Mysuru: The historic Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popular as Mysuru Zoo, will donate a female giraffe to the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru. Mysuru Zoo, known for its captive animal breeding, has three male and five female giraffes.

The giraffe will be transported in a specially-designed container (see pic.) that will be mounted on a long-chassis truck.

Giraffe is a genus of African even-toed ungulate (hoofed) mammals, the tallest living terrestrial animals and the largest ruminants (a mammal that chews the cud regurgitated from its rumen). The giraffe’s chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like Ossicones, and its distinctive skin patterns.

The Mysuru Zoo, that has eight giraffes, has the reputation of donating giraffes to many Indian Zoos under animal exchange programmes. Among the three male giraffes is 23-year-old Krishnaraja which is the oldest one in the Zoo.

Zoo authorities said that two giraffes, Kushi and Lakshmi, are pregnant and are expected to deliver in a few days. This will push up the numbers to 10. If one giraffe goes to Bannerghatta Biological Park and if Kushi and Lakshmi deliver healthy calves, the number of giraffes at the Mysuru Zoo will be nine.

Shifting of a giraffe is not an easy task considering the animal’s height of 14 to 20 ft. A specially designed container has been procured to transport the animal to Bengaluru. The cage will be mounted on a long chassis and low-lying truck and the animal has to cover a distance of about 145 kilometres.

The journey will at least take four to five hours where the transporters have to watch out for overhead electricity cables.

According to Zoo Executive Director C. Ravishankar, the process of conditioning the giraffe for the journey has begun and the animal is being familiarised to the special enclosure. Care is being taken so that the animal does not panic inside the cage while it is being transported.

The staff that is familiarising the animal with the cage have similar experience of transporting giraffes through road in the past. The giraffe is being gifted to Bannerghatta Biological Park as a special case and the proposal to send the animal was pending since many years.

“Among Mary and Bubbly, two young females, one will be sent there. A final call on this will be taken in a few days,” he said, adding that both animals are aged between three and four.

Chimpanzee exchange programme: The Nandankanan Zoological Gardens in, Bhubaneswar, Odisha has also sought a pair of giraffes from the Mysuru Zoo or at least a male giraffe in exchange to a female chimpanzee. The Mysuru Zoo wants the chimpanzee for its captive breeding programme as the existing female chimps at the Zoo cannot breed.

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given its nod to the Zoos to go ahead with the exchange of animals. The Mysuru Zoo has five chimpanzees — Guru, Ganga, Mason, Kimoni, and Nkosi.

Kimoni and Nkosi were brought from Singapore Zoo four years ago for captive breeding, but the Zoo has not been able to breed chimps. The Zoo cannot give giraffe Krishnaraja as it is old and cannot spare giraffe Yuvaraja as it is the prolific among the males.

For now, the exchange programme with the Nandankanan Zoo has been put on hold till two pregnant giraffes deliver the young ones.