Nandankanan gets two Asiatic lions

TNN | Mar 27, 2013, 08.50 AM IST

BHUBANESWAR: Four new guests, two lions and two leopards, arrived at the Nandankanan here on Tuesday. The animals were brought from Junagarh zoo in Gujarat. "The animals will be kept in quarantine for a few days before they are brought to the enclosures for public viewing. With two pairs of Junagarh lions, which are of the Asiatic variety, and two leopards, the zoo has now seven leopards and 11 lions," said an official of the zoo. He said Nandankanan has only hybrid variety of lions and leopard.

Two weeks ago, the zoo got a black vulture as gift from the Jammu zoo. The lone black vulture in Nandankanan zoo got a friend after the arrival of the bird from Jammu. Nandankanan has also sent a proposal to the CZA to bring one pair of black swan from the Mysore zoo in exchange of two open billed storks. The Mysore zoo will also take one of the two female cassowarys for making a pair because they have one male cassowary, said the official.

Recently, the zoo had brought one elephant calf, which was rescued from Athgarh forest division. It is a two-month old calf, which is going to be kept along with the other four orphan calves at the zoo.

The animals were brought as per the permission granted by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Nandankanan-gets-two-Asiatic-lions/articleshow/19235362.cms