The visitors and guests to the zoo were in giggles as the name ‘Hansika’ was read out aloud. The occasion was the naming of the new born Indian Gaur (bison calves) at the zoo on Wednesday.
The three calves and their mother were munching away the fresh leaves given to them oblivious to the ‘hungama’ going on outside their enclosure. One of the male calves was well-built and looked like an adult with curved horns, dark-brown coloured body, while the other male had a slightly lesser build and straight horns.
The female calf had pale brown colour and looked comparatively frail. After sometime, the mother bison stopped munching and looked in askance at the crowd.
The three calves of Indian Gaur were born in captivity at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park.
The addition of the calves – aged 6, 7 and 10 months – has taken the total number of Gaurs in the zoo to 11. Of the new born calves, two are males and one female. The zoo authorities invited the visitors and public to suggest a three letter name in Telugu for the Gaurs.
Three boxes were kept at the zoo on Tuesday and Wednesday and visitors were asked to suggest the name for each of the three and put the names in the drop boxes. The response was encouraging with around 500 persons participating in the ‘naming ceremony’.
The names were picked up from the lot by actor Sailesh (hero of Chal Chal Gurram). “Our objective is to generate interest among the public in wildlife and its conservation. The male calves were given the names ‘Giri’ and ‘Vijay’. The three calves would, hereafter, be called by their names,” Zoo Curator B. Vijay Kumar said.
“Indian Gaur is a rare and endangered species. It is listed in the IUCN Red list and Scheduled II of CITES.
There are an estimated 15,000 Indian Guars in India. The three calves were born to Pinky and Veer, brought from Goa,” he said.
On the plans to bring new animals, Mr. Vijay Kumar said a male and two female chimpanzees would arrive in Mumbai from Israel on June 23 and they would be brought here from there.
They would be put up into their enclosure for public display during the last week of July.
Zebras and pigmy hippos are also expected to arrive here later during the year.
Assistant Curator Mashady, Zoo doctor Srinivas, children of Anand Ashram School and other schools participated.
