Mysuru: Six green anacondas, a lion and two lion-tailed macaques will soon be the new residents to be housed in Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens.
As per an exchange agreement, the Mysuru zoo will bring the anacondas from the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka, ‘Shourya,’ a lion, will come from Sakkarbagh Zoo in Junagadh of Gujarat and a male and a female lion-tailed macaques will be brought from Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur, Chennai by the first week of March and in turn will be giving away a few animals and bird species to these zoos. The Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA), New Delhi, has given the approval for the exchange.
Speaking to DHNS, the zoo executive director Kamala Karikalan says, “All the animals will be brought in the first week of March. We have completed all the process which was delayed due to outbreak of bird flu in the zoo. A Himalayan bear, a wolf, black swan and other birds will be given to Sakkarbagh Zoo in exchange for the three-year-old Shourya.”
Currently, the zoo houses a lion named Darshan and three lionesses, Rakshita, Guari and Renitha, also procured from Sakkarbagh Zoo and brought to Mysuru in 2016. In 2011, the Mysuru zoo had received two Asiatic lions Shankar and Gauri from Sakkarbaugh Zoo. But Shankar died owing to kidney and liver problems.
In 1984, the Mysuru zoo had 22 lions, including cubs. Owing to the overpopulation, the zoo authorities had then resorted to sterilization and as many as 13 animals had undergone vasectomy operation then. A lioness can give birth once in two years.
Having got its first pair of lions back in 1964, the lion population at the zoo grew rapidly within 12 years owing to the healthy atmosphere in the zoo. The zoo so far has given away 18 lions to various zoos in the country and has even sold as many as six lions to circuses and a few were given away to the Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru.
