The Delhi zoo has just added another feather in its cap, and this time it’s the endangered species of Hoolock Gibbon. Native to the North-Eastern regions of Assam and Myanmar, this female Hoolock has come all the way from Mizoram. The Delhi zoo already has two Hoolock Gibbons under its wing.
The seven-year-old female Hoolock Gibbon will be the third one of its species in the National Zoological Park. “She (Hoolock Gibbon) reached Delhi zoo on September 11 and has been brought from the zoo in Mizoram. In the Mizoram zoo she was picked up from the wild and had spent four years there,” said RA Khan, curator (education), Delhi Zoo. The gibbon is currently under quarantine and is being very closely taken care of by the veterinarians to acclimatise her to the new environment. The Hoolock Gibbon is a highly endangered species and is listed on Schedule 1 of the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act, 1972. They have an average life span of 30-35 years.
“We have not yet taken her out for the visitors to see. She needs to first adjust to the new environment here. Besides, there is fatigue from the entire journey from Mizoram to Delhi. She is getting used to the climate and change of diet at the Delhi zoo and will be introduced to the two other Hoolock Gibbons (a male and female) on display by the end of this month,” said Khan.
The animal is currently coping with a change in diet and is getting used to a new variety of fruits and other supplements being provided to her. “We are giving her bananas, apples and other fruits along with egg, bread and milk which are new to her. She is slowly adapting to the change and is currently doing well,” said a veterinarian of the zoo.
The zoo authority has brought in the young female animal as part of the zoo’s breeding programme. “The female Hoolock Gibbon that we currently have is very old and we hope that this female will be able to thrive in this zoo. She weighs about 12-15 kg and has been brought in for our breeding programme,” said the zoo official. Explaining how she was brought from Mizoram, the official added, “She was first transported to Kolkata by road and then brought here by air.
The zoo is expecting to get two more Chinkaras from Chandigarh in Punjab, apart from a rhino which is supposed to be sent by the zoo in Kanpur. Meanwhile, the zoo has suspended two animal keepers after a badly-decomposed carcass of a stump-tailed macaque was found in its enclosure. The animal whose body was found unfit for post-mortem had died in the last week of August, according to zoo officials.