MYSORE:A pair of Indian rhinos arrived at the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens here from Patna late Sunday night after travelling a distance of 2,200 km in a span of five days. The Zoo has got an opportunity to house and display one-horned rhinos after a decade.
The new arrivals — Virat and Bobbli — weigh 1,360 kg and 725 kg respectively.
Virat is three years old while Bobbli has just completed a year.
A press release from Zoo Executive Director B P Ravi said the rhinos are scouting the new home with a lot of inquisitiveness.
“In captivity, they can live up to 40 years. Both male and female will mature early and start reproducing at the age of 5-6 captive conditions,” he added.
He said the transportation of the rhinos from Patna took over 13 days with a few hours of rest in between.
“We appreciate the efforts and leadership skills of our Assistant Director and head of the veterinary section Dr C Suresh Kumar, Range Forest officer and head of the animal section Girish and head of the general section in planning S Shivanna for arranging required crates and other material support. We hope zoo lovers will get a chance to see these wonderful grazer of Kaziranga landscape very soon”.
Ravi thanked the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Central Zoo Authority, Zoo Authority of Karnataka and Patna Zoo authorities for realising the desire of the zoo staff to house and display Indian rhinos.