Zoo gets a dash of colour with pheasants and macaws

They came as part of an exchange programme with Lucknow zoo

The new arrivals have taken the total number of macaws in the zoo to three —Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

A pair of golden pheasants and a pair of blue-and-yellow macaws are the latest additions at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur. They arrived from the Nawab Wazid Ali Shah Prani Udyan, (Zoological Garden), Lucknow, a couple of days ago.

Zoo director K.S.S.V.P. Reddy said these birds were brought under the animal exchange programme from Lucknow zoo, in exchange for a male ostrich, which is being readied for its journey to Lucknow, after a thorough medical examination. The four birds that have arrived were also under observation by veterinarians for a day and they have been released into separate enclosures for public viewing. The zoo already has a female macaw.

According to bird-watchers, the macaw, a brilliantly-coloured parrot, is normally found in tropical South and Central American forests.  The blue-and-yellow macaw (

Ara ararauna ) is a very large parrot which lives between 30 and 35 years in the wild. They are usually found in eastern Panama and the tropical lowlands of South America, south eastern Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. They are good mimics. 

The golden pheasant, (

Chrysolophus pictus ), also known as the ‘Chinese Pheasant’ is one of the more popular species of the pheasant which is native to the mountainous forests of western and central China.