Zoo richer by 4 big cats, 10 tortoises

NEW DELHI: 12-year-old Anita — the sole lioness at the Delhi zoo — has been finicky about mating. Realising this, the National Zoological Park (NZP) on Friday acquired three more Asiatic lions — including two lionesses — from the Hyderabad zoo. According to zoo officials, one of these lionesses would take Anita’s place in pairing up with Ghagas, an eight-year-old lion.
NZP director B S Bonal said: "We got the three lions — Pyarelal (5), Chunni (5) and Crol (15) — from the Hyderabad zoo under an animal exchange programme.They will be added to our existing collection under the planned breeding programme."
After the successful hand-rearing of a couple of jaguars over a period of two years, the Delhi zoo has also acquired a male jaguar — eight-month-old Shankar — from the same zoo. Said Bonal: "He will be paired with two-year-old Sony, one of the three female jaguars that the Delhi zoo has. For the time being, Shankar will be kept in a separate enclosure to get acquainted with his new environment."Out of the other two female jaguars in Delhi, Sushi and Vijaya, the former has been sent to Hyderabad zoo under the exchange programme.
The Delhi zoo has added yet another feather in its cap by successfully conducting the captive breeding of Shanghai deer.
Said Bonal: "We have thereby decided to part with five of them and hand them over to the Hyderabad zoo under the exchange programme."
The adult Shanghai deer population in the city zoo at the moment is 64. "The Shanghai deer breeding here has always been good. Though the animal belongs to Manipur, all Shanghai deer thriving in captivity in various Indian zoos are from Delhi,"Bonal added. Incidentally, the Shanghai deer is on the endangered species’ list. tortoises from Hyderabad zoo.