HYDERABAD: The Nehru zoological park has been named the second best zoo after the Mysore zoo in the conservation and reproduction of endangered species like lions, tigers, leopards, emus and pheasants by the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI). The CZAI has developed the system of reproducing endangered and threatened animals and birds by loaning and exchanging animals among the 106 zoos in the country. The Hyderabad zoo has been breeding a good number of animals due to its medium temperature, said M Abdul Waheed, curator of Nehru zoological park.With help from other zoos, the Hyderabad zoo has bred four lion cubs, three tiger cubs, 20 pheasants and two emus in the last five months, said Dr MA Hakeem, assistant director (Veterinary) of the zoo. “In five more months, there will be more cubs as two tigers, two lions and three emus are pregnant,” he added.Under the guidelines of the CZAI, the zoo also received north and north-eastern species like five pairs of Spoon Bills, a pair of Marmosets and a pair of Bhutan Lorry pheasant from the Alipore zoo in Kolkata. It received a male lion from the Rajkot zoo in Gujarat since the city zoo already has three female lions. It also received a pair of Himalayan Black Bear, a pair of Leopards and a pair of Pig Tail Macaque from the Sepahijala zoo in Tripura.In return, the Hyderabad zoo has sent a pair of lions, two pairs of emus, three pairs of peafowl and a pair of hog-deer to other zoos in the country.Dr MA Hakeem told Express, “When the new species are brought to the zoo, they are provided artificial atmosphere for at least a month so as to get accustomed to the new area. If the animals do not get accustomed, they are sent back to where they came from.”Zoos try to increase their captive populations for many reasons like conservation, exhibition and research, said Waheed. “The goal of most captive breeding programmes for endangered species is to establish captive populations that are large enough to be demographically stable and genetically healthy.”The CZAI has a computer database of all these animals with details like dates of births and deaths, gender, parentage, locations and local identification numbers. It takes care of reproductive and survival rates, age structure, degree of inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity and other measures useful to evaluate temporal changes taking place in captive population, he added.
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