29 new guests at Dhaka Zoo

Visitors swarming the Dhaka Zoo at Mirpur to have a look at 29 new inmates from South Africa that arrived Thursday after a long wait.

The zoo is now full of life with a total of 87 new animals from 11 species adding colour to its teeming collection.

Thursday's newcomers include giraffe, zebra, oryx, wildebeest, impala, greater kudu, common élan and many more, joining earlier batches of four Kangaroos, eight Arabian horses and donkeys that arrived in end-May and on June 5.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock spent Tk 5.5 crore on the purchase.

The hopping Kangaroos were brought from a US breeding centre while the horses and donkeys galloped their way from India. Also as part of the purchase programme, around 50 monkeys were procured from the local market.

Among the new inmates, impala is a reddish African antelope famous for its leaping ability and for having ridged, curved horns in the male.

Greater kudu is a large South African woodland antelope with a brownish, bluish-grey, reddish-brown coat with narrow, white vertical stripes. The male greater kudu has long, spirally curved horns.

The oryx, also belongs to the antelope family, is found in Eastern Africa.

Common elan belongs to the deer family and is found in Alaska, Canada, the United States and the northern part of Europe.

Wildebeest is a very social animal found in the Serengeti Game Reserve in Tanzania and the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

This herbivorous animal is famous for its group migration. During July and August every year millions of these wildebeest cross the Mara river from the Serengeti Game Reserve to the Masai Mara. They later come back in October.

In their new home at Dhaka Zoo, the inmates were seen running around the shed and busy making friends with each other.

Dr Aminur Rahman, the newly appointed curator of the zoo, told Star City that the animals are in good health. “The first day they mostly spent silently in a corner but they are gradually gaining strength and appetite for food,” he said.

“We are giving them concentrated packed food and also offering them local vegetables and grass,” Dr Aminur added.

They will be under close observation for two weeks. A wide circle of fence has been built around the sheds to keep the visitors at a distance.

The Dhaka Zoo officials said that the mountain zebra, common zebra, impala, oryx, and the wildebeest joined their lone mates at the zoo.

“We only had males from each of these species. Now we have arranged pairs. They will now have partners and be able to procreate,” the curator said.

Animal caretakers at different sheds said that after meeting their new mates these animals have started running around the sheds. Earlier they used to remain in the corner.

The splendid lock-necked giraffe, the hopping kangaroo and the colourful oryx have attracted the largest number of crowd. Earlier, the zoo did not have any kangaroo and greater kudu.

The last giraffe of the zoo died in 1997. Four giraffes were bought to fulfil the long-awaited demand of the visitors. The giraffes were found eating leaves from the tall jackfruit tree located inside their shed, cheering up the visitors.

Supplier of the latest batch James Magill, owner of Zoological Live Animal Suppliers, Johannesburg, and also a wildlife expert arrived with the animals for safe handover.

Speaking to this correspondent he said, “Any animal displaced from its original habitat becomes agitated. In this case a long travel and all the hustle and bustle around in the new place are making them stressed.”

“It is wise not to have too many visitors around. They need a little while to get used to the new environment,” he added.

It is necessary to train and educate the current staff at the zoo so that they can properly take care of the new animals, he stressed.

The zoo already has a manpower shortage but their was no new recruitment to cope with the with new addition. Zoo official said that task of the current staff was reshuffled according to the need of the new inmates.

No new sheds have been built either for the newcomers. Empty sheds were renovated to accommodate the guests. The central zoo in the city currently has around 400 sheds.

After assessing the ration expenses of these animals the officials will request for an increased amount of budget. The yearly budget of Dhaka Zoo is Tk 3.75 crore, said an official, out of which Tk 2.50 crore is spent on feeding the animals.

Established in 1974, the186-acre Dhaka Zoo attracts around 10,000 visitors every day. The number increases during the weekends.

With the new addition the zoo is currently home to 2,050 animals from 165 species. Of them 58 are mammals including elephant, Royal Bengal Tiger, lion, cheetah, rhinoceros, zebras, different species of monkeys and chimpanzees, hippos and more.

There are 66 species of birds, 13 species of reptiles including snakes and crocodiles and 28 species of fish.

The zoo made its last purchase in the year 2002. Around Tk 50 lakh was then spent on bringing two cheetahs, two zebras, three greater flamingos and two golden pheasants.