C. P. Oberai *

Ankit - Anita

    Ankit and Anita, the magnificient, colourful giraffes arrived at the Delhi Zoo in April , 1999. Considering the persistent request of the children, students and nature lovers of Delhi, the Central Zoo Authority facilitated the procurement of the two giraffes from Alipur Zoo, Calcutta. While transport and translocation of large wild animals on a long distance by road had its own peculiar problems, coaxing the tall patchy animals to get into the wooden crates for transport and subsequent offloading at Delhi had its own funny story. After exhaustive planning and homework, the NZP constituted a team led by a competent zoo vet, a zoo ranger and and two animal keepers, who reached Alipur Zoo, Calcutta to make preliminary arrangements for transporting the animals from Calcutta to Delhi. While transporting, it was ensured that the total height of the crate including the truck was not more than 14 feet since generally the height of the bridges, flyovers and powerlines is around 15 feet. These animals were loaded in the truck with the help of cranes and made secure by strong chains and cordages. The tall beauties, along with the escort team, left Calcutta for their 1600 km. Bharat yatra across West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to reach New Delhi.

Yatra

    During the long, monotonous and hot odyssey, the animals were given some rest after travelling for a couple of hours. These mandatory halts were utilised for checking their health and to feed them with green leaves, solid diet, medicated water and vitamins. The journey took nearly 4 days and ultimately on April 4 the twin beauties of African jungles arrived at the Delhi Zoo.

New Home

    On the first day, they were disturbed by the roar of the lions which were already kept in the nearby enclosures. These giraffes, though natives of Africa had found their way to Calcutta from a Zoo in Germany and may have just forgotten the roar of lions.But, subsequently,they got accustomed to living just next door to the lions.

Warm Welcome

    The tall beauties took a few weeks to get settled and accustomed to the fast life system of the Indian capital - oblivious of the large crowds of visitors getting amused at the mere appearance and princely walk and trot of the new guests. They had seen and experienced much heavier crowds at Alipur Zoo, Calcuta.

Camelopardalis

    Strangely enough, this species derives its name Giraffe Camelopardalis from 'camel' and pardus (leopard). It was once believd that giraffe is a cross or hybrid between camel (for its long legs with large sturdy hooves) and typical coloured patterns on the body like the leopard. Some research work has been done on giraffes in Alipur Zoo, Calcutta. The breeding of giraffe has been going on in the Alipur Zoo since 1987 . Giraffe calves are born almost during all the months of the year as there is no specific breeding or mating period for the giraffe. They take approximately 450 days as gestation period.

Silent Beauties

    It is scientifically learnt that the giraffe is, by and large, mute. While at infant stage the calves produce some low hissing sound or grunts to attract the mother, they gradually turn dumb as they grow up. Nature has perhaps curtailed this facility since their sound will easily betray their presence in the field. Tall and beautiful as they are, they would form an easy prey to hunters' bullets or predators like lion and panther moving about in the forests. Giraffe has very large eyes compared to its body structure. Its large eyes help it keep a close watch over a much wider area with focussed attention. It can catch even the slight bush movement as lions or leopards try to camouflage therein. Extra-large eyes on a high head, long and sturdy legs and powerful hooves are the main defence mechanism for giraffe. They are by nature shy, timid and quiet, inoffensive, greagarious and move in herds of 10-20 animals. Young calves are able to stand on their legs within about 30 minutes of their birth.The giraffe has very powerful legs and sometimes it kicks with great force in self-defence. In an episode mentioned by J. Bristal Foster in his book,The Giraffe, a lion trying to attack a giraffe from the hind gets a real strong kick in its ribs and lies motionless for a very long time. Subsequently, the wildlife warden puts the lion to eternal sleep.

    The normal life cycle of the giraffe is 15-20 years. Its body colour pattern is dark reddish to chestnut brown, blotches of various sizes and shapes on buff ground skin. Each giraffe has its own specific colour pattern. Like human finger prints, no two giraffes will have the same type of body patches. At present, 18 giraffes lend charm and curiosity to numerous visitors to Indian zoos. While the Alipur Zoo, Calcutta, has played a pioonering role in the upkeep and breeding of these tall creatures, giraffes are growing well even in Mysore, Delhi, Chennai, Trivandrum and Guwahati zoological parks. In all, there are 5 males, 10 females and 3 calves in India.

Exotic Creature

    Watching exotic animals with their curious behaviour and actions is always exciting and educative but their procurement, upkeep and replacement is extremely dicey. With a rich spectrum of wild birds, animals, and primates native to India, it should be much rewarding to exhibit Indian native fauna in the zoos. This would enable animal lovers to study the native animals more closely. Indian zoos may also play a useful role in breeding and rearing some of the rare or endangered species as part of ex-situ conservation.