THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The troublesome gray langur at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo has finally been ‘released’ in an open enclosure. For now, the five-year-old female monkey is enjoying the newfound freedom after being moved out of the confines of an iron-grilled enclosure.
Along with its male partner, both rescued animals, the gray langur was brought to the city zoo from the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati on June 5 last year.
But the monkey proceeded to give the zoo authorities a hard time as it escaped from its cage while being shifted to the open enclosure at the end of a two-week quarantine. For more than three-weeks the monkey languished outside the zoo, much to the embarrassment of the authorities. After being nabbed, the gray langur was confined to its small enclosure.
Dr K R Nikesh Kiran, the veterinarian at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo, told TNIE that they had been beefing up the security arrangements in the open enclosure after the monkey was brought back from its tryst with real freedom.
“Recently, we freed three gray langurs that we received from the Tilyar Mini Zoo, Rohtak, in Haryana into the open enclosure. We wanted the female gray langur to get used to the new members as this breed is notorious for getting into fights. Initially, there was slight bickering which has since evolved into good rapport,” Dr Nikesh said.
He and his team are relieved to note that the female gray langur is enjoying the company of new friends, with the gang idling their time on tree tops and among the green foliage set up on their new habitat.
The gray langur is commonly referred to as Hanuman monkey, probably because of its arching tail and the agility in jumping at good pace to cover long distances with a single jump.