Gujarat’s Sakkarbaug zoo rejected Vandalur zoo’s request for a pair of lions.
What’s it about? Vandalur zoo’s request for a pair of pure-bred Asiatic lions from the Sakkarbaug zoo was rejected. The Vandalur zoo has an inadequate number of lions. Two of the six lions have hip dysplasia. The others are old and aren’t fit to breed.
- Over the past five years, the zoo’s lion population has been decreasing. In June 2021, two died of Covid-19. In 2018-19, the zoo had a male-female ratio of 7:9 which was reduced to 7:8 the following year.
- After another death in 2020-21, the population was 14. Over the past two years, the ratio has decreased to 4:5. Officials have now approached the Hyderabad and Tirupati zoos.