Visakhapatnam zoo receives Royal Bengal Tiger from Chhattisgarh

Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam received a Royal Bengal Tiger (female) from Kanan-Pendari Zoological Garden, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh during the early hours of Thursday.

The tigress, named Durga, was born on 11 November 2018. Durga was sent from the Bilaspur zoo on Wednesday by the Korba-Visakhapatnam Express. In exchange, the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam had sent Star Tortoises (2:2) to the Kanan-Pendari Zoological Garden on 2 March by train.

Visakhapatnam zoo curator Yesoda Bai mentioned that they had received tremendous support from the railway officials of the Bilaspur Division of South East Central Railways and the Waltair Division of East-coast railways for the successful completion of the animal exchange programme.

The newly received Royal Bengal Tiger has been kept under observation in the quarantine period at Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam. She will be released into her respective enclosure for visitors’ display on completion of the quarantine period.

In November last year, the zoo had received Grant’s Zebras, Water Monitor Lizard and Marmoset made from the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata.  In exchange, the IGZP had sent two pairs of wild dogs, a pair of ring-tailed lemur, and a pair of grey pelicans. In August 2019, two Asiatic Lions, named Patvad (7-year-old male) and Maheshwari (11-year-old female), were brought to the Visakhapatnam zoo as part of the exchange program with Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh, Gujarat