Bhubaneswar: The Nandankanan Zoological Park here welcomed eight new animals on Sunday night as part of an exchange programme with a zoo in Madhya Pradesh.
The new animals — two Asian lionesses, two grey wolves, three gharials and one female fox — were brought from Kamala Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya in Indore.
According to reports, a six-member team led by Dr Debadutta Mohapatra had gone to the Indore zoo in a special vehicle on December 13 to transport the animals to Bhubaneswar.
In exchange, Nandankanan will send 13 animals and birds of five species to the Indore zoo. These will include one white tiger, one black tiger (melanistic), three crocodiles, four silver pheasants and four golden pheasants.
Nandankanan sources said the new animals will be kept in quarantine at the zoo hospital at present. They will be relocated to their respective cages on the foundation day of Nandankanan zoo on December 29.
The zoo is also set to bring in a Himalayan black bear, wild dog and Assamese macaque from Aizawl Zoological Garden in Mizoram in January 2021.
Notably, the last time Nandankanan had exchanged animals and birds was on March 17, just before the COVID-19 lockdown was announced.
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