Lion from Nandankanan Zoo dies in transit

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, SEPT. 23. Two white tigers on their way from Nandankanan in Orissa to Hyderabad, were despatched in lorries on Saturday after a brief halt at the Animal Rescue Centre in Visakhapatnam. The Hyderabad Zoo, which already has two white tigers, will have two more in a couple of days.

Thirteen tigers and lions are being shifted from Nandankanan Zoo near Bhubaneswar in Orissa to various zoos in Andhra Pradesh. A batch of five animals had arrived here on Thursday and another eight arrived this afternoon by road in lorries and vans. One lion died here on Saturday unable to bear the stress of journey by road, said the Curator of Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Gupta.

Mr. Gupta said the health of other animals was excellent and were being given rest in the enclosures to overcome the strain of journey. These animals would be shifted to Tirupati or any other zoo in the State to be decided by the Central Zoo Authority.

None of these animals would, however, be kept in Visakhapatnam zoo as it did not have additional capacity to house them for public display, the Curator said. Visakhapatnam Zoo has capacity to house five lions and five tigers.

Overcrowding of the Nandankanan Zoo due to its successful breeding project of tigers had led to many problems in housing the animals there, and therefore the Central Zoo Authority had decided to send some of the lions and tigers to various zoos in the country, said Mr. Gupta.

Within a week, another six to seven lions and tigers would be taken to Bannarghatta Zoo in Karnataka with a transit halt at the Visakhapatnam Animal Rescue Centre on the city outskirts, the only facility of its kind in the country.

Of the seven tigers sent from Nandankanan, two were white male, two ordinary male, three ordinary females, and out of the six lions sent two were male (including the dead one) and four female.

These were the first batch of animals to be housed in the Rs. 60- lakh newly-built Animal Rescue Centre. The centre will be used to house lions and tigers rescued from various circus companies in the country.

The Central Zoo Authority had been informed of the readiness of the facility to receive animals, the Curator said, and pointed out that animals could arrive at the centre any time after they are captured from circus companies by the nearest zoo authorities.

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Section  : Southern States
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