Swamp deer to debut at Byculla zoo next week

MUMBAI: This weekend, a team from Byculla zoo will head to Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to bring in the latest entrants to Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Pranisangrahalaya—a pair of swamp deer. In exchange, Byculla zoo will give Kanpur Zoological Park, a pair of military macaws and a pair of night herons.
The swamp deer are being brought in under Phase II of the Byculla zoo revamp in which enclosures for animals and three aviaries are being built.These deer will be the first animals to be brought to the zoo nearly three years after Humboldt penguins arrived here from Seoul, South Korea.

Byculla zoo director Sanjay Tripathi said the swamp deer enclosure is almost ready. “We are sending our team to the Kanpur Zoological Park on Saturday. We are also coordinating with other zoos to bring in more animals,” Tripathi added.
Byculla zoo authorities also plan to get a pair of jackals from Surat in March, and are in talks with Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden in Junagadh for a lion.
Sources said the chief minister’s office had sent a request for the lion to the Gujarat chief minister in January. Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said he too was following the matter. Mahadeshwar, on a lighter note, told mediapersons on Friday that the lion from Gujarat would remain safe along with the tiger they plan to get from Aurangabad zoo in Maharashtra.