Kerala - Kochi   

Black bucks get new enclosure

32 bucks were shifted to the new pseudo-habitat in a day-long operation

After being squeezed into a tiny enclosure for years together the black bucks at the city zoo now have a large enclosure all to themselves.

The 32 bucks were transported in a day-long operation last week to the new pseudo-habitat enclosure that shares a dry moat with the open enclosure for the sambhar deer.

Initially, the bucks were housed in an enclosure adjacent to the old exit point of the zoo. This enclosure did not have any vegetation, proper shade or a proper animal house inside. This meant that in addition to being cramped for space the bucks had to endure the scorching sun and chilling rain throughout the year.

Once the construction of the new enclosure was over, animal keepers set up a `corridor' made of wire mesh and cloth to allow the bucks to walk from the old enclosure to the new one that was about 250 meters away. The corridor, 2 meters wide and 2 meters high, was covered from the top to prevent the bucks from escaping. "The bucks are very excitable by nature and so tranquillising them was out of the question. So was physically catching them. So we decided that patience was the best option," said S. Abu, zoo superintendent.And wait the zoo staff did; from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the last buck sauntered across to the new enclosure. G. G.Mahadevan

G. G.Mahadevan

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