The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Wild boar shifted from Night Safari site

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Thursday, Dec 18, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Wild boar shifted from Night Safari site

T. Lalith Singh

Project coming up at Kothaguda reserve forest spread over 110 acres

- Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

New den: A wild babt boar being translocated from the Reserve Forest to Chilkur National Park.

HYDERABAD: To prepare ground for the Night Safari project at Kothaguda reserve forest alongside the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Botanical Garden between Kondapur and Gachibowli, an exercise to identify and shift the existing fauna here has been taken up.

Teams are scouting the project area which is spread over more than 110 acres to catch wild boar and snakes for last few days and the exercise is likely to go on for few more days. So far, several wild boar and snakes have been picked up from the site that is spread out next to the Botanical Gardens.

African ambience

The Night Safari taken up by the Trac India as part of eco tourism at cost of more than Rs.70 crore will house different species. An ambience reminiscent to African forests is proposed to be created here and species suited for such a night safari will be housed once the facility is ready.

“We are shifting these wild boars to Mrigvani National Park at Chilkur and some animal catchers too have been roped in to help us,” informs Raj Kumar of Friends of Snakes Club. “About 15 boar have been caught so far and they are transported immediately in vehicles kept for the purpose”. The search and shift operation is expected to continue till this weekend.

Specific species

Since the safari will have specific species including those from Africa and other parts of the world, the present effort was aimed at clearing the project site of others present here and translocate. The boar being dangerous animals, the teams are setting up nets and on trapping them, are tying their mouth and legs. “We need to render them immobile for purpose of transportation else they will harm themselves trying to escape,” says a member of the team.

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Andhra Pradesh