There’s another reason to visit Mysuru now – the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens is now home to two anacondas, one male and one female. The four-year-old reptiles, measuring 8-feet in length, are part of an exchange programme with the Sri Lanka National Zoo.
According to C Ravishankar, the executive director of the zoo, the anacondas were flown into the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, and then were brought to Mysuru by road.
The snakes are currently placed in quarantine; the public should be able to view them in another month.
“We have to place them in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days. Depending on how they acclimatise to local conditions, we can display them earlier. If not, we will wait for one month,” C Ravishankar told TNM.
The two reptiles are yet to be christened.
The Mysuru Zoo, in turn, sent four blackbucks – two male and two female – and four neelgais, also two male and two female, in exchange for the anacondas.
“Meanwhile, we are expecting to receive another four anacondas in around four to five months,” said Ravishankar.
According to the Times of India, the Sri Lanka National Zoo had earlier sent 5 anacondas to the Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in 2011, during its first exchange programme. Permission was sought from the Zoo Authority of India to obtain the snakes.
Currently, the zoo in Mysuru has one anaconda apart from the two it received on Saturday. It is expected to have a total of seven by September.
The Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens has been involved in exchange programmes with different zoos. Earlier, it had sent a 12-foot giraffe named Gauri to the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru after talks that lasted for more than five years. Gauri became the first giraffe to inhabit the park.