Sipahijala to have blackbucks, lions as part of animal

The zoo in the Sipahijala wild life Sanctuary, about 20 km from here, would have some new inhabitants from Banerghatta Zoo in Bengaluru in an exchange programme.
As per the programme - two lions, two sambar deers, three black bucks and two porcupines - will be brought here, Director of the Sepahijala Zoo, Krishna Gopal Roy said today.
In the exchange, the Bannerghatta Zoo would receive a pair of spectacle monkeys, three pig-tailed monkeys and two Asiatic bears, he told PTI.
Sipahijala is one of the 22 large zoos in the country and the only zoo located within any wildlife sanctuary.

A portion of the sanctuary has been declared as Clouded Leopard National Park, which is the only breeding ground for the animal. It has presently 13 clouded leopards.
Roy said the animal population continues to swell up at Sepahijala Zoo as two common leopards from Assam Zoo were brought here.

Last month a wild elephant was rescued as it was damaging crops in Tepania areas in Gomati district and was brought to Sepahijala Zoo.
An expert team from Assam and West Bengal were imparting training to tame it which would be used for elephant rides of the tourists.
An estimated 1.85 lakh tourists visited the sanctuary last year.