Delhi’s National Zoological Park (NZP) has approached Assam Zoo to give a male rhinoceros under an animal exchange programme, officials said on Friday.
According to the officials, they are in talks with the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden regarding this, as for the last nine years, the Delhi Zoo does not have a male rhinoceros.
“Under the exchange programme, the Assam zoo wants a female rhinoceros and a Bengal tigress. We have two female rhinoceros—Maheshwar and her daughter Anjuna,” an NZP official said.
“Apart from this, we are also planning for another exchange in which the Assam zoo will give us a pied hornbill for macaw,” a zoo official said.
NZP Director Akanksha Mahajan said talks are underway with the Assam Zoo regarding the animal exchange programme.
“We have requested the Assam Zoo to provide us with a male rhinoceros. The talks regarding this are underway. We can explore the possibility of increasing the population of rhinoceros here as the NZP is a participating zoo for the conservation breeding of Indian rhinoceros,” Mahajan said. In 2013, the Delhi zoo brought a 34-year-old male rhinoceros, Shiva, from Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and Zoo. Shiva died on June 18, 2014, due to cancer.
