The long wait of the zoo officials and animal lovers ended with the arrival of a pair of red panda at the GB Pant high altitude zoo in Nainital from Darjeeling on Tuesday.
The pair of red panda reached Nainital zoo on Tuesday morning, said Manoj Shah, Nainital zoo Range Officer, while talking to The Pioneer.
“Though efforts were on for a long period to get the pair of the said species from Darjeeling zoo, we finally can get it after waiting for around two years,” he added. Earlier, it was expected that the pair would add to the populace of the zoo in Nainital by July this year.
All the necessary formalities had been completed on the matter. Therefore, we were hopeful of getting red panda in due course of time, added the officials concerned of the GB Pant high altitude zoo.
When asked if zoo authorities had made any special arrangements for the new guests, Shah maintained that since climatic conditions of Nainital were similar to that of Darjeeling there was no such need.
Notably, there are a number of mammals like Himalayan Black Bear, Sambar, Barking Deer, Goral, Serow, Himalayan Civet, which keep drawing the visitors and the animal lovers.
Besides, among the bird species, Kalij pheasant, Cheer pheasant, silver pheasant, lady Amherst’s pheasant, Red Jungle Folul, Golden pheasant, Hill Partridge, Steppe Eagle, Edward pheasant, lineated Kalij, Indian Peafowl and different species of parakeets are also attracting the attentions of the visitors.
But the GB Pant high altitude zoo in Nainital, which is home to a variety of Himalayan birds and animals, did not have a pair of red panda for long.
The visitors, including wildlife lovers, used to raise demand for having red panda in the GB Pant high altitude zoo. Now with the arrival of a new pair of red panda, the visitors would definitely be happy, added the officials concerned.