Nellore: Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati is slowly switching over from zoo to safari concept in the view of successful captive breeding of lions, Bengal tigers, white tigers and sloth bear in the zoo, besides availability of nearly 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of forest land. Lion safari and deer safari were introduced in the park few years back and the zoo authorities are making arrangements to introduce white tiger safari next month and it will be followed by Bengal tiger safari.
Incidentally being in the vicinity of temple town Tirupati, the zoo is developed on mythological theme and it highlights the role of wild animals in mythology. Depiction of mythological Gods matsya, kurma, varaha, narasimha avatars, believed to be incarnation of Hindu God Lord Vishnu, at the entrance of the zoo makes the visitor aware of the theme in which the zoo is developed. The message of nature conservation and protection with all its diversity is conveyed to all sections of people clearely emphasising the role of animal and plant life in Indian culture.
Efforts on to improve breeding:
Top priority is being given to animal breeding in the SV Zoological Park in Tirupati. The authorities have formed a team consisting of three veterinary doctors - Dr. T.H. Choiba Singh, Dr. Arun Kumar and Dr. G.M. Khader Ali, a forest range officer, Selvakumar and 10 animal keepers for captive breeding. The team has adopted dating method by keeping female animals in a cage close to the male animal or vice versa to develop attraction and both are allowed into an enclosure if they are resilient towards each other and congenial for mating after observing their behaviour for a while.
“It is a matter of permutations and combination to ensure breeding and our priority is to prevent fight between the two, because it could end up with injuries to the animals,” zoo curator Y. Srinivasa Reddy said. He said animal keepers play a crucial role in the matter. Referring to increase in the carnivores' number to nearly 40 in the zoo, he said there were only two animals in each category in the beginning, and their efforts led to gradual raise in the numbers.
He said breeding of black buck, which is a state animal of Andhra Pradesh, is also very promising and their number had crossed 40. The Zoo curator also added that they were also concentrating on captive breeding of panthers, which are local species.
