Patna zoo to get giraffe from Mysore

PATNA: In an animal-exchange programme, the Patna zoo will soon get a male giraffe from the Mysore zoo as a team led by veterinarian Dr S B Singh has already reached there. The giraffe will start its Patna journey on Thursday in a cage kept on a large truck with two teams of medical experts of which one will be from Patna and another from Mysore.
Other members of the Patna team are M U Hasan, Ashok and J M Jha.
The city zoo would get the giraffe in lieu of a pair of rhinos. Earlier, it got 12 animals under the programme, including three Indian gaur, three black swans, two saras cranes, two wolves and two hyenas, from the Mysore zoo in June-July this year. The giraffe will be the last animal to be brought under the programme. All 13 animals would be put on public display in the second week of September.
Patna zoo director S Chandrashekhar said the 18-month-old male giraffe, which will be transported to Patna zoo, has already been given acclimatization training for staying in the cage for long hours.
Elaborating on the system to keep a track of health and pedigree records of animals kept in zoos, the director said the Patna zoo has been a part of Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) since last year. He said the ZIMS is maintained by International Species Information System (ISIS), an international non-profit organization serving more than 800 zoos and aquariums in 80 countries worldwide.
Chandrashekhar further said the ISIS provides its members with zoological data collection including acquisition process, medical history and pedigree.