NZP welcomes pair of giraffes from WB

Bhubaneswar: In what would bring cheer to animal lovers, Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP), on the outskirts of the City here, has received a pair of giraffes from West Bengal’s Alipore Zoological Garden, official sources said Monday.

Sharing a picture, and a 31-second video, featuring the giraffe pair on X, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Susanta Nanda said, “The new guests at Nandankanan… The pair would give much-needed company to the lonely Giraffe Khusi of the zoo. This is a part of the design to create ‘African Panorama’ in the zoo. Cheetahs & Zebras would follow soon.” With the new additions, the number of giraffes at Nandankanan has gone up to three. “While the male giraffe is 17-month old, the female is 13 months old. The giraffes arrived in Nandankanan late Sunday night after a 25-hour journey from Kolkata in a special container,” NZP sources said.

The new guests will give company to ‘Khusi’, who had been staying alone at the zoo for long, they said. Khusi was brought from Patna Zoo in 2012. “Multiple attempts were made to bring more giraffes to NZP, but to no avail. In 2008, a giraffe was brought from Alipore Zoo, but it died on way due to electrocution.

In 2016, a male giraffe was brought. However, it died due to disease within a week,” they pointed out. It was a tough task for NZP authorities to get the pair as India has only a few of the species. Following discussions with Alipore Zoo, Odisha government approached the Central Zoo Authority for its nod. Finally, the state government got a go-ahead for the initiative August 9 this year.