Barang: A two-and-a-half-month-old baby Nilgiri langur died at Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) here Wednesday, zoo sources said.
The death came to the fore when a zoo-keeper spotted the lifeless baby with its mother in the afternoon. With this death, the zoo is left with only one Nilgiri langur.
Meanwhile, the untimely death of the baby primate has put the NZP authorities in a fix. “The primate’s carcass has been sent for autopsy. The exact cause of its death will be ascertained after the post-mortem report arrives,” ACF (Sanctuary Management) Anjan Kumar Mohanty said.
A pair of the Nilgiri langurs was brought to Nandankanan from Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Chennai under animal exchange programme June 26, 2017. The male langur, however, died in captivity owing to diarrhoea May 31, leaving the lone female langur in misery. Later, the female primate delivered a young one June 1.
“We thought the young langur will help fill the void created in the female primate’s life following death of its male partner. The hope, however, thins with the baby primate’s death,” a zoo keeper said.