THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The missing gray langur from the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo has come back to its adjoining enclosure, but perched on top of a giant tree. The zoo authorities are hoping to see it returning to its partner very soon. The four-year-old female monkey has been spotted with the help of a binocular.
A pair of gray langurs brought from Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati, on June 5 to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo were kept in quarantine. The zoo authorities wanted to release the female gray langur to its original enclosure ahead of Minister J Chinchurani’s visit to the zoo on Thursday morning. But within minutes of it being released, it hopped on from one tree to another and even went outside the sprawling campus to the Nanthancode area.
The zoo staff went after the gray langur which was perched on a coconut tree. But after sunset, it was difficult for them to trace the monkey. After daybreak on Wednesday, the zoo keepers noticed a horde of crows hovering above the trees next to the bison enclosure. Dr Jacob Alexander, the senior veterinary surgeon, told TNIE that darting the monkey was out of question as it was perched above the tree.
“It will be coming down on its own to its partner as that’s how animal behaviour is. We are hoping that the monkey will come down sooner or later,” said Dr Jacob Alexander.
Abu Sivadas, director, Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo, told TNIE that the langur is a sensitive animal. “As long as we don’t disturb it, it will climb down and be with its partner. It has been eating leaves from the trees. We are glad that it returned from Nanthancode and came back to the safe environs of the zoo. It must have felt safe being here,” he said.