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| Khushi, the sole giraffe, at Nandankanan zoo. Telegraph picture |
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 7: Nandankanan authorities, in an inbreeding attempt, have begun the hunt for a male giraffe to partner Khushi, the female, who was brought to the zoo in July.
Sources in the state forest and environment department said the search was on in the right earnest. “The zoo authorities are in touch with their counterparts in southern India to procure a male calf,” said a senior official.
One-year-old Khushi was brought to the zoo on July 11 amid strong precautionary measures following the failure of Nandankanan’s first attempt to procure a member of the species in 2008. The giraffe, which was being brought here from the Calcutta zoo died on the way following an accident.
Then Khushi came from the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna, but since then, it has been without a partner.
The zoo authorities are also planning to improve the ambience in Khushi’s enclosure by planting a variety of trees, including bamboo. The authorities said it would take around two years for the trees to grow. “This will create a good ambience for the animal, and at the same time, she can munch on the leaves,” said a zoo official.
At present, Khushi is lodged in a 3,165sqmt enclosure, built for Rs 10 lakh, with a double barrier structure. The zoo authorities have padded up the cage floor with grass. It had taken nearly three years to build the enclosure.
Since her arrival, the 10ft tall Khushi has been the centre of attraction in the zoo. “Every time I come here, I visit Khushi. Before Khushi’s arrival, we had seen giraffes only on TV,” said Prayas, a kid, who often visits the zoo.
In the past one year, the Nandankanan zoo had acquired several new animals through exchange programmes.
Last year, the zoo had brought one male and two female dancing deer of Manipur, one male and two female leopard cats, one male and two female jungle cats and one Slow Loris primate from the Assam State Zoo in Guwahati. Similarly, the zoo had given a pair of white tigers, two gharials and four zebra finch birds to the Assam zoo in exchange.
However, the death of a female dancing deer of Manipur because of spinal cord injury had raised questions about the safe transportation of animals to the zoo.