For Lucknow zoo, lions to be brought from Gujarat

20-08-2012
For Lucknow zoo, lions to be brought from Gujarat
The Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/for-lucknow-zoo-lions-to-be-brought-from-gujarat/990593/

UP will be getting two Asiatic lions from Rajkot zoo in Gujarat as part of the animal exchange programme between the zoos. "Instead of approaching different state governments, the UP Forests Department has asked its zoos to directly approach zoos in different parts of the country for procuring the lions. The deliberations are also going on with some other zoos, including with the authorities of Junagadh zoo," said a senior Forests Department official. The lions from Rajkot zoo will be procured through a barter system. In exchange for two lions — one male and one female — some animals from Lucknow zoo, including two ghariyals, four hyenas, four kalij pheasants, four silver pheasants, four golden pheasants and some other birds and animals, will be given to the zoo in Gujarat. The state zoos will also be getting two lions from Hyderabad zoo. They will be exchanged with some rhinos from Kanpur zoo.

Director of Lucknow zoo, Renu Singh, said the four-year-old lioness named Heer will be relocated to Lucknow zoo within six months while the lion, which is a cub right now, will be transferred once it reaches maturity.