Mysuru zoo gets a baby giraffe, loses zebra

A giraffe has given birth to a female calf while a zebra died of old age at Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru.

Giraffe Lakshmi gave birth to a female calf on Saturday and with this the number of giraffes at the zoo has gone up to eight - five females and three males. The calf is the second for Lakshmi and both mother and calf are doing well. The zoo authorities have closed the enclosure for visitors in order to avoid disturbance to the young calf and the mother, said Conservator of Forests and Executive Director S Venkatesan.

Within a period of 10 days, the zoo has got two new giraffes. On December 10, Kushi, another giraffe, had delivered a male calf.

Meanwhile, Erina (29) a female zebra died at the zoo on Friday. She was ill for the past five days. The zoo had received the Plains Zebra from Germany on September 15, 1990. This is the third zebra death at the zoo in less than a month.

“Erina was senile and had completed her full lifespan. The average lifespan of Plains Zebra in captivity is anywhere between 25 and 30 years. She did not respond to the treatment” said Zoo Director S Venkatesan.

With the death of Erina, the number of zebras in the zoo has come down to two — one female and a male.

Recently, two four-year-old zebras — a male and a female — which were gifted by the Ramat Gan Safari Park at Tel Aviv, in Israel, last year, had died in the zoo. According to the zoo authorities, the zebras died of infections or kidney ailments. However, Erina died due to age factor and not due to any infections or ailments, they claimed.