12-foot tall Chamarajendra covers 3,200 kms in a 16-foot crate from Mysuru to Guwahati Zoo

Mysuru: A male giraffe from Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysuru Zoo) has created a record of sorts by travelling all the way to Assam State Zoo-cum-   Botanical Garden at Guwahati on road. The 14-month-old giraffe, Chamarajendra, travelled 3,200 kilometres to achieve the distinction of being the longest distance a giraffe has travelled on road so far in the recent decades. 

The 12-foot-tall male giraffe travelled in a specially designed truck for seven nights, eight days and reached Guwahati safely. As many as seven professionals, including veterinarian Dr. Ramesh, travelled along with the animal in the truck, said Mysuru Zoo Executive Director Ajit M. Kulkarni. 

There was no giraffe at the Guwahati Zoo for eight years now. As such, Mysuru Zoo sent Chamarajendra under its animal exchange programme. Mysuru Zoo will get a rhinoceros in return and the rhino is being brought by the same team that shifted Chamarajendra to Assam. 

The team

Chamarajendra was born in Mysuru Zoo itself under the Zoo’s captive breeding programme and travelled 450 kilometres per day during daylight. Travelling at night was avoided due to the risks involved. Along with Dr. Ramesh, Supervisor Uday and animal-keepers Vinod, Swamy, Madhu, Kumar and another Swamy accompanied Chamarajendra. 

It is not the first time that the Zoo has transported giraffes the long-distance routes. What is unique in Chamarajendra’s transportation was the distance — 3,200 kilometres. The Mysuru Zoo had in the past transported Bheem, a male giraffe to Patna Zoo in 2014, covering a distance of about 1,800 kilometres. 

Reaches Assam on Dec. 5

Chamarajendra’s transporting team had the responsibility of taking care of the tallest animal during the transit. The giraffe was shifted in such a way that it does not face the hot sun. The specially-designed truck and the 16-foot crate mounted on it travelled to Assam via Mandya, Bengaluru, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal to reach Guwahati. 

Despite facing many traffic jams all along the route, Chamarajendra accomplished the feat on Dec. 5. In some places, the team had to wait for hours to get congestion-free traffic on the Highways. Ajit Kulkarni told Star of Mysore that the Mysuru Zoo had been making preparations for its long-distance travel for six months. The journey from Kolkata till Guwahati was gruelling with many ghats and congested roads.

Breaking record

“It was a challenging feat and I am glad that Chamarajendra has reached safely. It is a milestone for Mysuru Zoo as no other giraffe has been transported to such a long distance. A giraffe was recently transported from Kolkata to Hyderabad but the distance Chamarajendra covered was more,” he said. 

Chamarajendra was born to Yuvaraja and Bubbly in the Mysuru Zoo and it underwent preparatory training for six months. “It was familiarised to the 16-foot tall crate and was fed inside the enclosure as part of the acclimatisation process. Chamarajendra too responded well and we have the results in front of us,” Kulkarni added.

‘Male and female are happy together’

Giraffes will be part of Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden or Guwahati Zoo after a gap of eight years. Chamarajendra is now sharing its enclosure with a female companion. Earlier, the Assam State Zoo, in an exchange programme between State Zoo and Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Patna, had acquired a female giraffe.

Assam Minister of Excise, Forest and Environment, Parimal Suklabaidya shared a photograph                       of the male and female giraffes basking in the sun and wrote on the Twitter, “The male and the       female are happy together.”