildings, visitor amenities and etc.
“The Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by the previous consultancy has been scrapped. A new agency has been assigned to prepare a new DPR in August. We hope that it gets ready soon,” the Curator added.
