THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Many myths exist about hyenas and nearly all of them are very negative. The narratives in popular culture or by writers such as Ernest Hemingway are not appreciative of its characteristics. Those who are fans of the Jungle Book will passionately hate Tabaqui, the striped hyena who sucked up to the villain Sher Khan. But if anyone has seen the video of social worker Prakash Amte playing with a striped hyena at his Animal Ark, a sanctuary for wildlife set up in their courtyard at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, one will be forced to mull upon their aversion.
However, the city-zens need not go as far as Gadchiroli to get a glimpse of the animal because a pair is being brought to the city zoo from Kanpur zoo towards the end of this week. “They are being brought here as part of an exchange programme in which we will give away eight rheas,” said Superintendent Anil Kumar. The team consisting of Zoo superintendent T V Anil Kumar, veterinary doctor Dr Binoy C Babu and seven keepers will leave on August 22 with the rheas in the luggage coach of Korba express. The team will take Luknow express from Chennai and return with the hyenas from Kanpur on August 26.
The zoo will be getting hyenas after a gap of 6 years. With their arrival, the zoo will have 106 species of animals. Upon their arrival, the hyena cubs will be placed in a separate enclosure and won’t be put up for display. This is to enable them to adapted to their new home. “It will take some time for the animals to get adjusted. The bear cubs brought from Dhimapur were recently introduced to the public and are now the star attraction among the visitors,” said Superintendent Anil Kumar.
More Animals
Zoo authorities are making amends for the animals lost recently. They plan to bring four giraffes from South Africa after unsuccessfully trying to bring the animal from Mysore zoo. The public have been longing to see the tallest animal on earth ever since the zoo lost its lone giraffe Raja in 2009. The zoo lost its giraffe pair Moly and Raja in quick succession and their enclosures have since then been occupied by other animals. At present swamp deer, recently brought from Lucknow, have made it their home. The zoo which lost its longest surviving zebra ‘Seetha’ in March, will get five zebras. It will get a pair of jaguars to replace its lone jaguar Sangeetha which died recently. Rheas continue to be the trump card for the zoo authorities. “Rheas are in good demand. Now Jaipur zoo has shown interest. We have a population of 42,” said Anil Kumar.The zoo has made special arrangements in the enclosures for the new inmates, said zoo veterinarian Dr Jacob Alexander.