Sakkar Bag Zoo Junagadh City News Gujarat India

Hyena cub rescued from Gujarat house.

The Gujarat Forest Department rescued a cub of hyena from a house in Surendranagar district, where it was kept and nourished for about two months, after getting it from the wild.

The two-months-old striped hyena was brought to Sakkar Bag Zoo, B N Srivastava, principal chief conservator of wild life (Junagadh) told PTI.

The wild animal was recovered from the house of one Zavara Bhai of Kandhasara village, who said that the "pet", had been tamed.

Sasan Gir National Park Asiatic Lions Wildlife Sanctuary News Gujarat India

Gujarat zoo refuses lion exchange- Asiatic Lion Re-introduction Project spurs numbers supremacy game.

Tata Steel Zoological Society’s bid to procure Asiatic lions has hit a hurdle, thanks to the proposed Lion Re-introduction Project in Madhya Pradesh.

The Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh City (Gujarat) has turned down Tata Zoo’s request for a pair of Asiatic lions on exchange basis. There are about 80 such lions in the Gujarat zoo, all rescued from Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sources said that the war of attrition between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments prevented Sakkarbaug zoo authorities from giving away surplus Asiatic lions to their counterparts, including the one at Jamshedpur.

The problem began with the Asiatic Lion Re-introduction Project proposed at Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

The project is an effort to save the last Asiatic lions from extinction. The lion population in Gir forests is under threat from epidemics, natural and man-made disasters. The project is aimed at establishing a second independent population of Asiatic lions at the Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sakkarbaug authorities are reluctant to let go of lions as it wants to retain its monopoly over the tourism revenue generated by the endangered species.

The Union ministry of environment and forests has intervened to resolve the issue between the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments. But things have failed to make any headway.

An official of the Sakkarbaug Zoo said: “We are not giving away the lions at present. There’s an instruction from the state government.”

“I spoke to the authorities at Junagadh zoo recently but they have expressed helplessness in providing us with a pair of Asiatic lions. They have told us to wait for at least a year,” Tata Zoo director Bipul Chakravarty told The Telegraph.

“There are at present about 380 lions in Gir and 80 in the zoo,” he said, adding that zoos are permitted to keep 15 lions.

According to Chakravarty, they require Asiatic lions as the Central Zoo Authority has banned breeding of hybrid ones. The zoo here presently has a pair of hybrid lions.

Tata Zoo authorities are concerned with the receding population of big cats, especially lions and tigers, due to the deaths of a lion and a tiger recently. Moreover, one of the two female tigers has lost its breeding capacity.

The zoo is experiencing problems in breeding the young female tiger due to the absence of its male counterpart. Authorities have requested their counterparts in Guwahati to provide a male tiger in exchange for emus.

Sakkarbaug Zoo Junagadh City Saurashtra Gujarat India

Animal transfer from Sakkarbaug Zoo to Sayaji Baug Zoo hangs in balance

The proposal of transferring animals from Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh to Sayaji Baug Zoo in Vadodara is moving at a snail’s pace. Sources said the authorities in both zoos are passing the buck and have not approached the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to initiate the process.

On one hand, authorities in Sakkarbaug zoo say that Sayaji Baug Zoo is not accepting their proposal of transferring Black bear and tiger in exchange of exotic birds, while Sayaji Baug Zoo officials said that Sakkarbaug should submit a proposal to CZA.

Sayaji Baug Zoo is under the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) aegis. VMC Deputy Commissioner A O Sharma said: “We cannot agree to Sakkarbaug’s proposal to transfer male black bear and tiger till it takes CZA’s permission.”

Sakkarbaug Zoo Director V J Rana said: “Till Sayaji Baug agrees to our proposal, we cannot approach CZA.”

Meanwhile, CZA Evaluating and Monitoring Officer Brij Gupta said: “All Schedule I and II animals can be transferred from one zoo to another or state if needed, and this process has to be cleared by CZA. CZA first checks facilities at the zoo for keeping the animals. We have not received any proposal from Sakkarbaug Zoo till now.”

Sakkarbaug Zoo Junagadh City News Saurashtra Gujarat India

CZA issues notices to zoos after they miss deadline to submit master plans.

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has issued notices to four zoos in the state after they failed to submit their master plans explaining future development projects.

Sources said all the zoos were asked to submit their plans till 2020, by March 31. But only two zoos — Indroda Park, Gandhinagar; and Kankaria Zoo, Ahmedabad — have submitted their plans.

Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh City Saurashtra; Sarthana Zoo in Surat; Sayajibaug Zoo in Vadodara; and Rajkot Zoo are yet to submit their plans.

CZA Evaluation and Monitoring officer Brij Gupta said: “As most zoos in Gujarat have missed their deadlines, CZA has issued notices to them to submit their master plans as soon as possible. We have taken up this initiative to improve zoo administration and performance. The main aim is to enforce minimum standards and norms for the upkeep and health care of the animals so that the zoos can come up to a standard where they can complement and strengthen the national efforts in conservation of wild fauna.”

He added: “If the master plan is not submitted on time, no funds will be allocated in the coming years.”

He said that some zoos, such as the Butterfly Park in Surat, which is being developed by the Surat Municipal Corporation, doesn’t have CZA permission.

Surat Municipal Commissioner S Aparna said: “We have submitted the master plan. During their visit, CZA officials said there is a need to revise it and add some more details about new enclosures such as the Butterfly Park and aquarium in the master plan. The new master plan has already being cleared by the Sarthana zoo authorities and we will submit it soon.”

Sayajibaug Zoo Curator Dr C B Patel was unavailable for comments. Zoo officials, however, said the master plan will be submitted soon.

Vadodara Deputy Commissioner A O Sharma said: “We will submit the master plan in next week.”

Junagadh Zoo Director V J Rana said: “We were asked to submit a master plan, but we have restricted funds. Ours is a large zoo and submitting a master plan is a huge task, for which we need extra manpower including consultants and experts.”

He added: “The entry fee is still Rs 2, which is not enough to develop it to the level of an international zoo. A lot needs to be put in before we can submit the master plan. We might say what we want to do, but the non-availability of funds has restricted us to go ahead with our infrastructure development plans.”

Junagadh News – Cheetahs Care at Sakkar Baug Zoo

Sakkar Baug Zoo tries to play Cupid for cheetahs.

After hogging limelight for acquiring the earth’s fastest animal, Cheetah, from Singapore, officials at the Sakkar Baug Zoo in Junagadh have now got down to do more serious job of courtship between the two African pairs.

The zoo officials know it’s not an easy task given the fact that the male cheetahs, who live in groups, usually attack the females, which are solitary in nature and seldom show any reproductive behavior.

“Breeding cheetah is very challenging. But we will make this happen.

We will soon visit De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust is South Africa to get the training in breeding of the endangered species.

De Wildt has achieved remarkable success in increasing the population of the spotted big cat,” said V J Rana, director Sakkar Baug Zoo.

Breeding among predators have been made possible by the De Wildt after several experiments, which ended up in constructing a “lovers’ lane” along the female enclosures to allow easy access to the males, he said.