Van Vihar approaches other states for zebra, giraffe, bison; gets lukewarm response

Van Vihar National Park officials have written to Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for bison. They wrote to Pune, Kolkata and Mysore for giraffes and zebras. But, the states are not much eager to exchange wild animals with Madhya Pradesh.

Bhopal:Madhya Pradesh's Van Vihar National Park has received a lukewarm response from other states to its proposal of exchanging wild animals. The officials of the park had submitted proposals to bring in zebras, giraffes and bison from zoos across the country but, no animals have arrived till now.

Officials had written to Goa seeking bison in exchange of bears but the latter refused as the bears are aged. "We have two male bison and need two females in order to ensure the sex ratio of the animal. So, we wrote to Goa to get female bison in exchange of bears. While two bears are aged, the remaining of the 20 bears are sterile and so have no takers," Padmapriya Balakrishnan, director, Van Vihar said. Being refused by Goa, the park officials have approached Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for bison.

After cheetahs were brought from Africa, state forest minister Vijay Shah said that the state will soon see zebras and giraffe here. However, the states having these animals have refused to hand them over to Madhya Pradesh despite the Central Zoo Authority's nod. Six months back, Van Vihar wrote to Pune, Kolkata and Mysore, which has over 30 giraffes, but have not received any response till now. The management has already approached 11 zoos in this regard but the wait for animals continues. Balakrishnan said that apart from bison, zebra and giraffe, requisition is being sent for wolf, wild dog and hyena.

Failing to get any response from other states, Madhya Pradesh has sought funds from the Centre for bringing zebras and giraffes from zoos and safaris in Central Asia. A proposal citing an expenditure of around Rs 3 crore has been sent to New Delhi, Balakrishnanan added.

Giraffes and zebras are mostly found in African countries but since foot and mouth disease is prevalent among wild animals in these countries, the management does not want to bring animals from there as they can be carrier of the disease that can spread to other animals.

Some commonly found animals in Van Vihar are wild boar, porcupine, rabbit, crocodile, tortoise, sambhar, chital, nilgai, blackbuck, langur and various types of snakes.