Visakhapatnam: The three chimpanzees, two females and one male, from Israel reached the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park here on Saturday.
Chiko (18 years), Chipa (20 years), Chikita (30 years) are the new guests to the zoo. When the door of the cargo vehicle was opened two were calm, but Chikita was seen being irritated.
“The chimps will be subjected to observation for one month to monitor their health condition and if they have any abnormalities in behavior or other aspects,” said the zoo curator B. Vijaya Kumar. The zoo had made an enclosure for chimps from its inception, but was never used.
The total expenditure in transportation of the chimps was US $21,000 (approx 12.6 lakh). The chimps were transported from Tel Aviv (Israel) to Mumbai by air and from Mumbai to Vizag via road.
“We wanted an AC cargo facility for the transportation from Mumbai, but it was not available. Two experts assisted in the transportation till Vizag” the curator said.
Chimps which belong to Great Ape live up to 50 years and puberty attains at the age of 8 to 10 years. They share 99 per cent identical DNA between human with identical anatomy and physiology.
