Animal exchange programme between Sikkim & Darjeeling zoological parks

KUNAL RAI

GANGTOK,: The Himalayan Zoological Park located at Bulbuley near Gangtok under the Sikkim Forest & Environment department recently received a young breeding pair of Blue Sheep and four pairs of golden and silver pheasants from Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling.

The new additions to the Himalayan Zoological Park (HZP) were welcomed on September 27.

In exchange, the Darjeeling zoological park received a pair of Himalayan black bear females and one Himalayan Tahr doe.

All new animals have been placed in quarantine before being placed in the display enclosures for public viewing, it was informed.

Animal exchange programs like this are vital for zoological parks to maintain a healthy gene pool of individuals, especially those in the Endangered Species Conservation Breeding Programs such as the Red Panda, Blue Sheep and Himalayan Tahr, officials inform.

The HZP Sikkim is the coordinating zoo for the conservation breeding program of Blue Sheep (Pseudois nayaur) and Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) that it has been successfully running for the last decade. However due to the dwindling population of genetically viable breeding individuals in both zoos, animals were exchanged in hopes of improving their respective breeding stocks.

Having good genetic variation in breeding stock eventually benefits the wild restocking program, ensuring that the selected individuals are healthy and disease resistant with better chances of survival and raising their own offspring in the wild.  

The park intends to procure more breeding pairs from Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park,in the near future with the hope that it can run parallel to their snow leopard conservation breeding program, with both programs benefiting from each other.