The City Zoo will have to wait another six months for the world’s heaviest snake species to arrive. If things go as planned, the Zoo will be the proud owner of six anacondas. But many more formalities are to be completed for this to materialise.
Earlier, the Zoo authorities had submitted a proposal to bring the anacondas from Sri Lanka, a decision taken as part of a workshop that took place in Darjeeling. Zoo directors and veterinarians from several states and neighbouring countries had participated in this workshop, during which it was decided to transfer the anacondas along with certain other species to the City Zoo.
However, now the City Zoo must obtain clearance from the Directorate of Foreign Trade and from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), a process which could take several months. As per norms, the present sanction will expire in six months and the Zoo has to complete the formalities within this stipulated time. According to the officials at the City Zoo, foreign trade norms have to be taken into account to transfer the animals from another country. This procedure could delay the entire plan to bring the anacondas.
The six reptiles are now housed at the Dehiwala Zoo in Sri Lanka and the officials here are waiting for the clearance from the authorities concerned. However, after bringing them to the City Zoo, they will be placed in isolation, which is a legal need. During this period, public viewing of the snakes will not be allowed. Once this period comes to an end, they will be shifted to the enclosure which now houses the Indian Rock Python. The Zoo authorities will have to come up with a bigger enclosure within three years taking into consideration the sizes to which these reptiles grow. The City Zoo has many other animals on its list to be brought from other countries, the notable among them being the white tiger. It has also asked for the barking deer, Nilgai, red jungle fowl, white ibis and the painted stork.
The Zoo’s efforts to procure a giraffe and a zebra have been in long wait as no zoos in the country have these animals in excess.