T’puram: Visitors to Thiruvananthapuram Zoo will be able to see zebras again after a nine-year gap, with three animals arriving from Vantara, Gujarat.The animals—two three-year-old females and a five-year-old male—were transported by road in a specially equipped animal ambulance and reached the zoo around 5.15am on Thursday after a journey of nearly two and a half days.The city zoo had been without zebras since 2017, when Sita, a zebra brought from Chennai’s Vandalur Zoo in April 2002, died of old age.Zoo veterinary surgeon Dr Nikesh Kiran said the zebras are in good health, except for slight travel fatigue. Visitors will be able to see them during their 21-day open quarantine period.A two-week supply of Timothy grass, a hybrid fodder grass, was brought from Vantara for the animals. Local hay will gradually be mixed with their feed to help them adapt to the new environment. A 13-member team led by a veterinary surgeon from Vantara accompanied the zebras.As part of the exchange, city zoo will send a male lion-tailed macaque and a king cobra to Vantara.Health minister K Muraleedharan, who formally opened the enclosure to the public, described the zebras’ arrival as an Onam gift for visitors.He said their return to the zoo was a matter of happiness and would provide visitors with a special visual treat during the festive season.Zoo superintendent T V Anil Kumar said the long-standing wish of children visiting the zoo to see zebras had now been fulfilled. Officials are also considering naming the new arrivals, he said.
