w w w . m y s o r e z o o . i n f o

a zoo for all seasons

NEWSLETTER 1e 3 m iu sl s

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March

2014

MYSORE ZOO

Z oa or ld on ge ij ca ar la G

m aa rh deC ni r sS

From the Desk... 1e

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December 2013

in thisISSUE

Cover Photo

Events to remember & cherish…….

Varun Kumar .S, Mysore

1 Place Zoo Category2

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1. From the Desk

2. All India Zoo Directors

Workshop

3. Animal Adoption

4. Housing of Elephants in

Mysore Zoo

5. Youth Club - Valedictory

6. Zoo Day Celebrations 2014

7. National integration camp

8. News-in-brief

a. Visit of Additional Chief

Secretary, Department of

Forest, Ecology and

Environment

b. IFS – Probationers- Visit

c. Christmas

d. Arrival of chimps & Bat

eared Foxes

e. Death of “ Chamaraja”

f. Birth of Young Ones

g. VVIP Comments

I must confess the quarter just passed was very satisfied one, from

the professional point of view. The goals which were set at the time

of assuming this office have been achieved.Our Zoo has successfully conducted the All India Zoo Directors

Workshop in Mysore for the first time, on the theme “Zoos –

window to Biodiversity” from 16/12/2013 to 20/12/2013. The

workshop was conducted successfully with the excellent support

of Central Zoo Authority and my colleagues. The occasion was

aptly utilized to showcase the accumulated achievements of zoo

over a period of time.The long awaited Master Plan of our zoo for twenty years from

2012-13 to 2032-33 was released by the Hon'ble Minister of

Forests, Government of Karnataka, during the inaugural function

of All India Zoo Directors Workshop held on 16/12/2013. The soft

copy of the Master Plan is available on our zoo website as well on

CZA website.It gives me an immense satisfaction to share with you, that our zoo

has been recognized as pioneer zoo in the field of conservation

education, animal adoption, recycling technologies and in

breeding of many endemic and exotic species. The wonderful

efforts of all my colleagues have been recognized by delegates and

resource persons during the interaction on their Zoo visit, as part of

the scheduled programme of the workshop.Another important event, the laying much needed new UGD line

from Mysore City Corporation to prevent spillover of excess

sewage in to Karanji lake, has been taken up during the quarter

which will go a long way in preventing the pollution of Karanji

Lake. The Governing Council of Zoo Authority of Karnataka in its 125

meeting have resolved to increase the wages of Contract

employees @10% of the consolidated wages and approved the

Gratuity Scheme, that will help in assuaging the feelings of most of

my committed workers and provided a sense of security to them.Our Zoo received new 2:0 Chimpanzees & 2:2 Bat Eared Fox from

Singapore Zoo. Among six chimps housed in Mysore Zoo, the

youngest Kimoni aged 6 years, arrived from Singapore drawing the

attention of visitors by his cheerful disposition & antics.

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Summer has arrived. Our zoo is ready to receive lots

of visitors, with newly born inmates are eagerly

waiting to greet all my esteemed guests. Enjoy your

summer holidays.

B.P. Ravi, IFSChief Conservator of Forests and

Executive Director

During the quarter, many important works are started

viz. construction of Amphi- theater, New Lion and

Leopard enclosures, Elephant Care Centre,

Conservation, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre at

Kurugahally, as per the approved Master Plan. Once

all these works completed, I hope our zoo would

become a modern zoo, on the lines of other

international zoos.

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All India Zoo Directors Workshop

The All India Zoo Directors Workshop was held in Mysore from 16 Dec to 20 Dec 2013. The workshop was organized by Mysore Zoo, with the financial assistance of Central Zoo Authority, New-Delhi.

Sri Ramanath Rai, Hon'ble Minister of Forests, Government of Karnataka has inaugurated the workshop on 16 Dec. 2013 at Sandesh The Prince Hotel, Mysore.

The Master plan of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore for the period from 2012-13 to 2032-33 was released by the Hon'ble Minister of Forests Sri Ramanath Rai.

The Annual Report of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens for the year 2012-2013 was released by the Hon'ble Minister for Revenue and District-in-charge Minister Sri G.Srinivas Prasad.

The Conservation Speak Compendium was released by Sri M.K.Somashekar, MLA, Krishnaraja constituency, Mysore.

The theme of the workshop was “Zoos - window to Biodiversity”. 31 Zoo Directors have taken part in the All India Zoo Directors Workshop.

Release of Master Plan, Annual Report and Conservation Speak Compendium on 16th December 2013 on the occasion of Inaugural function of

All India Zoo Directors Workshop

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With the united nation declaring 2011-2020 as the Decade Biodiversity, Indian Zoos have a major role to play in ensuring better understanding of Biodiversity conservation among their visitors. Keeping this in mind, Central Zoo Authority and Mysore Zoo, contemplated to discuss a wide range of issues that focus on conserving the biodiversity.

In the workshop, it was discussed about the ways to make visitors understand the importance of biodiversity and help conserve it either by educating others or supporting the conservation initiatives.

Zoos are the Window to Biodiversity, so they are best places to impart values on biodiversity and motivate visitors for its conservation. Zoos can educate people on endangered species, In-situ and Ex-situ Conservation and many other aspects. The workshop concentrated on management issues, handling skills, enrichment of enclosures, conservation breeding.It was opined that we can make use of Ex-situ Conservation centers as Windows to Biodiversity by initiating the visitors to conserve water, utilize space optionally, and reduce plastic, use of mass transit system and plant trees.

About 17 resource persons drawn from different fields have taken part in the All India Zoo Directors Conference and deliberated many interesting issues.

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The following important topics were discussed during the workshop.Role of zoos in biodiversity conservation through education and awareness strategies, Efficient exhibit for species survival, Cataloguing and Beyond-Biodiversity and Ecological Principles, Evaluation of Housing and Enrichment of Enclosures in selected Indian zoos, Primates under altered conditions in the wild and in captivity, Biotechnological interventions helping Conservation Breeding, Tools for Population Management on Different Levels, Animal rehabilitation and welfare, why do we do it and how to we do it, Zoos as centers of Conservation Education, Breeding Plan in Indian zoos – An overview & Guiding principles for Planning and Designing of Zoos in India.

This workshop was a prelude to the convention of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) a world body of zoos and aquariums from across the world, being hosted by India in New Delhi during year 2014 on the same theme.

Valedictory Function:

At the end of the fifth day, valedictory function was presided over by Sri. Vinay Luthra, IFS. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Bangalore. The participants were given certificates.

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Altogether, 286 individuals have adopted 364 animals belonging to 84 species from which a sum of Rs.33, 48,544/- was realized during the year 2013-14.

The list of Major adopters during the quarter is given below:

Apr-13 29 19 224000 21May-13 38 29 557000 32Jun-13 21 16 231500 10Jul-13 27 18 149500 20Aug-13 33 23 751500 31Sep-13 26 22 212000 21Oct-13 40 20 388200 32Nov-13 34 19 223375 22Dec-13 21 14 69920 14Jan-14 49 35 291049 42Feb-14 21 12 123500 16Mar-14 25 18 127000 25

Sri. Vikram Jayaram M.204, Brigade Gateway, 26/1 Rajkumar Road, Malleswaram West, Bangalore-55

Asian Grey Hornbill, Four Horned Antelope & South American Tapir

25,000

Sri. Kamal Kant Bagai GC, ‘ORCHID COURT' Yadavagiri, Mysore-20

Nilgiri Langur & Indian Grey Wolf 30,000

Zeus Biotech Ltd, A-115, Industrial Estate, Hebbal, Mysore-16

Flamingo & Blue Yellow Macaw 27,500

Miss. D'mello, 48, Turenne Close, London SW18 1JW, UK

Indian Leopard 35,000

M.S. Vedavalli Srinivasan, No.20, 9 Cross, 5 Main, Malleshwaram, Bangalore-03

Elephant Calves 60,000

MAC Group, CNC India No. 34/9, Srinivasa Complex, 1st Floor, 6th Main, Narasimhalu Layout, S.C. Bose Circle, Bangalore-96

Tiger 50,000

Smt. Vedavalli Srinivasan has adopted Elephant Calves who

recently visited Mysore Zoo.

Miss. D Mello has adopted Indian Leopard

receiving certificate.

The Animal Adoption for the last five years is as follows:

Animal Adoption for the year 2013-14

There is an overwhelming response towards Animal Adoption Scheme during the year 2013-14, from the sponsors voluntarily. The details of Animal Adoption from April 2013 to March 2014 is as follows:

Month Animals Species Amount Individuals

Total 364 3348544 286

S.No Name and Address Animal Adopted Amount in Rs.

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2.

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4.

5.

6.

Year Animals Species Individuals Amount

2009-10 273 52 181 2216623

2010-11 394 96 301 3020201

2011-12 375 75 286 3455283

2012-13 326 91 248 2594634

2013-14 364 84 286 3348544

Total 1732 398 1302 14635285

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The valedictory function of the youth club – 2013 was held on 05/01/2014. This is the 21 Youth Club consecutively held by zoo. 60 students representing 27 schools and 7 colleges consisting of 32 boys and 28 girls have attended the programme. The aim of youth club is to develop leadership qualities among the youth, to spread the message of wildlife protection and environmental conservation. Conservation Education has occupied a prominent place in Mysore Zoo's strategic vision, involving youth in conservation activities would benefit the society in the long run.

Since the launch of the youth club in 1993 more than 1000 students belonging to 90 educational institutions in Mysore had graduated under this programme. The programme provided hands on experience with science based information on the conservation of species and their habitats.

No Zoo is too small to serve as an educational center, while no individual is too old to learn. In the west, zoos are a part of learning centers, imparting zoo education for the young, and the old alike. In India too, the need was felt but as usual due to innumerable hurdles, the need was not implemented. Mysore Zoo has come up with novel idea of forming the Youth Club, which caters exclusively to the youths of Mysore and neighboring districts. It was started with an aim of imparting knowledge, love and awareness and sense of responsibility towards conserving Wildlife, which is fast disappearing.

Conservation is essentially adoption of natural principles. It means working with nature. Therefore principles and concepts of bio-sciences are given emphasis with right mixture of handling animals in captivity and vice-visa their natural behavior in the wild. Youth have lot of curiosity and observational capacities which are essential for budding conservation biologists. Field practical covering cleaning of cages, animal behavior studies,

visitors' interaction, visitor's survey, animal census, bird's survey etc., was held. Exposure trips to in-situ conservation areas were also arranged during the programme.

Eminent resource persons delivered lectures on biodiversity, climatic change, ants, African wildlife, reptiles, primates, insect vectors, forest and wildlife, cat family, personality development, medicinal plants, road ecology, identification of birds through calls, honey bee, mask making, talk on wild dogs, bears, butterflies, nature watch, etc.

The field trips to Ranganathittu and Bandipur helped the students to have the first-hand experience of Wildlife management. Local visits to Karanji Lake Nature Park and Regional Museum of Natural History created awareness about importance of environmental education which was definitely the high point of their field trips.

Punctuality and discipline are instilled among the participants besides giving emphasis for interacting with resource persons.

Mysore Zoo profusely thank the following resource persons for their active participation in the programme viz; Sri. Siddaramaiah, Dr. Narasimhan, Dr. Basavarajappa, Sri B.P. Ravi, IFS., Sri. Santosh. A, Sri. Sunil Kumar, Dr. Arun Kumar, Sri. U. N. Ravi Kumar, Dr. S.S.M.S. Khadri, Sri K.B. Sadananda, Sri Shivaprakash, Sri Vivek Philip, Sri. S. J. Srinivas, Sri. Snake Shyam, Dr. C. Suresh Kumar, Zoo volunteers viz; Kum. N. Sindhu, Kum. M. Akshatha, Smt. G. Suma, Sri. M.K. Saptagirish, and others.

The youth club members handed over the Youth Club Report of the activities compiled to Sri. B.P. Ravi, Executive Director, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, on this occasion.

Valedictory function of the Youth Club-2013

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Addressing the students the Executive Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore, and Sri. B.P. Ravi opined that the zoo has become a good education center for students. He advised the students to become Brand Ambassadors for wildlife conservation. He urged the students to convey the right message to the public and to help them to change their perception of wild animals.

He raised the concerns about branding all tigers as man-eaters, following tigers mauling people at Mysore and Chamarajanagar Districts recently. “Recent incidents have furled misconceptions among several people that all tigers are man-eaters. Such misconceptions must be rest” he said. The awareness programmes must be held for residents of villages living in the fringes of the forest, highlighting that tigers do not target humans, he said.

Mrs. Shikha, Deputy Commissioner, participating as Chief Guest said that the zoo has provided true to life experience on learning about animals and environment. She asked the students to spread the awareness on wildlife protection and become volunteers at zoo.Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner appreciated the officials of Mysore Zoo for their initiation to educate children on wildlife and environment.

She recalled that during her school days, “We had no practical exposure to wild animals and birds. We used

Sri. B.S. Dinesh, who won the 1 prize of Rs. 5,000 /-in the photography competition under the wildlife category, has donated the prize amount for the welfare of the youth club of Mysore Zoo.Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner appreciated the officials of Mysore Zoo for their initiation to educate children on wildlife and environment.

to see them only in charts and pictures. Here you have a chance to watch and study them”. She hoped that the participants would share their knowledge acquired during the programme with the people and make them aware of wildlife and environmental issues.

She also said that groups such as the youth club must involve themselves in conserving the lakes of Mysore. She said that 13 lakes of Mysore City are facing the threats of encroachment and pollution.Noting that lakes sustained the lives of several species of flora and fauna, she said that disposing plastic and other waste into lakes and other water bodies spoiled the lake eco-system, creating problems for animals and birds dependent on the lake.Youth organizations of the city should launch awareness programmes to prevent the public from disposing plastic waste into the lakes she said.Apart from the youth club 5 literary competitions were held during the year. More than 680 participants took part in the competitions. A total of 84 prizes with attractive certificate were distributed to the winners.Sanjay Bhardwaj M.R class IX student of Amrita Vidyalaya received the award of best candidate.H.N. Anaga class IX student of JSS School received the award for her active participation and 100% attendance to the youth club activities. Following were given awards to the project reports of the youth club for the year 2013.

Sl.No Prize Winners Prizes Awarded

Sanjay Bharadwaj M R on Lion Tailed Macaque FIRST

Shambhavi R on Green Anaconda

P.Gunashree on Striped Hyena

K.Manoj on Tiger

P.L.Rashmitha Jain on Nilgai

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The staff members of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens have celebrated the Zoo Day Celebrations in a unique way. Every year the Zoo Day will be celebrated in commemoration of birth date of Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar Bahadur which is 22 of February, the founder member of Mysore Zoo. As part of the Zoo Day Celebrations, sports and games competitions were held on 18 February and 25 February 2014. The following collagium of photos shows bonhomie & spirit of zoo staff.

Zoo Day Celebrations 2014

On 25 February 2014, Chamundeshwari Pooja was arranged followed by Lunch. Sugama Sangeetha by Smt. Savithri Prabhakar was arranged, during the valedictory function of the Zoo Day. On this occasion, the winners in the competition were given prizes besides honouring the following persons for their services rendered to Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore.

1.Sri D.A. Mardimani, Assistant Conservator of Forests & Deputy Director for having served in this zoo from 16/07/2012 to 13/08/2013 before transferring to his parent department.

2.Dr. Prashanth, Veterinary Officer from 08/08/2012 to 18/02/2014 since recruited by the Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services.

3.Sri. Siddarama, Attender, retired from service after attaining superannuation on 28 February 2014.

The Member Secretary, Zoo Authority of Karnataka presided over the function.

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National Integration Camp - to create heaven on earth at the Mysore Zoo By Dr. Shantala Priyadrshini.M.S(Ayurveda)M.A.(Sanskrit)

A week long program organized by the Government Ayurveda Medical College, Mysore under the aegis of the principal Dr.Satyanarayan Bhat was held from 15 March to 21 March 2014.

It was not only to create -nat ional integration of the youth who had come from ten states but it also focused on e n h a n c i n g l e a d e r s h i p quality,creativity, team spir i t and inculcate reverence for natural resource conservation of the rich biodiversity of our state.

The program theme was -to educate and train youth to share the responsibility towards saving the environment -thereby play a highly significant role to create heaven on earth.

Flora, fauna and all natural resources are conserved s ince centuries in our country.

The concept of sacred gardens -named- 'Naga-vana-Devi vana' in ancient days was clearly a seed bank concept and conservation technique and today we have wildlife sanctuaries, in-situ and ex-situ conservation methods and a rare but best repository for both flora and fauna was selected in Mysore zoo. Globally the best ranking, one of the oldest zoological gardens was chosen, the legendary, historical Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysore.

One day program was planned here to educate the younger generation on all the above ideas and they got more than what was bargained for and a brief outline is here.

Volunteers planted nearly 130 Saraca asoka an endangered medicinal tree species, 430 fruit bearing trees -jamun, kokam, bread fruits, Ziziphus, fig, bel etc which will house lots of birds, insects and can offer lot the environment for many decades.

Matsya Purana says : ' One who sinks a well lives in heaven for as many years as there are drops of water in it.But to dig ten such wells equals in merit the digging of one pond; digging of ten such ponds was equal to making a lake; making of ten lakes was as meritorious as begetting a virtuous son but begetting ten such virtuous sons had the same sanctity as that of planting a single tree'.

The above and such sayings, practices in ancient India surely indicate what environment protection meant to our past generations.

Karanji Lake which houses beautiful birds and butterflies has lately become a prime tourist attraction but always needs more willing and dedicated hands to keep it cleaner and safer for the flora-fauna there. The volunteers of the national integration camp utilized time and resources to achieve it.

Though plastic bottles, bags are prohibited volunteers tried to find few stray ones and 6 plots were dug up, cleared and made suitable to plant many medicinal plants like -Plumbago zelanica, Asparagus racemosus, Vitex nigundo, Adathoda vasica, various species of crotons, costus. These

sure ly wi l l l e a v e a n impact on the environment a n d t h e volunteers, an exerc ise to e d u c a t e v o l u n t e e r s about ex-situ conservation, e n d a n g e r e d

and rare species and various methods of conservation of natural resources and their responsibility.

Talks given in the Zoo gardens were very much inspiring to all and motivating the younger generation. One was by the Mysore Zoo Executive Director B.P. Ravi IFS., who also spoke about various activities implemented here, all targeted at adopting best conservation practices and the other by Sri.Ramakanth, IFS, the Director, Institute of Wood Science and Technology who spoke about -goal in life- very thought provoking and interesting.

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Dr. Satynarayana Bhat Ph.d,the Principal of Government Ayurveda College, Mysore was instrumental in making this historical event of collaboration of exemplary legends who spoke effectively to pass the message of goals in life, the importance of protecting, preserving and doing our best for mother earth.

It was a very impressionable event and etched ever green in each volunteer's young cells who carry the torch towards the goal of this program -to create heaven on Earth.

Dr. R.C. Mythrey, the NSS officer and Dr. Fathima, the coordinator who were also part of this spirited team helped extensively to achieve this highly appreciable job.

VVIP COMMENTS:

Sri. V.Srinivas PrasadHon'ble Revenue and District-Incharge-minister,

Government of Karnataka, Bangalore:

“Visit to Mysore zoo is fascinating. It opens for the public

for viewing two Chimpanzees, which have come from Singapore. In total, visit to zoo is not only a

recreational but also enlightens the pattern of life of animals and their

way of living”.

“Had an excellent visit. The Zoo is going from

strength to strength. The finest inthe country and a learning

center”.

Sri. V.B.SawarkarFormer Director, WII, Dehradun

“It was a great pleasure to visit this zoo once again, nearly

after a period of 30 years. We are really proud of such extremely well

managed zoos in our country. Really great pleasure to be here. The staff is extremely

cordial and helpful. Thanks a lot”.

Sri. S.A.H. QureishiConservator of Forests (RH) Maharashtra

It was wonderful, wonderful re-living those fantastic days.

Sri. S.K.Chakrabarti, IFS., (Retd) Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife)

and Chairman, Zoo Authority of Karnataka

Smt. S.B.Prusti.,IFS (Retd):

A well maintained

Zoo.

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Visit of Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment: Sri Madan Gopal, IAS., Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Forests, Ecology and Environment visited Mysore Zoo to chair the 125 Meeting of the Governing Council of Zoo Authority of Karnataka held on 14/02/2014. During the course of his visit to the zoo, he was taken on rounds and was accompanied by Sri. Vinay Luthra, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Sri. R.S.Suresh, Member Secretary, Zoo Authority of Karnataka.

IFS Probationers Visit:IFS Probationers have visited Mysore Zoo, as part of their Training Programme on December 31 2013 and 7 January 2014, in two batches. The trainees were appraised about the activities and also interacted with them.

Christmas:As usual the visitors were greeted Merry Christmas on 25/12/2013, this year also by Santa Claus, by the staff members of the Zoo, and the children were given sweets. Many visitors were taking photographs with Santa Claus which was looking like festive mood.

News

in B

rief:

Banning of Housing Elephants in ZooThe Central Zoo Authority had conducted stake holder's consultative meeting on upkeep of Elephants in the zoos on 18 March 2013, at New Delhi, under the chairmanship of Additional Director General of Forests (Wildlife), Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The Central Zoo Authority has earlier sent notice to Zoo that Elephants are banned from Zoo Collections throughout the country, hence directed to shift elephants outside zoo.

However, after the deliberations & extensive discussions, taking into consideration of additional facilities created by zoo with the solid track record of up keep of elephants in the zoo, the CZA has finally permitted to house & display, the magnificent mammals in Mysore Zoo, subject to the following conditions.

1.Was allowed to retain existing (3:5) Elephants, subject to increase of the area for elephants.2.The Asian Elephant facility in the existing Zoo should be made available for African Elephant and African elephants Exhibit for Asian Elephants as per the approved Master (Layout) Plan.

The Additional facility should be created at Kurugahalli Rescue and Conservation Center for housing compatible group of 5 elephants and act as an elephant care center.

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Published by : Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Indira Nagar, Mysore - 570 010, Karnataka 0821-2440752/2520302 Fax : 91-821-2563494, Website : www.mysorezoo.info, Email : zoomysore@gmail.com Designed & Printed by : Aadi Creative Hub

News

in B

rief:

2 male Chimpanzees and 2:2 Bat eared Foxes were arrived to Mysore Zoo under Exchange programme on 30/11/2013 and the same were put up for display after

undergoing Quarantine measures

Arrival of

Chimpanzees

and

Bat Eared Foxes:

The male Giraffe “Chamaraja” aged 17 years died on 28 February 2014 at 10.00 a.m. Chamaraja was the second son of Honey (Mother) and Henry (Father). Chamaraja was suffering from arthritis for the last

2 years. He had been under treatment for arthritis and other health related issues. Despite continuous treatment,

the animal succumbed to death on 28 February 2014.

Death of Chamaraja, Male Giraffe:

Mysore zoo would like to share the news of arrival of new inmates, which are born in captivity due to co-ordinated efforts of animal and veterinary wings of zoo management.

Birth of Young Ones in the Zoo:

Indian Grey wolf gave birth to 5 pups on 18/12/2013.

Lakshmi, a female Giraffe gave birth to a female calf on 15/02/2014.

Chamundi, Sloth Bear gave birth to a male cub on 16/12/2013 for the second

time. First cub Kaveri was given to Leipzig zoo as part of exchange deal

in the year 2013

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