Darjeeling, July 22: After spending five
years in the confines of cages, Millie and Sweety will be
set free on August 15 to ensure the success of a mission 17
years in the making.
Listed as endangered under Schedule I of
the Wildlife Protection Act, the two female red pandas, raised
by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, will be released
in the Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary to introduce fresh blood
into the fast dwindling wild population.
The release will make the zoo the first
in the country to reintroduce captive red pandas in the wild
as part of Project Red Panda, which started in 1986 at the
zoo with funds from the Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi.
`Sweety and Millie were to be released earlier.
But we felt it wise to release them once the frequency of
rains reduced. We chose August 15 because it is Independence
Day and also because the zoological garden was founded on
August 14, 1958,` said B.R. Sharma, director of the zoo.
A preconditioning camp - a large enclosure at Gairibas, along
the trekking route to Sandakphu - has been built by the zoo
authorities to give them a feel of the wilderness without
exposing them to danger. After spending about two months at
the place, Millie and Sweety will be set free to roam across
the forest range.
There are 21 red pandas at the zoo and authorities are confident
that they will be also be able to release more animals once
the first reintroduction was successful.
`Four sets of radio collars are being brought in form the
US. We will monitor the movements and activities of the animals
for about a year to see how they are adopting to life in the
wild and to know more about their habits,` said Sharma.
Detailed studies have been conducted for the project and
the zoo authorities had also collaborated with the Centre
of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, to test the
DNA of the animals.
This was done to ensure that the DNA strains of Sweety and
Millie were not similar to the wild pandas in the park.
`That is another reason why we chose not to release any males.
With females, we can be sure that there will be no inbreeding,
which could result in deformities and mutations in successive
generations,` Sharma said. ` The success of this project could
give us the opportunity to launch similar projects for other
animals in the future.` |
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