Mysuru: The Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens will soon get six green anacondas, a lion and two lion-tailed macaques by the first week of March.

While anacondas will be brought from the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka, ‘Shourya,’ a lion, will come from Sakkarbagh Zoo in Junagadh of Gujarat. A male and a female lion-tailed macaques will be brought from Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur, Chennai. According to the agreement, the Mysuru zoo will give away a few animals and bird species to these zoos. The Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA), New Delhi, has given the approval for the exchange.

The zoo executive director Kamala Karikalan told, “All the animals will be brought in the first week of March. We have completed all the process which was delayed due to outbreak of bird flu in the zoo. A Himalayan bear, a wolf, black swan and other birds will be given to Sakkarbagh Zoo in exchange for the three-year-old Shourya.”

At present, the zoo has a lion, Darshan, and three lionesses, Rakshita, Guari and Renitha, also procured from Sakkarbagh Zoo and brought to Mysuru in 2016. In 2011, the Mysuru zoo had received two Asiatic lions Shankar and Gauri from Sakkarbaugh Zoo. But Shankar died owing to kidney and liver problems.

In 1984, the Mysuru zoo had 22 lions, including cubs. Following overpopulation, the authorities had sterilised the lions to check their population. As many as 13 animals had undergone vasectomy operation then. A lioness can give birth once in two years.

A retired employee of the zoo, who was serving in the 1980s, said the lion population was growing rapidly due to “healthy atmosphere” in the zoo. He recalled that a lion named Ganga had delivered four cubs and the zoo had difficulty in managing the animal population.

The Mysuru zoo got its first pair of lions in 1964 and the zoo had bred lions so rapidly that within 12 years, 18 lions had been given to various zoos in the country. The zoo authorities had even sold as many as six lions to circuses and a few were given away to the Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru.

KRS illumination timings
Brindavan Gardens at Krishnaraja Sagar will be illuminated between 7 pm and 8 pm from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays and Sundays, it will be illuminated between 7 pm and 9 pm. Gates will be closed half an hour before the closing hour of illumination, according to an official release.