National Zoological Park gets new family members

NEW DELHI: With the arrival of a couple of newborns, zoo officials have reasons to celebrate. Last week a goral kid, two chinkara fawns were born at the National Zoological Park. Other births include one white buck fawn, two silver pheasants and a batch of 30 red jungle fowl which were born on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials are taking special care to make the tiny ones feel comfortable, specially with the rising mercury. Terming it lucky, said the zoo director, D N Singh: "The babies are delicate and need extra care to protect them from heat and preying birds, one of the biggest threats. They are prone to dehydration due to this harsh weather so we have made special arrangements for all of them. The newborns and their mothers are doing fine presently and none required any post-natal care or shifting to the zoo hospital."

The soil in the white buck and chinkara enclosures was levelled and cleaned of pebbles to prevent the fawns from hurting themselves. Also, the shrubs in these enclosures have not been trimmed so that the newborns can hide there in case of threat from birds of prey, said the director.

"The entire goral (mountain goat) enclosure has been revamped to give it a natural look with a rocky terrain and underground caves to keep them cool during the day," added Singh.

The goral and chinkara are listed under the schedule I species under the Wildlife Act. With the male goral kid, their numbers rose to four (one male and two female gorals) at the Delhi zoo. The two female fawns born to two pairs of chinkara have pushed their numbers to eight. The white buck pair gave birth to a female fawn.

Terming the red fowl breeding programme a hit, the director said it started as an initiative from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), World Pheasant Association and the NZP with the outbreak of avian flu. "The project commenced in 2007 with just five fowls. Last year 25 chicks were born and this year the number rose to 30," said Singh.

With this time of the year also being the egg laying season, many exotic birds have laid eggs and officials are looking forward to more good news in the weeks ahead.

tanushree.rc@timesgroup.com