Chitradurga zoo to get first zebras

The Adumalleshwara Zoo in Chitradurga will soon have stripes of pride as the small menagerie is set to induct three zebras, the first exotic residents of the park, while Bannerghatta and the Mysuru zoo will also get new bloodlines of the animals in the coming days.

The Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru is coordinating the process of procuring eight Grant Zebras, a subspecies of the Plains Zebra, which will be housed among the three zoos within the next one year.

Ajith Kulkarni, Executive Director of Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, said seven female and one male zebra will be brought from donor zoos - the ones with high population of zebras.

"A private company will be responsible for finding a donor zoo and bringing the animals to the country by obtaining all the necessary permissions. The firm will not only arrange for the safe shipment of animals but also coordinate with the recipient zoos and train its personnel on the upkeep of the animals," he said.

To a question, he said females were preferred over male zebras to reduce possible conflicts.

"With males, there is a competition to find a mate that often leads to fights and injury. That is not the case with females. At Mysuru zoo, we have three male and three female zebras and plan to induct two more. The Chitradurga zoo will get one male and two females whereas the BBP (Bannerghatta Biological Park) will get three females," he said.

The BBP has one female and three males. "Initially, we had one of each. But both the foals turned out to be male, which recently started fighting with each other. We had sought for two female zebras," an official said.

For the fledgling Adumalleshwara Zoo in Chitradurga, the zebras will be an exotic addition. Officials said the recent addition of nilgai and spotted deer has seen good response. "Among the birds, we had Emu to showcase. The exotic appeal of zebra will definitely bring more people,” an official said.