CHENNAI: One more lion-tailed macaque was born at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park near here, increasing the count of the endangered species in the zoo to 24.
In 1990, the zoo brought in one male and three female macaques from near Valparai in the western ghats and in 1999 another female macaque joined them. Through conservation and captive breeding programmes, 46 macaques were born in the zoo over the years.
Some of them were given to zoological parks in Guindy, Thiruvananthapuram, Mysore, Delhi, Shimla, Baroda, Hyderabad and Guwahati. Zoos in Mysore and Thiruvananthapurm participated in the breeding programme. The endangered species are mostly found in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Their numbers have been reducing, losing their habitat due to spread of coffee and tea plantations.
The animal enclosure at the Vandalur zoo has been recreated in a natural environment for the macaques by planting banyan, mango and jackfruit trees.