Emu chicks a big draw at Rourkela zoo

Hundreds of people visited Indira Gandhi Park, Rourkela over the weekend to see six emu chicks which have been released into an open cage, an official said Sunday.

Visitors thronged the zoo, about 515 km from here, to see the emu chicks which were released for public viewing Saturday.

The Indira Gandhi Park, Rourkela, was accorded recognition by the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi, in 1995 and is among the finest zoos in western Odisha. It has a collection of six varieties of mammals, eleven types of birds and three kinds of reptiles.

"A large number of children and their parents visited the zoo both Saturday and Sunday," a senior zoo official told IANS.

Emu is the largest bird native to Australia and the second largest flightless bird in the world by height after the Ostrich. Authorities had brought four emus, including two females, from the Kanpur zoo in 2011.

The emus laid eggs in 2012 from September to November. Initially, the eggs were kept for natural hatching, but it did not yield result.

Thereafter, with the support of an emu and agro farm, special care was taken for the successful hatching of the eggs. As a result of meticulous observation and incubation, six emu eggs hatched.

The emu chicks are now five to six months old and growing in a healthy manner. The IG Park Zoo has 10 emus, including four adults and the chicks, the official said.