Chennai zoo acquires 76 rare birds

The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, located in Vandalur, 30 kilometers from Chennai has acquired 76 rare birds, including parakeets and hybrid pea fowls.

Chennai, Aug 18 : The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, located in Vandalur, 30 kilometers from Chennai has acquired 76 rare birds, including parakeets and hybrid pea fowls.

The birds were brought from the Gemini birds farm in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram District to the Arignar Anna, also known as the Vandalur Zoo, recently to enrich their ongoing breeding programmes.

The birds include ring-necked, plum-headed and red-breasted parakeets, besides Alexanderian and Malabar species.

With the arrival of 13 hybrid colourful pea fowls, including three chicks, the zoo now boasts of as many as 39 pea fowls.

The zoo put up the newly acquired parakeets for display on Friday, but the pea fowls would be released for public viewing only after quarantine period.

"We found various species of parakeets, which after the veterinary doctors have screened and observed for a day. We have put it for public education awareness and ultimate goal of nature and wildlife conservation," said Nihar Ranjan, Deputy Director of the zoo.

The breeding programme, funded by the Central Zoo Authority, includes zoos in Thiruvananthapuram and Mysore.

Zoos have undertaken several captive breeding programmes, but not all have been found useful. A cross-breeding programme for lions was abandoned last year after 21 lions died in a zoo in Chandigarh.

Later, the Supreme Court capped the breeding programme so as to avoid overcrowding of zoos.

ANI