Kolkata: After a span of over four decades, visitors at Alipore Zoological Garden will behold Malayan tapir, which is the only living tapir species outside America.
The animal that has been listed as Endangered under IUCN Red list since 2008 has been procured from North Bengal Wild Animal Park.
“We have received a pair of male and female tigers from North Bengal Wild Animal Park in exchange for barking deer, pythons and water monitor lizard. We have also received a Malayan tapir, which was seized in Moynaguri, Jalpaiguri by virtue of an order by the Jalpaiguri Court for Jalpaiguri for better management and care on February 22.
Alipore Zoo has a history of having tapirs under its fold since 1877 and there are records of successful breeding of tapirs also,” Subhankar Sengupta, director of Alipore Zoo, said.
All the animals will be on display for visitors from Tuesday. From 1877 till 1980s, Alipore Zoo had tapirs as one of the important and attractive exhibits. The tigers that have been received are young, around 3-years-old.
The animals were brought to Kolkata by a team of specialists containing veterinarians, biologists, engineers, animal supervisors and animal attendants in three specially-designed modern
animal ambulances.
The general administration, police and forest administration extended their full support en route providing escort and other facilities to bring the animals hale and hearty.