THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Come Onam, there will be more attractions to visitors at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo. A pair of hyenas will arrive from Kanpur Zoological Park by August 24 in exchange for a pair of white and brown Rhea, which are flightless birds. The Zoo authorities will be leaving on August 18 by train number 12522 Ernakulam – Barauni Rapti Sagar Super Fast Express. The city Zoo is getting a pair of hyena after six years of wait after a pair died consuming plastic. It was during end of 2011 a pair of hyena met with a tragic death when it accidentally consumed plastic garden hose pipe.
Though the veterinary surgeon and other experts from Tamil Nadu Veterinary College and Research Institute at Namakkal tried their level best to help the hyenas by making them undergo gastroscopy, it ended on a sad note. Ever since then the city Zoo authorities have been on the lookout for a pair of hyena when they zeroed in on Kanpur Zoological Park for a barter system as envisaged by the Central Zoo Authority of India norms. Zoo authorities will be leaving on Aug 17 to Ernakulam in a special coach from Thiruvananthapuram Central where this coach will be attached to the Barauni Rapti Sagar Super Fast Express.
“The train will reach on the third day where a pair of white and brown Rhea will kick off their journey from the capital city on August 17. Next day they will resume their long train trip to Kanpur from Ernakulam. The contingent will return to Thiruvananthapuram on August 24 with a pair of hyena”, K. Gangadharan, Museum and Zoo director told this newspaper.
The city Zoo authorities were keen on getting a pair of Asiatic Lion from Hyderabad Zoological Park, Hyderabad in exchange of two Lion Tailed Macaques. But just when the authorities got the sanction from the Central Zoo Authority, one of the LTM’s died unexpectedly which has forced them to start the process all over again. Currently, the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo has got only three Lions with two of them already exceeding the life span of 17 years. They are Ayush and Aishwarya. The youngest is Gracy, a lioness which is only one and a half years old.
