Visitors to the Mysuru zoo on Wednesday had a pleasant surprise with a pair of hoolock gibbons on display for New Year.
Minister for Forests C.C. Patil inaugurated the public display of the gibbons which had been brought from the Assam State Zoo in Guwahati under an animal-exchange programme.
Two more animals – a female white rhinoceros and a black leopardess – brought as part of the exchange will be put on display soon.
“The rhino and the leopardess are in quarantine and are expected to be displayed soon. They are an endangered species,” said Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni. Mr. Kulkarni said that the gibbons, native to north-east India, had been housed in the enclosure that once housed the late Guru, a chimpanzee.
The zoo had given the Assam zoo a male gorilla in exchange for the animals. The 12-feet tall gorilla travelled over 3,200 km by road to reach Guwahati.
It was carried in a specially designed crate on a long-chassis truck.
