Weather delays cheetah arrival to Nehru zoo

Animals to be quarantined for a mandatory period before being shifted to visitors' area

All required formalities attended to and clearances obtained, it is now wait for the right weather for cheetahs to arrive at the Nehru Zoological Park.

The city zoo has entered into an animal exchange programme with the Dvur Kralove Zoo in Czech Republic for two pairs of cheetahs and they are to be sent once the weather settles down there.

According to zoo officials, the Czech animal facility is waiting for appropriate weather for flying down the four cheetahs. “Once the snowfall ceases there, the two pairs are to be sent and it could be anytime in next few weeks,” an official said.

The Dvur Kralove Zoo has made all preparations for shifting of the cheetahs and they are to be boarded on a cargo flight. As the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport does not have the required quarantine facility for these animals, orders have been issued for Nehru Zoological Park to act as quarantine for the prescribed period. “Since the facility is not there at the airport, the zoo has been accorded the quarantine status and these animals will be quarantined for a mandatory period before being shifted to the visitors' area,” he said.

Formalities completed

Meanwhile, all the prescribed formalities have been completed and the last of the approvals, one from the Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) had been obtained for the animal exchange. Necessary permission under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) too has been procured.

Under the exchange deal, the city zoo, while receiving the cheetahs, in turn will be sending a pair of Asiatic lions and five female ‘gharials'. “For sending our species too, we are waiting for weather clearance from the other end. At the most, it might be early February for us to receive and send the animals,” the official added.