In what seems like a ray of hope, lion and rusty-spotted cats of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) could get their mates from Karnataka soon.
On a visit to SGNP on Sunday, R Shankar, Forest Minister from Karnataka assured park officials that he would certainly give some thought to exchanging animals between SGNP and zoos in Karnataka.
Officials from SGNP for the past one-and-a-half years have been desperately trying to procure lions and rusty spotted cats since breeding is possible only when new pairs are brought to the park. Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) and Director SGNP Anwar Ahmed said: “He was very positive and he assured us that he will look into the exchange proposal for both lions and rusty spotted cat by SGNP on priority. During his visit, he also saw Ravindra, the lion which was brought to SGNP in 2009 from Banerghatta National Park in Karnataka. He was very happy to know that not only Ravindra had bred successfully, but the park was taking very good care of him.”
The Minister, apart from the lion and tiger safari area, also visited the leopard rescue centre and saw the captive breeding programme being run for the rusty-spotted cats at the park since 2013. SGNP currently has three captive lions including two males, Ravindra (15) and Jespa (7) and a lone female Gopa (7). As per park officials, Ravindra is now old enough to mate, but the other two being siblings cannot mate as inbreeding is not allowed in zoos.
