Once an abode of more than hundred lions and lionesses, Chhatbir Zoo went into a decade long crisis as the cats vanished one by one due to a breeding programme going awry, but the wait rather a long wait has brought back ray of hope to this zoological park with new love sprouting here.
Heli, the female lioness that is in her prime and was devoid of a partner for long has finally got a mate in form of Asiatic lion Abhay who has been brought from National Zoological Park, New Delhi to restore the lost glory of the lion Safari by adding new life to it. The Zoo authorities have finally decided to release these love stricken pair in the open on Tuesday.
This has been a wait of a lifetime for the Zoo authority but the fruit that it might reap has been worth waiting for.
According to sources, the pair was released in the lion safari on Monday for trail to assess the behavior, tolerance and emotional quotient of the new love birds, to avoid any untowardly incident or amorous quarrels, imbedded in the nature of the big cats, on their first date. The acceptance is slow which is unlike other animals.
The pair is being considered quite important for the breeding under captivity program here at the zoological park which will help the zoo to get back its past glory of the 1980’s when hundred of big cats roamed in the premises.
However gloom set over the zoo in mid-eighties when cross breeding between Asiatic lion and their close cousin the African lion resulted in devastation. The offspring born out of the cross bred couple had severe genetically triggered weaknesses and the lion population started dwindling.
After all the big cats perished, there is a lone survivor ‘Rocky’, a cross bred lion, but the zoo authorities preferred not to mate him with Heli, learning from their past mistakes. “Heli is our last hope; after she was brought here at a time when the future of lions at Chhatbir Zoo seemed bleak,” said Manish Kumar, Field Director of the Zoo.
It was after a long struggle that an appropriate partner was secured for Heli by the zoo authority. It is Abhay, a three year old Asiatic lion that brought hope for the authorities and an end to Heli’s solitary confinement.
Kumar said that the quarantine period of Abhay, which was four weeks long, concluded last week. So Heli and Abhay were introduced to each other by placing them in different cages and putting the cages close enough for the animals to get familiar with each other.
Manish Kumar, field director Zoo told The Pioneer that now the quarantine period of a pure Asiatic lion of breed able age Abhay, brought from National zoological Park, New Delhi, has been completed last week after more than four weeks here and we have already started putting both the lion Abhay and lioness Heli close to each other but in separate cages, so that they may get familiar with each other.
At present, Abhay is around four years old and Heli also belongs to the same age and hence both are fit for each other and are ideal couple for mating.
Breeding in big cats is quite safe after three years of age and hence this pair is fit to breed.
On the other hand, the zoo authority is leaving no stone unturned to get new members. Balanced diet, ideal for breeding couples, consisting of 10 kg buffalo meat, sheep liver, chicken and water with supplements is being provided to the couple. The authorities are also trying to provide best breeding atmosphere to the couple in the lion safari.
Excited block officer animal management Harpal Singh said, “We have cleaned the area used for lion safari of bushes and unnecessary over growth and all other precautionary measure are in place to provide best breeding environment.”
“Few places where breeding pairs prefer to hide during mating season have been identified as these corners assist in breeding,” added Singh.
The zoo authority is excited and at the same time they are keeping their finger crossed with the hope that the new couple will breed successfully restoring past glory of the zoological park in the near future.