Bhubaneswar: A dip in fertility among certain animals at Nandankanan zoo here has left authorities worried.
According to sources, zoo officials found during a health review of the animals that the birth rate among herbivorous species was much higher than their carnivorous counterparts.
Zoo Deputy Director Sanjeet Kumar informed that two lionesses, Radha and Rukmini, were brought from Bangalore to Nandankanan. While Rukmini has not been able to conceive in the past 11 years, Radha has given birth only twice in 2015 and 2017, he said.
Radha’s daughter Kalpana, which was born in 2015, has also not been able to conceive in the past six years, though female lions born in captivity usually start breeding after four years, Kumar said.
Besides, two female Indian wolves and two female wild dogs have also not been able to breed even after three years of age.
Kumar said the felines and canines may gradually loss their reproductive potential if these issues are not addressed.
Accordingly, the zoo authorities have started consulting wildlife and veterinary experts to address infertility among certain species.
Those consulted include expert members of Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH) and veterinary officers at OUAT.
The experts plan to carry out ultrasonography of the reproductive tracts of three lionesses and supplementation of trace minerals of wild dogs and wolves initially to improve their birth rate.
