In a bid to attract more visitors, the Delhi Zoo has invited animals and birds in animal exchange programme. A pair of rhea bird, a spectacled caiman crocodile and brahminy kites will be the new guest in the Delhi Zoo from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
“As per exchange programme, the Central Zoo authorities have this practice. A white tiger named Swarn, jaguar named Salman will be shifted to Jaipur,” said Fiyaz Khan, the curator of Delhi Zoo on Monday.
“The species will be kept in hospitals for some days, due to variation in temperature, the birds and animals take time to adopt the new environment,” Khan added.
The zoo administration will also soon invite zebra and giraffe after instructions from Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar, who had visited the Delhi Zoo last week.
According to the zoo administrator, the arrival of the new animals and birds would not only attract the visitors but also the researchers, environmentalists and wildlife lovers. “A team of 20 researchers of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have registered themselves for the study on animal behaviours during the exchange programme,” said the zoo official.
Zoo authorities are also worried about the imbalance in the categories of the animals. “We have only one male African elephant here; gifted to India during the Presidency of Dr Shakar Dayal Sharma during his visit to Africa. The zoo must have an African female elephant for breeding,” the official added. On the other hand, the population of deer and its categories has increased. The zoo has more than 140 deer at present. With the rise in the population, the authorities are struggling to house them as the space has shrunk owing to their increase in numbers, the official said.
The Delhi Zoo also needs kangaroo, chimpanzee, hyena and rhinoceros. “We have two male rhinos but there is no female rhino and that has impacted breeding. We are working to maintain the balance by adding more females,” the zoo official said.