Bhubaneswar: After a wait of nearly eight months, Nandankanan Zoological Park, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, welcomed two new guests – a pair of giraffes, brought from the Zoological Garden at Alipore in Kolkata, late on Sunday.
The giraffes – a 1 year 5 months old male and 1 year 1 month old female – arrived at Nandankanan around 11.50 pm under an animal exchange programme, which the Forest department had planned in January but the approval from Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on August 9. In return, a pair of Asiatic lions will be sent to Alipore zoo.
A 10-member team headed by ACF Rasmi Ranjan Swain started the journey with the giraffes on August 31 night and reached Nandankanan after 25 hours.
Since bringing of Giraffe by road is a difficult task, a team from Nandankanan zoo conducted a preliminary survey of the route and identified threat locations. A transportation plan was designed, including the low bedded trailer and use of special crates. Quarantine space was created for the giraffes to be brought. The consignment moved at an average speed of 25km per hour and both giraffes were inspected at regular intervals.
Collectors and SPs of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Cuttack and Khurda, DCP, Bhubaneswar, and DFOs of Balasore, Bhadrak and Cuttack supported the team en route. Escort of police and Forest Department was ensured throughout the arduous journey facilitated by TPCODL, which disconnected electricity from hanging wires from Pitapalli to Nandankanan.
The zoo had only one female giraffe, Khushi, brought from Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna way back in 2012. She had been alone after Joy, a six-year-old male giraffe brought from Alipore zoo, died in February 2016. An attempt was made in 2008 to bring a giraffe from Alipore zoo, but it died en route due to electrocution. In another attempt in 2016, a male Giraffe successfully was brought at Nandankanan but it died after 6 days due to Theileriosis.
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